28 new homes planned for North Yorkshire airbase site (From York Press)

28 new homes planned for Officers’ Mess at RAF Church Fenton

8:50am Friday 11th January 2013 in News

ALMOST 30 new homes could be created at a North Yorkshire airbase under new plans submitted to Selby District Council.

The application envisages creating 28 new homes on the former site of the Officers’ Mess at RAF Church Fenton, which would include two affordable housing units.

The houses would be a mix of three, four and five-bedroom properties, mostly detached, with some semi-detached houses, and extra access roads would also be created at the site.

Most of the buildings on the base ceased to be used in 1992, and were officially deemed surplus to RAF requirements in 2000, although the operational airfield, runway and adjoining hangars, administration and air traffic control buildings continue to be used for training purposes.

A report submitted with the plans said 20 property developers had been approached to see whether they would be interested in taking on the scheme if planning permission was granted.

Of the 13 that responded, all declined to purchase the site, as they felt the units would be “very difficult to sell, particularly in what is a very challenging housing market at present”.

The report said some developers had “expressed an interest in terms of the site and its location”, but only if planning permission was granted to allow the construction of market housing.

A decision on the planning application is due in March.