Living conditions at a traveller site in York should be improved before any expansion takes place, council chiefs have been told.

Inspectors said an unsafe road and lighting and a waste processing plant next door to Osbaldwick’s Outgang Lane traveller site left them with significant misgivings over any future expansion under City of York Council's proposed vision for future local development.

They have proposed changes to the council’s draft Local Plan, now subject to consultation, requiring it to bring the site up to an acceptable standard before any expansion.

Council planning executive member Cllr Michael Pavlovic said the consultation on the changes was another step towards the overall Local Plan being adopted.

The council has been contacted for further comment regarding the specific claims made about the Outgang Lane site.

It marks the latest stage in the council’s efforts to get a Local Plan for York adopted.

The city has not had a Local Plan, the master document which sets out the vision for new housing and other development, since the 1950s.

Inspectors visited two sites, Water Lane in Clifton and Outgang Lane, as part of a review into the council’s proposals in the Local Plan to meet future demand for traveller accommodation.

They reported their findings to the council in May.

The inspectors found plots would need to be rearranged at the Water Lane site to allow for future expansion but otherwise there were no issues with enlarging it.

But they told the council any expansion of the Outgang Lane site would only leave more people living in unsatisfactory conditions.

Michael Pavlovic. Image credit: City of York Council Michael Pavlovic. Image credit: City of York Council

The inspectors said: “We have significant misgivings about the proposed expansion of the site.

“The access to the existing site, an unmade road with a potholed surface and no pavements or lighting, is not safe.

“The relationship of the existing accommodation with adjoining waste processing plant is such that living conditions leave a lot to be desired.”

The inspectors have proposed changes to the Local Plan’s policies on traveller sites which would require the council to resurface the road leading to Outgang Lane before expanding it.

Street lights and pavements would also be required along with improvements to the boundary between the site and the waste processing plant to lessen the latter’s impact on the former.

The inspectors said the proposals would help make the Local Plan more legally sound.

Planning executive member Cllr Pavlovic said they wanted to hear from people whether they had commented on it already or not.

Cllr Pavlovic said: “Progressing this will be another step towards the Local Plan being adopted, to set the strategic priorities for the whole city and to form the basis for planning decisions.”

Development envisaged by the Local Plan includes 18,000 new homes, including more than 4,000 affordable ones.

It also identifies brownfield sites for development and would create permanent greenbelt.

Up to six new schools could be created if the Local Plan is adopted.

It would also see new sites opened up for business development and require developers building off-campus student accommodation to make contributions towards affordable housing.