Pickering housing plan thrown out (From Gazette & Herald)

Pickering housing plan thrown out

10:30am Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News By David Jeffels

PLANS to build a big housing estate in Pickering have been rejected by a government planning inspector.

David Wilson Homes had appealed against Ryedale District Council’s decision to refuse the home development giants to build 116 homes on land east of Outgang Lane.

The development would have provided 43 four-bed homes, 41 two-bed homes, 21 with three bedrooms, six five-bedroomed homes and five single bed units, together with garages, public open space, play area and vehicle access to the site.

Planning inspector Gyllian Grindley said in her report: “I am firmly of the view that this is simply the wrong place for residential development in land-use planning terms.

“The appeal site fields are, for the most part, intensively grazed or contain numerous domestic livestock – ducks, geese, hens, sheep and horses.”

Ms Grindley said there were three main issues on the proposal – whether the proximity of existing industrial uses nearby would result in noise, disturbance and poor living conditions for future residents, whether it was a suitable site and possible alternative sites, and the great-crested newt population.

Representations had been made to the appeal inquiry by Micro Metalsmiths that the company was planning to relocate from Kirkbymoorside to Pickering because of frictional relationships with neighbours at Kirkbymoorside.

Ms Grindley said: “It must be borne in mind that the appeal scheme would result in housing being built (at Pickering) immediately adjacent to a thriving, relatively unrestricted general industrial estate, and old, established businesses in Outgang Lane. This cannot, in my view, be sound land-use planning.”

Some plots would also suffer noise levels from traffic in Thornton Road, she said. “I have no doubt that, both with the existing operators on the estate and in Outgang Lane, and potentially new and, at present, unknown general industrial users arriving, there is and will be noise generated such as to be likely to cause annoyance and possibly broken sleep to the potential occupiers of the proposed houses.”

Coun William Oxley, the mayor of Pickering, said the inspector’s decision was in line with the town council’s views.

“We were not in favour of the scheme for the reasons the inspector has outlined in her report,” he said.