Last month, the builders of the proposed new homes on land adjacent to the Moor Road/Knaresborough road junction in the village submitted a revised planning application pack to North Yorkshire Council. This is an issue about which villagers have raised many comments, queries and concerns, which were vociferously voiced at a public meeting with the developers in the Village Hall on October 30 last year.

A report on that meeting can be found here. Click

The revised application, which reduces the number of houses on the site from 60 to 58, is dated June 5th and was submitted by Alfa Homes Ltd, representing Avant Homes. It is proposed that there will be 35 properties for sale on the open market, seven properties referred to as social, affordable or intermediate rent and 16 designated affordable home ownership.

There is also revision in respect of the impact of the development on the village's drainage systems. The company's covering letter within its revised application pack states: “Surface water will be drained to a new outfall, located outside of the village to the northeast of the cricket field. From here, surface water will be discharged back into Bishop Monkton beck downstream of the village. Surface water from the development will not therefore be discharged into Bishop Monkton Beck via Hungate. This new approach is obviously beneficial in the sense that the development will not exacerbate any existing issues within Bishop Monkton itself. Equally, this approach will negate the need for significant disruption along Hungate. Yorkshire Water have confirmed that they are content with this approach”.

The letter goes on to state “However, it is clear that this revised approach is significantly better than the previous approach to surface water discharge. Foul water will continue to be discharged into the 225mm public foul sewer located on Hungate. This has again been agreed with Yorkshire Water.”

Another major concern for residents was the road safety issues around the development, especially around the crossroads on Knaresborough Road The developers' letter addresses this as follows: "Following constructive feedback between AHL and North Yorkshire Council Highways (highways authority), an alternative approach to mitigate the issues with the Hungate / Moor Road /Knaresborough Road junction have been devised. Under the previously submitted plans, it was proposed to reconfigure / widen Moor Road, to create a stagger across the junction (thereby reducing forward visibility and encouraging oncoming drivers to give way on the approach from the west). However, the highways authority have instead suggested that a raised table arrangement should be used (which is demonstrated on plan ref: AMA-20306-D-10). The raised table arrangement encourages oncoming drivers from all directions to slow down on the approach to the junction, and to observe the requirement to give way where appropriate."

All documentation, which is substantial and includes the covering letter from Alfa Homes Ltd., can be found on the NYC planning applications portal click.

The Parish Council put forward their comments to the planning department in an email dated June 5th, which can be read here. Click. This issue is also on the agenda for discussion at the Council's monthly meeting on Tuesday July 15th.

For more information or to find out if comments can be made at this point in the process, please contact Helen Goulden, Principal Planning Officer, North Yorkshire Council. Click to email or tel 01423 556270. Application reference: HGTZC24/03358/FULMAJ