COUNCILLORS are set to run the rule over a Ryedale scheme which aims to create almost 200 new homes.

Persimmon Homes has revised its planning application to build 186 houses on the site in Norton previously occupied by Westfield Nurseries.

A final decision on the development is expected to be made in September, but Ryedale District Council's planning committee will be asked next week to take the next steps towards assessing whether it should go ahead by making a site visit.

The scheme involves creating 63 four-bedroom, 66 three-bedroom and 45 two-bedroom homes and 12 one-bedroom flats on the 5.7-hectare site in Scarborough Road, together with garages and parking spaces and an area of public space which would be used for a nature park and play area.

York-based Persimmon originally submitted an application for the scheme last year, but then went back to the drawing board after technical and design issues were raised by planners.

At the time, Norton Town Council had called for the original application to be refused and flagged up fears surrounding the floods risks associated with the land, which stands on the site of former clay pits and once housed a brickworks as well as the nursery.

Persimmon Homes Yorkshire managing director Andrew Bowes has previously described the proposed development as a scheme which would bring wider benefits for the town, with the company making contributions towards local sports facilities, schools and the Norton road network.

“It is a site which can make an important contribution towards the housing needs of the area,” he said.

The company has also said 40 per cent of the traditional-style properties would be reserved for affordable housing, which has been identified as an issue which needs to be addressed in the Norton area. The potential site visit will be discussed at a meeting of the council's planning committee next Tuesday.