Moor Lane green belt plans challenged

The council recently set out its proposals for York’s Local Plan, which includes designating land off Moor Lane as green belt. Previous draft plans brought forward under the Labour administration had proposed building on this land, and then ‘safeguarding’ it for development.

At a meeting of the council’s Local Plan Working Group on 27th June, a speaker from HOW Planning put forward an alternative vision for the land off Moor Lane, which would see 1,250 houses built on the site.

A letter sent to members of the Local Plan Working Group by Northampton-based Barwood Development Securities Ltd is available here – Letter to LPWG members 270616, and their ‘vision document’ setting out their plans for the site, is available here – Moor Lane Vision Doc .

The document includes a map showing the extent of the land that Barwood propose to develop (copied below). The proposals cover a much larger area than was included in the previous draft plan as ‘safeguarded’ land.

Moor Lane site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Local councillor Ann Reid, who is a member of the Local Plan Working Group, said  “I do not support these proposals, and made that clear at last night’s meeting. Local residents who backed the campaign to protect the land off Moor Lane as green open space will be alarmed at what is being proposed here.”

“The consultation on the proposed Local Plan – which would see the land off Moor Lane protected from development – is likely to get underway in mid July. It is important that everyone who wants to see this area protected takes part in that consultation and makes their views known.”

19 thoughts on “Moor Lane green belt plans challenged

  1. D&R Nichol says:

    We do not support this new plan to build 1,250 on moor lane .

    “It’s a case of give them an inch they take a mile”

  2. David Holland says:

    Looks like an old refuse tip to me producing lots of gas.Not a good place to live.

  3. John Bibby says:

    The road system surrounding the proposed housing development is already gridlocked at peak times in the day. It often takes me 5 to 10 minutes to safely pull out of my driveway on Moor Lane. A further 1250 houses will bring the traffic to a standstill. The impact this will have on the natural wild life that frequent the open fields including wild deer will be devastating and will threaten the Askham bog protected site. If there’s no homes for nature then there will be no nature!

  4. Allan Ashworth says:

    Under no circumstances should York City Council consider this proposal. It should be designated immediately as protected green belt.

  5. Nigel+ Lilian Hillen says:

    This proposal should not be considered by York City Council.How many times does it have to be said the importance of Askham Bog must take priority .Also this area has had massive building done on the old college site and the infrastructure cannot take any more.Moor Lane is already gridlocked at main times of day.On a personal note we would be devastated not to see the beautiful Deers,Kestrals,Herons (that are nesting in the trees) and all the other wildlife that lives in these fields.Greed must not destroy our wildlife!

  6. David Jalkeman says:

    This proposed development is directly opposed to the councils stated policy of protecting the greenbelt and building on brownfield sites. Moor Lane has over the years gone from a quiet lane to an extremely busy main road and any further major development would produce not only peak time gridlock but also dangerous levels of exhaust emissions. The proximity of Askham Bog nature reserve cannot be over emphasised. The area is a wildlife haven, provides feeding areas for thousands of migrant geese in the winter and is a natural corridor between the open countryside and Hoggs and Chapmans ponds. The new York Local Plan has rightly omitted this area from the Preferred Sites Consultation and to backtrack on this decision would create huge ecological and social damage.

  7. Derek De Vere says:

    The proposed development of 1250 homes is indeed frightening for local residents and would massively increase traffic on an at times already busy Moor Lane. Living on Alness Drive in Woodthorpe already I can foresee massive concerns regarding this proposed development and we desperately need to see the Green Belt protected so that this proposed development does not proceed. I cannot see any benefits on this area at all for local residents – and we should count….

  8. BARBARA BURGESS says:

    I am definitely opposed to more housing in this area, I live in Alness Drive and work in Ripon, it is impossible to get down the Ring Road on a morning and I have to cut through countless villages on the back roads to get to the A1. More housing means more traffic and on most mornings the Ring Road is grid locked in both directions.

    This land must be protected as green belt land.

  9. Gary Shields says:

    Building more houses in this area will only add to the already stretched amenities and infrastructure, as others have already stated. I feel this will have a detrimental effect on the local community, affecting crime rate during construction and after, the loss of natural habitat associated with Askham Bog and the increased noise levels, with houses being a lot closer. In addition the extra street lighting will also cause an impact to surrounding wildlife. This will seriously affect the bio-diversity of this area. Has there been any consideration to how the Council will serve this area with respect to refuse collection? Sure, it will bring potentially more jobs but at what cost? Totally against this proposal.

