PARISH councillors in Osbaldwick say they have not given up their fight to stop the Derwenthorpe model village, despite a crucial European Commission ruling in its favour.

The parish has said that, after 11 years of opposition to the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust’s proposals for a 540-home development on open land in the village, it remains totally opposed to the scheme.

“No doubt the authorities are aware that as one door closes on objectors, another will undoubtedly be opened,” it warned in a statement. “There are other EU laws that may have ramifications.”

It said the parish had maintained “strong and principled opposition to this environmentally and socially destructive green belt scheme since its public announcement in 1999, and sees no reason to amend this stance”.

The commission ruled last week that while a deal by City of York Council to sell land for the development to the trust without going to open tender had breached EU public procurement rules, it had decided not to refer the case to the European courts. York council chiefs said this meant the scheme could finally go ahead after years of delay.

The parish had claimed the “basic failure” by York council to operate within EU law had involved a significant drain on the public purse, and it revealed that it hoped the election of Julian Sturdy as Tory MP for York Outer, only one day after the EC decision was announced, would assist it in its opposition.

It said both Mr Sturdy and James Alexander, the unsuccessful Labour candidate for York Outer, had been supportive over the parish’s stance on Derwenthorpe, and the parish looked forward to working closely with the MP to highlight concerns over the scheme to the appropriate authorities.

Mr Sturdy said after being elected last week that he wanted to tackle three immediate issues, one of which was to fight to protect the green belt, and he intended studying closely the Derwenthorpe scheme.

City of York Council leader Andrew Waller said he believed Derwenthorpe would provide much-needed family housing.

It was also sustainable and was the “right thing to do” on land which had been allocated for housing since the 1993 Southern Ryedale Plan.