STRONG concerns have been raised about plans to take land out of York's green belt to make way for new homes and businesses.

At a packed meeting in the Priory Street Centre last night, the public was given the first chance to air their views to the council's Green Belt Working Group.

Under the proposals, 26 hectares of greenfield land within the current draft green belt are set to be allocated for housing and employment up to 2011 at Monks Cross and next to Northminster business park at Poppleton.

A further 188 hectares of land at seven sites throughout the city would be allocated as "safeguarded", opening up the way for possible development for housing and employment between 2011 and 2021.

Concerns were raised at the meeting about the effect of the plans on the already congested A1237 outer ring road and access in and out of Haxby.

Jason Tate, who works for Hillier Parker, told the meeting he was "extremely surprised" at how much development was planned for the north-west of York.

"It's one of the most heavily congested parts of the city already," he said.

"The proposals seem to be unbalanced. They should look more to the eastern side of York."

Knapton resident William Dixon-Smith said householders needed to be helped to understand the intricacies of the proposals and how implementation would affect their daily lives.

"Residents see things in black and white," he said.

Coun Dave Merrett, who chaired the meeting, said: "This is a complicated process and not everyone picks up on it.

"We need to do all we can to help people understand it."

Bill Woolley, assistant director environment and development services, told the meeting: "Everywhere we put development there is going to be impact.

"We're going to have to find new ways of getting people in and out of the city to these sites."

The green belt proposals will be subject to widespread public consultation across the city during the summer.

Updated: 09:01 Tuesday, March 12, 2002