  10. Dave Hardcastle says:

    Here we go again, you review the existing York localplan preferred sites 2016 and no mention of any proposed development on Moor Lane yet discussions are obviously taking place, thanks to the FOCUS team for keeping us advised. So what’s changed in a word nothing, roads are gridlocked, drainage is poor ever since they built the new roundabout we suffer with constant flooding in our gardens, schools are at capacity, constantly have power outages due to cabling and substation overloads, we have a nature reserve that needs protection, we have loads of brownfield sites within the York area, so in summary this area has to be retained as greenbelt and we should focus on more appropriate sites as highlighted in the preferred sites 2016 plan

  11. Gareth Valentine says:

    It is outrageous that York City Council should consider allowing areas such as this to be used for housing when disused brownfield sites still exist within the York outer ring road area.

  12. This is so wrong firstly Askham Bog needs to be protected, secondly there is too much traffic here already trying to get to work and school at peak periods. Also what is wrong with building on the land between the A1237 and Acomb this would keep people away from Askham Bog and protect it. Also the new estate would have the benefit of using 3 roads to leave by instead of the one Moor Lane they could also use Askham Lane and further across Grange Lane. It could also be continued on to Wetherby Road and even further to Boroughbridge Road. The council should think again as their plans are wrong.

  13. Caroline says:

    Is the land off Moor Lane woodthorpe now protected from future developmen? Or will this be an ongoing area for other planning proposals?

    • stephenfenton says:

      The draft local plan proposes that the land off Moor Lane be designated as green belt. We are therefore keen to see the local plan consulted on and adopted as soon as possible.

  14. At the moment I live at marsh farm and the wildlife that live here are amazing this farm is still working farm I have been here for 60 years I remember there been no houses on moor lane and we had cart horse’s working on the farm this is a sanctuary for wildlife. In askham bogs there are wild ponies from the pony sanctuary which is so nice to see them just enjoying the peaceful green belt area

  15. Anne Arundale says:

    The Local Plan agreed that this land on Moor Lane be designated as green belt land and here we are with the council over ruling this within a short period of time.
    The ultimate plan to have 1250 home on this site with access on to Moor Lane is totally impractical with the road servicing all the homes on Woodthorpe . It leads onto a busy roundabout which is at a standstill for most of the morning and evening rush hour, backing up more than half way along Moor Lane.
    This busy junction at the roundabout serves Tesco, a council parking site , The College ,The Hospice. offices , a craft centre, over six hundred houses , A Nixon housing development and access to the park and ride for buses and cars.
    The highways department must have missed the opportunity to do a proper and accurate survey on this congested section of road networks,which lead onto Tadcaster road from Moor Lane and from all developments.
    The most critical destruction of this green belt will be adverse effect on the Nature Reserve regardless of any so called protective boundary around the site .
    The brown field sites in York are crying out for development, in the city and surrounding areas.
    I strongly object to this planning on greenbelt.
    I am a resident of Moor Lane and do not expect to be here for another thirty six years ,as the retirement home beckons. This is about the future of the city and not selfish reasons..

    • stephenfenton says:

      As local councillors we too object to this proposal. To be clear, the council is not ‘over ruling’ the proposed designation of this land as Green Belt. The plan put forward by developers is not at the council’s instigation.

  16. p&p robinson says:

    i stongly agree with all the comments made on the building of new housing on moor lane.we live in eden close and the open view is one of the reasons we chose to live here.people who say moor lane is already busy is very true.city of yok council think again about this ridiculous project!!!

  17. Ann and Ray Barker says:

    We note wth dismay that the proposed plans for Moor Lane reach right to the boundary of Askham Bog SSSI. Any housing development S of Moor Lane would certainly have a very negative impact on this special place, t would not “assist protection of Askham Bog” as suggested by Barwood Land MD Jamie Gibbons. The impact of increased traffic pollution and congestion, street lighting, adventurous youngsters,domestic animals would cause harm to roaming deer and other creatures also to habitat.
    We do not live near Moor Lane, but we care for the natural world beyond our back yard.

Leave a Reply to Caroline Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *