A ROW has started between developers on a major housing site that could see 1000 new homes built on the edge of York.

Housebuilders behind one part of the site north of Monks Cross say those working on the rest of the site should not be allowed to go ahead without an overall masterplan - one that includes both parcels of land.

Earlier this year Redrow Homes submitted a planing application for 970 homes on land north of Monks Cross, including 291 affordable homes and a new primary school in a £200 million ‘garden village’.

However, their 60-hectare plot excludes an island of land in the centre, which rival housebuilders Barratt and David Wilson Homes have under option.

Now Barratt’s planning chief has written to City of York Council planners objecting to the Redrow plans and arguing that the whole site - which is included in the draft Local Plan for York - should be master-planned as one.

In a letter to the planners, Barratt warns the current approach could lead to “piecemeal” development, and adds: “As currently shown, the two sites will have to be built out independently and will form two separate communities with little or no connectivity. This represents bad planning and is in direct conflict with the concept of creating a new sustainable ‘garden village’.”

They also raise concerns about protected species like bats and newts on the land, saying Redrow have not asked permission to survey their portion of land, and asking how the company could properly bring in things like green corridors for wildlife without control over all the land.

Barratt’s letter says they are in “active discussions” with Redrow, but asks planners to log and consider their concerns.

However, Redrow say their plans are a “comprehensive proposal” for land that is already earmarked for housing in the draft Local Plan.

The company’s head of land in Yorkshire David Gilling added: “We have taken future areas of development into consideration when preparing our plans and York council’s planning team will consider any external representations in the appropriate way as part of the planning process.”