Escrick Park Estate’s masterplan for Heronby, a sustainable new community for North Yorkshire, is being taken forward by Selby District Council as part of its new Local Plan consultation.

Nothing has been finally decided, and if the Heronby proposals are agreed it will be built in phases over a number of decades.

Our low-carbon vision, which can be seen in the Heronby Delivery Strategy available online at heronby.co.uk, has guided our proposals from the start.

We are exploring a wide range of energy sources, including solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal, air and ground-source heat pumps, and large-scale mine energy district heating – of particular interest given Heronby is in a former mining area.

There is much we can rule out, such as mains gas, and exciting options to explore. But we are determined to remain flexible so that we can take advantage of low- and zero-carbon energy innovations when they arise.

As master developer, we will encourage housebuilders to embrace sustainable construction methods.

York Press:

Sketch showing what houses in a future Heronby may look like

Our sustainable principles also guide our transport strategy, which is to reduce reliance on the private car and promote alternative ways to travel – and one of the best ways we can tackle this challenge is by building a community that provides the majority of people’s daily needs within a walkable distance.

The challenges of climate change aren’t unique to Selby, York or North Yorkshire. Some of the solutions can be local, such as making more use of the cycle link between York and Selby, increasing the frequency of bus services along the A19, and approximately 70 acres of new tree planting and other biodiversity enhancements across the Heronby site. Others are national, such as the 2030 ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars which is expected quickly to reduce carbon emissions from transport.

Given the long timescales we are working with, we are committed to ensuring there is no prospect of thousands of cars being 'dumped' on the A19, as Cllr Christian Vassie fears ('Let Heronby be green', The Press, August 8). Our strategy is to balance addressing the challenges of delivering highway improvements to the A19, including a bypass for Escrick village, whilst at the same time building a community that does not encourage unnecessary car journeys.

By the end of Phase 2 - in around 2039- we estimate there will be 1,300 homes in Heronby, A19 improvements will have been delivered that alleviate many of the challenges that already exist, and there will also be a range of services, education and employment opportunities at Heronby that will already have taken the ‘internalisation’ of journeys within the community to a level not so far seen in other new developments in the region.

If Cllr Vassie would like to get in touch via www.heronby.co.uk, I’d be more than happy to discuss our vision further.