Gove will NOT intervene in row over access to York community woodland

As reported in The Press, council planners approved the proposals to convert three farm buildings on the new woodland’s northern edge near Poppleton on August 16.

The decision sparked a furious protest from Lib Dem city councillor Christian Vassie, who said an officer’s report recommending approval of the plans made not a single mention of the flagship community woodland project right next door.

Nor was the woodland referred to in drawings or photographs that accompanied the report, he said.

The decision had to be automatically referred to Mr Gove as Secretary of State for levelling up, housing and communities, because the site of the proposed business park is officially on land designated as green belt.

Artist's impression showing how York's fledgling community woodland may one day look (Image: Planning documents/ supplied)

Cllr Vassie also wrote to Mr Gove urging him to intervene. “It would appear that planning officers had simply not made the connection between application site and this major environmental development in York,” he wrote.

But an official from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has now written back to Cllr Vassie saying Mr Gove will NOT get involved.

The official wrote: “The Secretary of State is very selective about calling in applications and… he was content that (this) application should be determined by the council.”

The agricultural buildings that would be converted for business use (Image: Planning documents/ supplied)

A furious Cllr Vassie today pledged to continue to do all he could to fight the plans – and to challenge the process by which council planners made the decision.

"I am talking with environmental law experts and others to explore all the options," he said.

“This decision resulted from an inadequate report that failed to properly inform the planning committee of the context of the proposed industrial estate and failed to engage with any of the conservation organisations who might legitimately expected to have been consulted.

“If allowed to stand this development will impact negatively on the community woodland and adjoining footpaths and cycle path for decades to come. That might not bother Michael Gove but it certainly bothers conservationists and many others across the city.”

Planning map adapted by Cllr Christian Vassie showing location of new community woodland - and, above, the site of the planned business park (Image: Supplied)

When Cllr Vassie first challenged the decision last month, the city council’s director of Transport, Environment and Planning James Gilchrist issued a strongly-worded statement defending the decision.

“After consideration of the case officers’ report along with discussion at the meeting, which specifically included reference to the community woodland, it was agreed that the application could be approved, subject to referral to the Secretary of State,” he said.

“The planning application followed all the required statutory processes including consultations and publications. The site is allocated for employment use as part of the draft local plan, the council’s ecologist had no objection … and a robust assessment was made in terms of the implications of the proposal before a recommendation was made.”

A council poster extolling the benefits of the community woodland (Image: City of York Council)

More than 85,000 young trees have already been planted in the fledgling community woodland just to the west of York. Within the next few years, the plan is for that to increase to 210,000 trees.

The 190-acre woodland will include woodland walks, cycling trails, wildflower meadows, a community orchard, a woodland school and a visitor centre.

It has been described as a ‘flagship project’ contributing to York’s efforts to protect biodiversity and tackle carbon emissions.