COUNCILLORS will decide whether a 168-home retirement village can be built on a greenfield site in Ryedale next week.

Methodist Homes wants to create a “retirement community” including 90 apartments and 78 bungalows on land next to Crossgate Lane, in Pickering, and its application will be debated by Ryedale District Council’s planning committee next Monday.

In a report on the scheme, which also includes community facilities, planning officer Gary Housden did not make a recommendation over whether the charity’s proposals should be approved or rejected, saying further comments are needed from the authority’s conservation officer because the site for the development is close to a conservation area.

He said Methodist Homes had provided more images of how the retirement complex would look and these were now being studied, after which a recommendation will be made for councillors.

Pickering Town Council, along with Pickering Civic Society, has opposed the scheme because of its location and size, although it said there was a need for care facilities in the town, while 14 objection letters and a petition containing ten names have also asked for it be blocked.

Three support letters have been sent to the council and Mr Housden’s report said English Heritage had no objections following archaeological checks at the site, adding that the scheme would provide “social and economic benefits” and it had been “well designed”.