Do we need a new village?

Richard Best - York's successful economy and its increasing regional significance mean it needs more homes - particularly for those on middle and moderate incomes.

The land near Osbaldwick west of Metcalfe Lane provides the opportunity to build 540 extra homes on about 30 acres, with an additional 20 acres of open space and landscaping.

For the past four years, the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) has consulted people who live in the neighbouring communities.

A consultative panel of local residents has made a big contribution to the plans submitted for approval. We believe the end result will be a new community good enough to serve as a beacon for major developments elsewhere in the country.

New development on the edge of an existing town is often preferable to infilling on many small - often sensitive - sites in the town itself, or creating new villages in open countryside, with the added problems of commuting.

Because the land near Osbaldwick has already been designated for development, it seems inevitable that houses will sooner or later be built there.

The key question for local people is whether the partnership between JRHT and City of York Council can ensure a more attractive and acceptable development than if the site was sold to speculative house builders. We believe it will for the following reasons.

As a not-for-profit body, JRHT will be contributing substantial sums towards social aspects of the development. For example, 35 per cent of properties will be "affordable" homes offered on subsidised terms; and all homes will be built to Lifetime Home standards, making them fully accessible.

The council is parting with the land for a price which makes it possible to ensure higher-than-normal standards of traffic-taming, environmental protection and energy-saving features.

We have set aside £650,000 to improve existing community facilities, or create new ones, according to the wishes of local people. The council will be also be contributing to this.

The development plans incorporate high standards of design and layout. Unsightly power lines are to be moved underground and residents will live in safe Home Zones where people, not cars, will have priority.

We shall be building in sympathy with neighbouring settlements. For example, with smaller homes - some for retired people - at the Meadlands end of the site, and with a few larger, and more expensive homes, near Osbaldwick village.

We can guarantee Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust will stay involved with managing the development for many years to come. We have been looking after New Earswick for 100 years.

We understand some residents do not want a new development next to them, no matter how thoughtfully it is planned. We assure people living nearby that we we are determined to ensure inconvenience during the construction period is kept to a minimum.

We do not expect the traffic flows to be nearly as disruptive as some critics suggest and we are actively working with residents on ways to mitigate potential problems.

For example, there will be no rat-runs and only buses will be allowed to drive straight across the new development.

Coun Malcolm Kettlestring - The views of the Parish Council reflect the views of most of the residents whose properties surround the proposed development site. It is acknowledged that because of the neglect of the landowners - City of York Council - the area does need tidying up.

The total destruction of it, however, will be an environmental disaster. It is the last meadowland between the city and Osbaldwick.

It will also result in the destruction of most, if not all, of the ridge and furrow areas, removal of some mature trees and hedgerows and the resulting loss of the abundance of wildlife which inhabits the site.

The parish council believes not enough thought and consideration has been given to the impact the construction will have on the surrounding area, with the noise, pollution and the disruption that will be caused by construction traffic.

It is also proposed to use the present road systems around the site, some of which are in a poor state of repair.

In an article in the Evening Press in April 2002 Coun Ann Reid said: "Liberal Democrat councillors are concerned at the impact of new housing on the existing roads network."

Does this concern still apply after taking control in May of this year?

Ian Atkinson of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust has acknowledged that surrounding property values will be affected during the construction period, which could be up to ten years.

Who will make good any shortfall?

In December 1996 drainage work being carried out in Murton Way had to be done by means of a tunnelling machine. Any trench dug was collapsing because the roads had been built on sand.

The final route to be used by the construction traffic has still to be determined and during the years of "consultation" residents were assured that negotiations were taking place to build a temporary construction road from the east.

We now find that no such approaches or discussions have taken place.

The parish council employed a civil engineer to report on the roads surrounding the site and his findings differed on many points to the reports of Baxters who were acting on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust.

Our consultant wrote to the city council and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust in February and, to date, no replies have been received.

The same position applies to a letter from the parish council in February. Only in early September did the council receive a reply to some of the points raised, and this was after copies had been sent.

MP John Greenway received a short reply to a letter he forwarded on our behalf and only after receiving a copy from him were we made aware of this.

The parish council is also concerned about the possible increase in the risk of flooding because the beck is already at capacity during heavy rain.

It should also be noted that a local resident has already been refused insurance because of living in a YO10 postcode area.

Will the owners of any houses built on the site be able to obtain insurance cover?

We also feel that the hydrological studies, on which the planning application is based, are flawed because readings were taken during one of the driest periods for years and are still preliminary, according to the outline planning application recently submitted.

We feel the capacity studies used in the application are flawed because all the underlying assumptions are incorrect.

We believe most of the issues discussed by the "panels" have been mainly concerned with the development and not enough consideration has been given to residents.

Updated: 11:17 Wednesday, September 24, 2003