Heronby: Building of Yorkshire 'new town' with 3,500 homes between York and Selby in doubt after dispute over impact on roads

A new village named ‘Heronby’ had been proposed for land owned by the Escrick Park Estate in Stillingfleet – yet the site has now been removed from the Local Plan document for the Selby area.

The development had already proved controversial, with York City Council objecting to it and campaigners raising fears over increased traffic on the A19.

Heronby was presented as ‘key’ to meeting housing growth needs for the area by 2040. If all 3,500 homes were completed, it would have had a population of around 12,000 – around the size of the town of Tadcaster.

North Yorkshire Council said: “Our executive members were told on Tuesday 6 February that due to concerns raised about the highways impact of the new settlement which cannot be fully resolved at this stage, the proposals should be removed from the plan and that further consultation is undertaken.

"Members of the executive also recommended to full council that four new sites are added in Eggborough, Hambleton, North Duffield and Hensall for a total of 301 homes.”

Executive member for open for business, Coun Derek Bastiman, said: “The revised plan recommends removing the Heronby settlement proposal and adding in new allocations for housing in the villages of Hambleton, North Duffield, Hensall and Eggborough.

“In addition to these alterations, a number of changes have been made to the wording of the policy to address issues raised at the previous consultation. If approved by full council, these will all now be considered as part of the consultation process before coming back before councillors for final approval.”

York City Council had concerns about a lack of cycle routes to and from the development and the impact on Fulford School, as Heronby would only have been 1km from the York boundary. Officers were sceptical that a new school proposed for Heronby would ever be built.

The Escrick Park Estate, owned by the Forbes-Adam family, said they envisaged the development as a ‘garden village’ with recreational facilities, a country park, primary and secondary schools and a health centre, and also indicated they would support the building of a bypass.