Plans for thousands of new homes in a new village west of York have been sent to the government for independent examination.

The proposals for the Maltkiln Village scheme would see as many as 3,000 properties built on a site centred around Cattal Railway Station.

North Yorkshire Council has sent its Draft New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination.

The draft plan, which sets out how Maltkiln should be developed, has been drafted in consultation with communities and specialist organisations.  It includes a vision, objectives anMaltkiln CPO land west of York could be worth £170 milliond detailed policies to guide development. 

READ MORE:

North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of community development, Nic Harne, said: “We are acutely aware of the need for more housing across the whole of North Yorkshire to meet the demand for homes so that people can choose to live in the communities that they wish to.

“The Maltkiln development is a major scheme and is aimed at addressing the housing needs in the area.

“We have now submitted documents for the independent examination, and we will wait for the inspector’s comments to see how we can then hopefully progress the development.”

The draft plan, as well as accompanying evidence and consultation responses received during the consultation on the draft plan, will now be examined by an independent inspector to assess whether it has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements and if it is ‘sound’.

In most cases the examination will include hearing sessions which are held in public. The inspector will determine the appropriate format for these sessions.

At the end of the examination, the inspector will send a report to the council recommending whether or not it can adopt the plan, and if any modifications are needed.

The council says the Maltkiln Village development is due to be heavily themed around sustainability and the environment and is set to provide local amenities and facilities alongside the new homes, as well as extensive areas of open space and landscaping.

Plans for Maltkiln Village were first submitted to the now defunct Harrogate Borough Council by developers the Oakgate Group in 2019, following public consultation the year before. Work was due to start in late 2020 with the first homes completed in 2022. Revised plans were then submitted to the borough council the following year, with a further revised masterplan in 2022.

The scheme suffered a setback landowner last year with a landowner removing a large section from the scheme, leading to talk of the new North Yorkshire Council using compulsory purchase “as a last resort” to see the scheme delivered.

All information regarding the examination, including dates for any hearing sessions will be published on North Yorkshire Council’s website, www.northyorks.gov.uk