BUSINESS leaders have questioned whether York’s latest Local Plan proposals contain enough development land and will provide sufficient housing to meet demand.

The meeting of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce’s property forum, attended mainly by representatives from businesses involved in aspects of property development, heard from Martin Grainger, City of York Council’s head of planning and environment.

Mr Grainger spoke about how the latest proposals had been reached and the next steps in the Local Plan process.

The Press has previously reported that the revised draft plan proposes significantly lower new housing numbers than the previous draft, with less building envisaged in what are considered to be green-belt areas and a greater emphasis on brownfield sites.

Forum chair Eamonn Keogh said it was a ‘very different-looking plan’ from the previous, adding that this meeting would form part of the consultation on the new document.

Mr Grainger said the council had worked with the same property consultancy that was advising neighbouring authorities in Ryedale and Hambleton to come up with a target of building 841 houses a year in the York area for the duration of the plan, due to run until 2032.

He said five strategic housing sites, of about 52 hectares in total, had been removed from the new plan, as had 20 non-strategic sites, of about 34 hectares in total.

He added: “York has a green belt in principle, but the details of where it starts and stops have to be laid out in the Local Plan.”

Mr Grainger took questions, including ones about the level of housebuilding now proposed, with one member of the audience asking whether they would meet the ‘pent-up demand’ in the area.

Another talked about having a ‘massive feeling of deja vu’, recalling previous Local Plans which had not made progress because Government inspectors were ‘not convinced’ they contained enough development land, while Mr Keogh said some people who lived outside York felt their communities were under pressure because there was not enough building in the city.

“We want to be in a position where York meets its own housing needs,” said Mr Grainger.”We feel we have an emerging sound plan but it needs to be risk-assessed.”

He called on people to engage with the council. “If you have concerns about the soundness of the plan it’s important they are raised as part of the consultation process. There is a willingness to listen.”

Asked about the possibility that the Government could intervene if York did not produce its Local Plan quickly enough, he said he did not believe intervention would speed the process up. “It’s important that York empowers itself to create a plan for the city,” he said.