PLANS for new homes and business in Ryedale have been identified in a new long-term planning proposals, and now you can have your say .

Ryedale District Council’s (RDC) sites document identifies locations that will meet the needs for development already identified in the earlier stages of the council’s local plan.

Included in the plans are two new housing sites at the current site of the district council offices, in Malton, and land between Beverley Road and Scarborough Road, in Norton.

Meanwhile, two new housing sites are proposed at Pickering and three smaller sites are proposed in Kirkbymoorside. The plan also proposes to treat the land at Westfields, in Kirkbymoorside, as an allocated housing site in the event that the current planning permission lapses. Two housing sites are proposed in the villages of Slingsby and Amotherby.

As well as land for new housing, the plan also allocates some additional employment land close to Thornton Road industrial estate in Pickering and identifies land at Eden Camp in Malton as a broad location for further employment growth.

Alongside proposals for where development should happen, the plan sets out areas that should also be protected from development. These are known as visually important undeveloped areas and are located at Malton, Old Malton, Norton, Welburn, Slingsby, Hovingham, Ampleforth, Pickering and land between Amotherby and Swinton.

Cllr Fiona Farnell, chairman of RDC’s planning committee, said: “This is about turning our long-term targets for housing and business growth into reality, by identifying the sites where new homes and business development should take place.

“By doing this we can also ensure that we protect other areas of our beautiful district where such development is not suitable.

To view the document, go to ryedaleplan.org.uk/local-plan-sites