MALTON Town Council’s decision to defer to a future meeting a decision about the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation’s proposals to relocate Malton cattle market and associated housing proposals in Malton and Old Malton is entirely right.

It was taken on the basis that they needed more information, particularly from North Yorkshire County Council, which as yet has not produced a report on behalf of multiple agencies after the floods of November and December 2012, despite creating a draft plan, which was reported on in the media in November 2013. Why is the report so delayed because it is affecting proper consideration of planning applications such as these four?

There were also concerns from the 40-plus members of the public present about the lack of consultation of allocation of sites by Ryedale District Council after the publication of its latest Local Plan; the fact that Malton and Norton town councils are in the early stages of the preparation of a Local Neighbourhood Plan with Ryedale; and how long a cattle market would actually exist on the new site and if it did not what new use would the site have?

In addition, there was continued resistance to prime agricultural land in Old Malton again being threatened following on from the proposals some years ago by Northminster for a business park, which were called in by the Secretary of State and then withdrawn by the developers.

In other words, developers are trying to get their proposals prematurely decided and all this in the light of Eric Pickles and George Osborne insisting in the past few days that councils should encourage brownfield sites to be developed ahead of greenfield ones.

These towns are having too much being aimed at them and more thought needs to be given to as to the effect on the communities in them.

Malton town councillor Martin Dales, Old Malton