An environmental group in York says proposals for major housing development on the city's outskirts will "destroy 53 acres of very fine landscape and wildlife habitat".

Barry Potter, chairman of the York Natural Environment Panel, said the scheme to build 500 houses at Metcalfe Lane, between Tang Hall and Osbaldwick, went against "all modern thinking about the way development should happen and habitats be protected".

The panel has complained that it was excluded from early consultation on the proposals drawn up by City of York Council and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust.

But Mr Potter said he was more concerned about the amount of green field land designated for new housing schemes in York, which he claimed stood at 70 per cent, including this site, against the Government's recently suggested maximum of 14 per cent.

The land earmarked for houses at Metcalfe Lane was grassland and valuable hedgerows.

He said: "They are going to destroy 53 acres of very fine landscape and wildlife habitat for a new housing estate."

The panel said the development was contrary to the recommendations of the council's own biodiversity audit and local plan policies, as well as national policies for the development of brown field in preference to green field ones.

Roland Crooke, director of housing operations for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said the panel had not been formally consulted, as the consultation which had taken place had been aimed at local people.

But he added a planning application was not expected until towards the end of the year and a decision in principle on this particular scheme, which included 40 per cent open space, had not been taken.

"There will be plenty of further opportunity for everybody, including the panel, to get involved as it moves through the planning process," he said.

He added the site was "edge of town" and not green belt, and was designated for housing in the local plan.

But Mr Potter said he believed the council had already made a decision about this site. It should wait until sufficient brown field land was available before designating sites for new housing.

Bill Woolley, the council's assistant director (planning and transport), said the land had been taken out of the green belt in 1993 by an independent inspector and subsequently allocated for housing by Ryedale District Council before becoming part of the City of York area.

He denied Mr Potter's claim that the city council had already made a decision on the present scheme for 500 homes, saying a report seeking a decision in principle on that would be brought before its policy and resources committee later this month.

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