DEVELOPERS have asked councillors to consider letting them build on a patch of land bordering an important city nature reserve.

Askham Bog has been dubbed the the “York Minster of conservation” and last week wildlife experts and naturalists welcomed a move that took land close it out of contention for house building.

A fresh draft of York’s Local Plan took the site - which is off Moor Lane in Woodthorpe - off the table for building, and got rid of all sites which had been similarly “safeguarded” for development in the longer term.

Last night, developers Barwood asked the city council’s Local Plan Working Group to put the site back in the plan, saying it could be turned round quickly to provide much-needed new housing early on, and would bring valuable facilities like a new primary school, outdoor sports facilities, and new land for businesses to develop. They also said it could help improve the management of Askham Bog.

But at the committee meeting, Woodthorpe ward councillor said people in her area would be “gob-smacked” to see the prospectus Barwood had produced for the Moor Lane land, adding that their proposals covered an area around three times the size of the site which was already taken out of the Local Plan.

The meeting was the first time councillors had the chance to publicly discuss the fresh Local Plan draft.

Labour councillor Fiona Derbyshire said her Holgate ward would “bear the brunt” of the proposals, especially with increasing pressure on roads through the 1250 homes proposed for York Central over the 15 years covered by the plan.

She added: “I am extremely concerned about how affordable housing is going to be provided, given that much of the building is going to be on dense urban sites with inherently high infrastructure costs.”

Former council leader Cllr Chris Steward welcomed the new draft, but acknowledged that even with a major reduction in greenfield development some building would still happen on greenfield land.

A greenfield development near Elvington, which is included in the plan, covers a site bigger than Copmanthorpe or Bishopthorpe, Labour councillor Neil Barnes added.

The councillors rejected a call to redraft the plan again, in light of the EU referendum result. Cllr Mark Warters asked for recalculation of the number of new homes needed, saying the the “welcome and liberating” vote for Brexit should throw doubt on whether the population and predictions were correct. Cllr Steward rejected Cllr Warters’ reqest, saying the EU negotiations could take years but the Local Plan needed to be completed next year.

The rest of the committee then voted against Cllr Warters’ proposal, and instead gave the green light for members of the council’s ruling Executive to open a public consultation on the draft document.