Ryedale Plan adoption moves a step closer (From Gazette & Herald)

Ryedale Plan adoption moves a step closer

8:30am Friday 11th May 2012 in News

MORE than 850 views have been aired about a blueprint for how Ryedale could be developed over the next 15 years.

The Ryedale Plan has suggested the centres of Malton, Norton, Pickering and Helmsley may be in line for huge improvements and 3,000 new homes could be built alongside at least one new school between 2012 and 2027.

Ryedale District Council will next week be asked to agree sending the document to the Government to allow an inspector to make an assessment of whether it is “sound”, having said public consultation on the plan has not produced any “compelling” arguments for the authority to make changes to it.

The blueprint – a 2010 draft of which drew more than 2,000 comments – is Ryedale’s version of York’s Local Development Framework.

A report by Gary Housden, the district council’s head of planning and housing, which will go before a full meeting of the authority next Thursday, said 868 representations over the Ryedale Plan had been received and “no new major issues” had been raised.

The document suggests extensions to existing schools, creating a country park near Pickering, a new sports centre in Malton, and undertaking a range of transport projects. It outlines building 200 new homes a year up to 2027 and has stressed the importance of increasing Ryedale’s tourism economy, as well as possibly building a business and technology park in the Malton and Norton area. The Government inspector will recommend whether the plan can be adopted and any alterations which should be made.