THE long-awaited creation of a Local Plan for York has been hit by another delay.

City of York Council says it has been informed by government inspectors that they will need to postpone Local Plan hearings which had been due to start later this month.

It said that due to sudden health issues with one of the inspectors, the start of 'Phase 2' hearings sessions, focussing on spatial strategy, level of growth and supporting infrastructure, will now take place at a later date, and not from March 15 as initially planned.

A spokesperson said the Plan will be a framework to guide development and protect the quality of the city’s historic, natural and built environment, setting strategic priorities and forming the basis for planning decisions.

They said that upon confirmation from the inspectors, a new timeline will be published at: www.york.gov.uk/localplanexamination

"The inspectors will take into account the comments submitted to-date, as far as they relate to soundness considerations such as whether the plan is justified, effective and consistent with national policy," they said.

"The questions issued by the inspector will be published on the Local Plan section of the website."

York has been without a formal Local Plan for nearly 60 years.