‘Dismay’ at latest bid for housing in village
RESIDENTS of a village which has seen a number of plans to build housing estates on farmland refused have called for a line to be drawn under such proposals, saying the local services and infrastructure would not cope.
Scores of residents of Riccall, north of Selby, have written to North Yorkshire Council to express dismay over the latest proposal by Barratt and David Wilson Homes to build up to 76 homes off Wheatfields Walk.
While residents have described the proposal as a “continuation of previous applications, simply with slightly smaller numbers”, the developers have outlined how they have sought to overcome the reasons for housing being refused on the site.
Addressing concerns the proposed estate would represent disproportionate growth in a designated service village, the developers have stated in planning papers while the requirement to build housing in such settlements has already been met, the council’s housing targets are out of date.
The document adds the volume of new vehicle trips the proposed development would generate would not have a material impact on the operation of local roads.
It states: “Overall, the location of the proposed development is considered to be a logical, sustainable northward expansion of the settlement on a site that is well connected to the rest of the settlement.
“The quantity of growth is not considered to be disproportionate and would provide new dwellings in a settlement that has not been subject to any substantial growth, nor is expected to within the emerging Local Plan.”
Although some 98 per cent of the site has been graded as best and most versatile agricultural land, the application highlights how the majority of land to the north of Selby is classified similarly, so the council’s aim to steer development away from such farmland “is not possible in a location such as Riccall”.
However, NHS bosses have concluded as the development would see a further 182 residents living in Ricall, the increased demands upon existing services, including primary healthcare, would be unsustainable.
Responding to the proposal, Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board spokesman said the housebuilders would have to provide funding for healthcare facilities before development starts.
He said: “The development will give rise to a need for improvements to capacity, by way of improvements to, reconfiguration of, or extension of existing premises or providing additional resource for a new-build health development.”
Objecting to the scheme, a Riccall Parish Council spokesman said the estate would generate a large amount of extra traffic, which would have “a significant negative effect on road safety” as no provision has been made for improvements to the junction of York Road with the A19.
Another objector wrote: “The village cannot cope with any more houses. The school is too small, no doctor since Covid, traffic and parked cars are becoming a nightmare.
“Builders are taking more and more of green spaces away turning a beautiful friendly rural village into an urban sprawl.”