ALMOST 1,400 new homes could be built on Ministry of Defence land - but one MP said the plan is not what York “desperately needs”.

Councillors will discuss York City Council plans to build 769 new homes at Imphal Barracks in Fulford and 623 at Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Strensall as part of an update for the Local Plan Working Group next week.

A report will be presented and considered by the working group on Monday, July 10, before it is taken to the executive next Thursday, July 13, and councillors will be asked to approve production of a draft local plan to be ready for the public in September.

Fulford and Strensall are two of three MoD sites which are to be sold off, with the third - Towthorpe Lines - not considered suitable for housing. However, the report said the site could be suitable for employment or business use.

The local plan is essential to help the council set out plans for where new houses and businesses can be developed in and around York until 2030, but more than two years after new parties took control of the council, it has still not been completed.

Despite being in development for so long, the upcoming plan has still missed the Government’s previous deadline of spring 2017.

In a joint statement, council leader David Carr and deputy leader Keith Aspden, said the authority had made “good progress towards a local plan for York”.

They said: “This is an important document for our city as it will set out how we respond to future housing need and demand for development to support employment while protecting York’s character.

“We would like to strongly encourage everyone to take part in the consultation over the summer from parish councils, businesses and residents.”

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, said she was unhappy that the plans seemed to disregard the council’s pledge to fight for the future of the barracks, which she said provided 1,600 jobs in the city.

She said: “I want to know what has been done to try and save the barracks and keep the army in York, which overwhelmingly people of York want, as do servicemen and women.

“It’s just kicking the can down the road, they promised the electorate in 2015 and this will be three years later and there’s no guarantee they will be able to build on that land after the social economic assessment takes place. Everything we have seen to date suggests the new housing will be luxury developments, as opposed to social and family housing the city desperately needs.”

The council said that once a draft local plan has been created this summer, the document - which also sets out long-term greenbelt boundaries for the city - will be put to the public for further consultation from September.

A spokesman said: “Pre-publicity would start in August when details of the proposals would be sent to residents in a special, York-wide, edition of the ‘Our City’ council newspaper.”

The working group and executive will meet again in January to discuss the results of the consultation, before a final version of the local plan is prepared which the council said “could be submitted to government in spring 2018”.

The local plan working group meeting is open to the public, and will be held at 5.30pm on Monday, July 10, in the George Hudson Room at West Offices.