CITY councillors have three days to go before their final chance to vote on a major development plan for the city, but background documents reveal questions from nearby councils and national bodies.

Questions have been asked about the size of one out-of-town development, as well as the number of new homes planned and the green belt.

The city council recently closed its last consultation on the Local Plan, and is now getting ready to send the draft to a government inspector - the final step before the document becomes a formal policy governing building around York for two decades.

That consultation drew responses from neighbouring local councils - like North Yorkshire and Selby - and from other bodies like Highways England and Natural England. Summaries of those responses are included in papers going before councillors at the key vote on Thursday and they show that a major housing proposal south of the city has raised numerous questions.

A plot known as ST15 - Land West of Elvington Lane - is earmarked for more than 3,300 homes, but neighbouring East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s response shows they are unclear about whether the site is big enough bring necessary supporting infrastructure.

Highways England’s response shows they have agreed “in principle” to a new link road to the A64 to serve the new homes, but the site also crops up in environment body Natural England’s response - who say that a large amount of evidence gathered about the site should be made public so people can see why boundaries have been changed.

Meanwhile, councils in North Yorkshire have asked questions about the amount of housing included in the plans.

North Yorkshire County Council’s says they fear an “inflexible” boundary on York’s greenbelt might put pressure on their own area, and they also the plan needs to include “safeguarded” land to be developed - something this version of the York plan does not do.

The county council also ask about housing numbers saying that while plans include more new homes than have been built in the last 10 years they do not boost the numbers to take into account signals from the housing market. Similarly Selby District Council says they want assurance than York can meet its own housing need.

The draft plan also includes big sites on the northern edge of York - like 1,348 homes west of Wigginton Road between Skelton and Wigginton, and 735 homes on the northern edge of Haxby. Highways England say these sites will combine to have a significant impact on both the northern ring road and that A64, so there needs to be a good understanding of the joint impact before they can agree the plan is sound.

At the same time, heritage body Historic England say they welcome moves to limit the amount of new building near the built-up city, and say new “free-standing” settlements will be much better for York’s special character than development on the edge of the city.

They are, however, concerned about problems that could be caused by major development on York Central. Although the brownfield development is to be supported, the summary of their response says, they have raised questions about how it would hit the city’s infrastructure, traffic and heritage.

All 47 City of York councillors will vote on Thursday on whether they agree the plan is “sound” and should be submitted for its final inspection.