Community leaders and residents of a town beside the North York Moors have complained about a lack of facilities, jobs and infrastructure being established to go alongside hundreds of houses being built in the area.

The concerns being raised in Kirkbymoorside come ahead of North Yorkshire councillors meeting on Thursday to consider a proposal to build 19 homes across good to moderate quality agricultural land on the north

west side of the town, west of Gillamoor Road.

The proposal, which includes six affordable homes and 834sq m of public open spaces, follows proposals for most of the 300 homes allocated for the town in the development masterplan for Ryedale being approved.

Agents for the developer stated in the planning application they had been advised by council officers the site could be considered a sustainable location within reach of the centre of Kirkbymoorside “where there are a range of services and facilities”.

They added: “The proposed number of dwellings will make a small but notable contribution to the planned delivery of housing within Kirkbymoorside to meet the target of the local policies.

“The principle of development for residential use has already been established through the allocation of the land for housing under local planning policies  adopted in 2019.”

However, while stopping short of objecting to the proposal, Kirkbymoorside Town Council said it was underlining concerns regarding the number of houses being built in Kirkbymoorside “with no accompanying development of the local infrastructure to support the increased population”.

In a letter to the authority one resident stated alongside major developments at Manor Woods and Wainds Field there had been “no sign of any new jobs being created in the area”.

The resident wrote: “How many more houses can Kirkbymoorside’s old infrastructure cope with, such as sewage? Are there any proposed developments to increase the size of facilities in Kirkbymoorside to match the number of increased residents, such as doctors and shops?”

Recommending the proposed housing estate be approved, planning officers said the site is within the development limits of an area which had been classed by the former Ryedale council as a Local Service Centre.

The officer’s report states: “The development of this small size site

would contribute towards meeting the 300 home requirement of Kirkbymoorside.

“The application is subject to a small number of representations and there are no objections to the application from any consultees or members of the public. The comments and concerns that have been raised by neighbours and the town council have been taken into account where relevant to the principle of development; access, scale and layout.

“The proposed development is not considered to have an unacceptable impact on the open countryside, landscape, local amenity, highway safety, ecology, archaeology or flood risk.”