A NEWSLETTER produced by the district and county councils has been labelled as "pure propaganda".

Ryedale District Council (RDC) and North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) has published the 'CitizenLink' newsletter, which has been distributed to households.

However, district councillor Paul Andrews said it only gave the opinion of one side and undermined the Ryedale Plan.

“This joint newspaper, issued at the council tax payers’ expense, is pure propaganda and its main purpose is to justify the building of a huge new council estate on the Ryedale House site," he said.

“I’ve made my views very clear to RDC. I want the Ryedale Plan amended so that after the grant of permission for the full complement of houses required by the plan for Malton and Norton, no new development should take place until adequate infrastructure has been provided.

"I’ve made this point many, many times, but of course the last thing that Ryedale will ever do is listen to common sense, or put the public good above their own financial interests."

Cllr Fiona Farnell, chairman of RDC's planning committee, said: "The two councils have agreed to work together to publish this newsletter because it’s the most effective way of getting information to people living in the Ryedale area about the work of their councils, how to access services and progress in a number of key areas.

“In terms of the issues raised with the Local Plan, the development of this plan has been through a long and vigorous process, including an independent review, to ensure that it accurately reflects the housing and business growth needs of the district as well as identifies where best these needs could be met.

"It’s important that we have this plan in place, because it acts as a sense-check for assessing development proposals."