FRESH fears have been raised that proposed housing targets might not meet York’s needs and could be challenged by the planning inspectorate.

The York Economic Partnership has joined the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce in expressing concern about proposals in City of York Council’s Local Development Framework for 575 houses to be created each year up until 2031.

Council officers recommended up to 800 new houses should be created, and the chamber claimed last month that the 575 figure should be increased to support economic and population growth.

Now Peter Kay, chairman of the economic partnership, has said members had indicated at a meeting that they believed the figure should be based on evidence, and it might otherwise be challenged by both the planning inspectorate and developers.

His comments came as the council’s Labour group leader James Alexander, who is calling at a council meeting on Thursday for the figure to be raised to 800, claimed a senior council officer had said rejection of the LDF by the planning inspector would be a “disaster.”

Coun Alexander said York needed more housing so the city’s children and families could afford to live in the city and villages they grew up in, the building sector could get on its feet and the local economy could grow.

He denied Labour wanted to build on the green belt but Coun Steve Galloway, the Liberal Democrat executive member for city strategy, claimed Labour was reviving its idea of building on such land.

“If the city had to provide development space for an additional 4,500 homes over the next 20 years, then large tracts of greenfield land near Huntington, Haxby, Rawcliffe, Poppleton, Chapelfields and Woodthorpe would be liable to development,” he claimed.

“The council has opted for a measured approach to growth while placing a high priority on the conservation of the built and natural environment.”