A NEW property development "pepper-potted" with affordable housing could be built in a York village.

A planning application for 62 flats, town houses and detached houses with associated parking in Murton Way, Osbaldwick, will be considered by City of York councillors on Thursday.

The proposed development meets the council's affordable housing policy, with 26 per cent of the homes earmarked as being affordable.

But although planning officers have recommended the development for approval, the council has received 20 letters of objections from nearby residents, claiming it would put pressure on traffic and inadequate community facilities.

Osbaldwick Parish Council has also objected, with concerns about extra traffic, surface water run-off, and houses being too close to an overhead power line.

The parish council has asked planning officers to consider seeking an additional £80,000 to cover the cost of a traffic calming scheme.

The application comes at a time when controversy is still raging over Derwenthorpe, the 540-home new village being proposed elsewhere at Osbaldwick by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. That scheme has caused massive concern over extra traffic on local roads.

City of York development control officer Mick Britton says in a report to councillors that the Murton Way development could generate 40 to 45 vehicle movements during peak hours.

The report says: "It is considered that this amount of traffic will not have a significant impact on the highway network surrounding the site.

"The development is served by a ten-minute frequency bus service and cycle lanes, thus providing opportunities for sustainable travel."

Access to the development would be by a new road, which could be adopted as a public highway.

The report says the applicant, George Wimpey North Yorkshire Ltd, should be asked to fund a bus shelter and easy access kerbs.

Updated: 11:06 Monday, March 22, 2004