DEVELOPERS have begun moves to build 160 new houses on the edge of a York village.

Housebuilder Gladman has applied for planning permission for a new housing estate off Tadcaster Road, on the north of Copmanthorpe.

According to documents submitted to city council planners, the company wants to build 160 new homes along with open space and landscaping on a 7.5 hectare wedge of land between Tadcaster Road, the railway and existing houses off Flaxman Croft.

A planning statement also says that as the land is included in the draft Local Plan - which is due to be submitted to a government planning inspector soon - this early application should “help the council to immediately address the chronic shortage in housing land”.

The site is also included in Copmanthorpe’s own neighbourhood plan - although for a smaller development of 75 houses on just three hectares of the land.

Cllr David Carr, Copmanthorpe’s city councillor, said the site had the advantage of being surrounded by hard physical boundaries - the road and railway - which would stop development spilling out onto surrounding land.

The site will let Copmanthorpe provide its share of the housing York needs without putting too much stress on village facilities, he added.

A design and access statement also says the land is “well located” with access to facilities and public transport in Copmanthorpe. It also shows a potential new children’s play area in the south of the site close to an existing mature Ash tree and an access road coming off Tadcaster Road. Up to 30 per cent of the new homes would be affordable, it adds.

However the plans have attracted objections from neighbours - including Paul Bond whose home is close to what he calls the “natural enclave” of the site. He has written to planners saying it is a haven for deer, hedgehogs, badgers, squirrels and other small mammals and birds - and asked why disused brownfield sites have not been chosen for development. Others have raised concerns about the pressure an extra 160 homes will put on infrastructure like roads and schools, and about the site’s flood risk.