AN MP has called for a public inquiry into York's controversial New Osbaldwick proposals.

The Evening Press has recently reported extensive protests against the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust's plans for a 540-home new village on York's outskirts.

Residents living in roads which will serve as access routes into the development, such as Fifth Avenue and Meadlands, have been particularly upset about increased traffic.

Now Ryedale MP John Greenway, who represents part of the area affected, has written to City of York Council to ask whether it believes the proposals should be called in and determined by the Secretary of State.

He said in a letter to Roy Templeman, director of environment and development services, that the scale of the proposed development, the strength of local objections and the authority's ownership of the development site all suggested that an inquiry would be appropriate.

He told the Evening Press he believed an inquiry should be held.

He said local people believed that concerns raised during a public consultation process, particularly over access, had not been properly addressed in the trust's outline planning application.

"People are also concerned there could be a conflict of interest for the council," he said.

He said such an inquiry could both determine the application, and also settle matters of dispute between the developer and the community should the development go ahead.

But Mr Templeman said the question of whether or not there should be an inquiry was a matter for the Government.

He said that if, after hearing all representations, the council was minded to approve the plans, it would have to refer the application to the Secretary of State, not least because of the council's ownership of the development site.

The Secretary of State would then determine whether or not the proposal should be called in and an inquiry held. Mr Greenway said Osbaldwick Parish Council and the Murton Way Action Group had indicated to him that they intended raising a number of objections, relating to noise, capacity, construction traffic, flood risk, air quality, traffic volumes and conditions of roadways.

He said they had concluded that the proposed access points were unacceptable, and that a new independent access to the development should be provided as a prerequisite of granting consent.

Updated: 10:50 Thursday, October 16, 2003