A PLAN to build a large

open-sided railway shed north of Pickering has been given the go-ahead.

The proposals for a large “stable” for up to 40 vintage railway carriages, with associated restoration workshop and staff facilities, was put before members of the Ryedale District Council’s planning committee last Tuesday.

The application had been made by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) for the site north of Rock Cottage by Pickering Beck, and had been recommended for approval.

The estimated £2.9m cost of the project will be part-funded by a Heritage Lottery grant aid of around £1.4m.

John Bailey, chairman of the NYMR charitable trust, addressed the meeting.

He said the stable was needed to prolong the working life of the “irreplaceable” vintage teak carriages, which are currently kept outside.

“This application is about securing the future, not just for the NYMR but for local businesses it helps to sustain,” he said.

He added that the railway brings about £30m into the local economy each year, supporting about 1,000 jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry.

His sentiments were echoed by applicant Andrew Scott, who said the build was essential to repair the “gently rotting coaches parked up by the line”.

“It’s the minimum we should do to make the NYMR more sustainable,” he said, adding that alternative sites had been looked at “from Whitby down to Pickering Showground” but none found suitable. But the siting of the build was criticised by Mike Potter, acting chairman of the Pickering and District Civic Society.

He said that though members of the society are keen supporters of the railway, they deemed the site unsuitable for a number of social and environmental reasons.

“This is essentially an open barn with all the railway’s eggs in one insecure basket,” he said, adding: “When are we going to stop developing floodplains?

“This is a flawed design in a flawed location.”

He also said that the society advocated Newbridge quarry as an alternative site, but Mr Scott said it was too small and sloped.

Planning officer Gary Housden said that the approval would come with “very stringent” conditions, and that it had been looked at by all local flooding and drainage authorities.

Conditions eight to 17 are all related to flooding and drainage, he added.

The committee voted seven to one with one abstention to approve the build, subject to a number of conditions and dependent on an archaeology report.