PLANS to build almost 1,000 homes on York's outskirts will go to a public inquiry later this month.

Redrow Homes (Yorkshire) Limited is appealing against non-determination by City of York Council of its application for 970 homes on land at Monks Cross, north of York.

The company asked inspectors to step in after submitting its plans, which would also include a new primary school, a children’s play area, a convenience store and a new country park, back in January 2018.

The council has yet to make any recommendation for the proposals for the 146 acre site south of North Lane, Huntington.

York’s draft Local Plan sets out where and what types of development can take place in York for the next 20 years and will define the city’s green belt.

The unapproved proposals have been hit by delays, with the Government intervening and warning the city council over its “persistent failures” to introduce a long-term vision for development.

Now a four-day public inquiry on Redrow's scheme is to be held, starting on January 25 - operating as a 'virtual event,' with parties invited to join via Zoom or by telephone and an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State.

Where applicable, people can use the internet to submit documents to the inspector, to see information and to check the progress of cases through GOV.UK. The address of the search page is https://www.gov.uk/appeal-planning-inspectorate.

When the appeal was submitted on behalf of Redrow, Johnson Mowat said in a written statement that an inquiry was now needed as “housing sites to meet general family needs are severely restricted."

It said the Local Plan was significantly delayed and there was no guarantee it would be adopted in the near future or at all.

It claimed: “There is no LPA (local planning authority) in England that has a failed plan making record that comes anywhere close to that of York.”

It also claimed there was an “absence of significant levels of local opposition” to the proposals.

City of York Council said then that this was a 'non-determination appeal,' with the application originally submitted with the intention that its determination would align with the adoption of the Local Plan.

Planning committee chair Cllr Tony Fisher claimed later of the appeal: "This has nothing to do with the Local Plan whatsoever.

"The developers went to appeal for non-determination despite some technical aspects of the application not having been resolved fully, so it was not ready to go before the Planning Committee.

"The Planning Committee will almost certainly still consider it as soon as these aspects are resolved."