City of York Council’s Planning Committee will decide on 5th February whether to grant permission for 114 affordable homes to be built on land off Sim Balk Lane. Planning officers are recommending that the application is refused.
The report to be considered by the committee is available HERE.
Initial designs were shared by the developers in March 2023 before a formal application was submitted – further details HERE.
The 5.54 hectare site is located to the south of Sim Balk Lane, situated between the A1036 (Tadcaster Road) and the A64 to the south east. Running partly alongside the site to the north west is the Sustrans cycle route and further beyond in a south westerly direction is a petrol station and Marks and Spencer simply food outlet.
The officer report notes that “the proposed scheme amounts to inappropriate development in the green belt and substantial weight is given to any harm to the Green Belt (NPPF para 153). The impact of introducing residential development would significantly reduce openness both visually and spatially, and cause harm to the green belt by reason of inappropriateness.”
The report goes on to say “The proposed release of Green Belt land through the emerging Local Plan has been undertaken in a plan led and evidenced way. The application site is not one of the sites where it is considered that the evidence base justifies an incursion into the general extent of the Green Belt, and it is not included as an allocation in the emerging Local Plan.”
Highway design matters including tracking of a waste vehicle, shared spaces between pedestrian, cycles and vehicles and the proposed Travel Plan are described in the report as not acceptable.
There are supportive comments from the council’s Housing team, who say that the “housing is of excellent quality, providing well designed homes with living and storage space needed for residents, along with renewable heating in the form of air source heat pumps and high fabric standard that will reduce demand and minimise fuel poverty risks and carbon emissions.”
The report concludes by stating that “the benefits of the scheme are considered not to clearly outweigh the totality of the harm to the Gren Belt, and any other harm resulting from the proposal in the Green Belt. Consequently, the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development do not exist.”