The Development
The new North Yorkshire Council is under pressure from HM Government to create a new local plan that accounts for an increased housing allowance from 1,793 to 4,077 a year, with a need to prove a 5 year supply.
Hallam Land proposes to build 1,100 houses between the boundary of Tockwith Village and Marston Business Park, on the site of the old WW2 airfield. The scale of which is visualised on their plan below.
No Tockwith-specific assessment has been identified showing a need for 1,100 homes. North Yorkshire’s wider housing target does not mean that this number of houses should be built in Tockwith.
The proposal includes provision for new educational, recreational and healthcare facilities. However, these facilities are not guaranteed unless their funding, location and delivery dates are secured through planning conditions or a legally binding Section 106 agreement. Such agreements are typically linked to construction milestones rather than for upfront improvements.
Section 106 contributions would try to mitigate the effects of the development, but this does not necessarily mean that all funding would be spent directly within Tockwith.
Main concerns include:
Scale of development compared to the existing village
More traffic and congestion, road safety concerns
Pressure on local schools, healthcare and local services
Flood risk, drainage and sewage capacity
Loss of the best and most versatile agricultural land.
Years of construction noise, dust and disruption
The impact on the surrounding countryside and loss of wildlife habitats
Erosion of our village’s heritage
Previous residential site application refused.
An application for residential development on this site was previously made in Harrogate Borough Council’s ‘call for sites’ in 2016, but was refused by on the basis of a number of significant grounds.*
*Harrogate BC Built and Natural Environments Site Assessments Vol 13, TW8 Tockwith Airfield