North Yorkshire County Council has agreed to create a county-wide Local Plan that will plot out where housing and development can take place over the next 30 years.

Conservative councillors on the NYCC’s executive have approved the creation of the document, which must be finalised within five years of the new North Yorkshire Council forming on April 1.

It will replace the seven Local Plans that are currently used by the soon-to-be abolished district councils.

This also means the reviews that are underway on the plans for Harrogate Borough Council and Craven District Council will be halted.  However, both documents will still guide planning decisions until the new Local Plan is created.

Harrogate Borough Council’s Local Plan says around 13,000 homes can be built across the district between 2014 and 2034.

Craven District Council’s Local Plan calls for 4,600 new homes to be built across the district between 2012 and 2032.

Conservative Mid-Craven councillor Simon Myers, executive member for planning for growth, told the meeting that the Local Plan will be “hugely important to the economic vitality of the county”.

He said: “It’s hugely important for the provision of housing and for many strategic matters. It is imperative we have an ambitious Local Plan for North Yorkshire and that planning committees abide by it.”

Cllr Myers confirmed that the new council will create six new planning committees to oversee decisions across parliamentary constituency areas, such as Harrogate & Knaresborough and Skipton & Ripon.