Councillor claims Derwenthorpe wildlife area pledge broken

Osbaldwick and Derwent councillor Mark Warters said that when the 540-home housing development on York's eastern outskirts was proposed by the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, concerns were raised about the loss of wildlife habitat.

He said an ecological assessment identified there would be a loss of grassland, hedges and scrub where there could be nesting and foraging by birds such as reed bunting, song thrush and linnet.

Land at New Earswick was then identified and accepted at the Derwenthorpe public inquiry in 2006 as being suitable for establishing a replacement habitat, and the trust committed to do that as part of a section 106 planning agreement.

He said the agreement required the new wildlife area to be provided prior to the occupation of 200 residential units at Derwenthorpe, but claimed this number had now been occupied without the new wildlife area being created.

"It was bad enough for Osbaldwick to lose its own wildlife area to Derwenthorpe but the failure to create a wildlife area at New Earswick to compensate for the loss of this land makes it even worse," he said.

But Joel Owen, deputy director of development and asset management at the trust said it was developing a nature site at New Earswick and was working closely with planners and the ecologist at City of York Council to continue this, in line with the site’s planning permission.

"We’ve developed former farmland on the site with long grasses which support insect and bird habitats, and there is more nature conservation work scheduled on the site this year," he said.

A council spokeswoman said the authority gave planning permission for the nature reserve in New Earswick in 2008 and it understood 200 homes in Derwenthorpe had only recently been fully occupied.

"There are ongoing discussions with Joseph Rowntree to establish the extent of works on the site of the nature reserve to-date," she added.