A SELBY councillor has criticised the authority over its lack of land for development.

Councillor and Labour leader Steve Shaw-Wright said Selby District Council did not have a five-year supply of development land, which a report in June said meant there was a high risk of unplanned development within the district.

A report before SDC's planning committee this month said: "The council accepts that it does not have a five-year housing land supply and proposals for housing should be considered in the context of the presumption in favour of sustainable development."

Cllr Shaw-Wright said: "It’s almost unbelievable that six months on from the report it appears very little progress has been made to resolve this issue.

"It would be of assistance in meeting the affordable housing targets if the planning committee insisted in implementing the council’s own policy on the percentage of affordable housing on new sites."

A council spokesman said: "Identifying and maintaining a five year land supply is important to this council and is being addressed through our land use planning policies.

"In terms of affordable housing, there is an affordable homes requirement for all private development over a certain size, but this does depend on these developments going ahead. Across the country over recent years fewer homes have been built because of the economic situation. We're now starting to see signs of more development taking place, and by working in partnership with developers this will help to deliver new affordable properties."

Coun Shaw-Wright also said the council had "failed to deliver its own target of affordable housing every year since 2008 and has only met or exceeded the target in two years out of the past eleven years".

He said: "As many development applications come forward knowing that because of the lack of five year supply of land it will be very difficult for the Selby District Council to refuse them- this will lead to the granting of permissions on inappropriate sites or risk losing expensive planning appeals."