Filey Councillor Not a Fan of Proposed Planning Changes

Moves to create a single planning policy for all of North Yorkshire have been criticised by one local councillor.

Work has begun on a single local plan for the county to replace the existing plans prepared by the former borough and district councils.

North Yorkshire Council is currently developing a new Local Plan to guide development and conservation across the county (excluding the National Parks) until 2045. This plan will outline policies for housing, the economy, the environment, and other planning matters. A public consultation is currently underway to gather input on the plan's priorities and vision. 

Filey Councillor Sam Cross doesn't think the change makes sense, he'd like to see more local planning policies retained.

"Prior to North Yorkshire Council, we were part of Scarborough Borough council and they had their local planning policy and local planning policy framework. 

And now what they want to do is they're in the process of planning one big, planning policy for the whole of North Yorkshire, so it's almost gonna be a one size fits all and as probably most people guess, all areas are totally different in North Yorkshire.

We're different to Skipton, we're different to Selby , you know it don't make sense, right?

But this is what they're actually doing. They've put the first bit of consultation out, and there will be more consultation coming out"

Key aspects of the North Yorkshire Local Plan:

• The plan covers almost all of North Yorkshire, excluding the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. It will guide future development, determine planning applications, and allocate land for new development. 
• A public consultation is underway to gather views on the plan's priorities, vision, and how it will influence the county. 
• The plan is expected to be adopted by 2029. 
• A call for potential development sites has been issued, with hundreds of plots submitted. 
• Existing local plans for the former district and county areas will remain in place until the new plan is adopted. 

North Yorkshire Council has launched the first consultation exercise which aims to give the public the chance to comment on what they believe the scope of the plan should be and key issues it needs to address.

There is no opportunity to comment on the proposed development sites at this stage.

Rachael Hutton, the council’s planning policy and place manager, said in a report to members that the main purpose of the consultation was to get early views from a wide cross section of the community and stakeholders on what the local plan should contain and the overall strategy for where new homes and jobs should be located.

The report added:

“The preparation of a new local plan for North Yorkshire is an important opportunity to set out the council’s place-making and sustainable growth ambitions and to seek to meet the needs of our communities.

“The issues and options consultation is the first opportunity for the council to seek views on the direction of the new local plan and will be an important stage in shaping how the plan evolves.”

The government has proposed changes to the local plan system, which are expected to make plans simpler, shorter and more visual.

But officers at North Yorkshire say they cannot wait for details of the changes to be announced later this year before progressing with the new plan for the county.

The report added:

“Due to the amount of work already undertaken, it is important to keep up momentum so that we can have a new plan in place for the whole area as soon as possible.

“Therefore, we cannot wait for the new plan-making system to be introduced before we launch this first major stage of consultation; the issues and options consultation.”

Although local plans for the former borough and district council areas are still being used, work on a new plan for the Selby area was stopped earlier this year. Councillors took the decision after the government increased North Yorkshire’s new home building target from 1,300 units a year to more than 4,000. This meant the council would need to issue a new call for sites to fulfil the new target.