HOW THE RYEDALE LOCAL PLAN AFFECTS LAND IN SLINGSBY [posted Jan 2016]
In 2010, many Slingsby residents attended an exhibition in the village hall about the Ryedale Local Plan. The public was invited to comment on the district wide plan and the various sites in the village outside the present development limits, as put forward by local landowners for consideration for future development. Central government planning policy dictates that Ryedale District Council must prepare its own Local Plan strategy which sets out general guidelines and expectations for development.
The Local Plan was adopted, after all the statutory public consultation, and with central government approval, in September of 2013. The plan covers a ten year strategy for all types of development thoughout the district. Detailed work on the land use allocations has to be completed, so the plan does not yet inlcude any changes to development boundaries or new land uses in the villages and towns.
Central and regional government targets for housing have to be met in the adopted plan. Here in Ryedale, new housing development, apart from one-off houses, is limited by the plan to just the market towns and larger villages, to protect the open countryside. There are ten large villages known as Service Villages identified. These include Slingsby, Hovingham and Swinton / Amotherby.
The sites put forward in the larger villages have been now assessed, using an agreed filtering process. In each service village the strategic planners are looking for just one or two larger sites which are in the right place to provide a reasonable number and mix of houses. These sites will also support some smaller lower cost houses and affordable dwellings.
For Slingsby, seven sites were put forward and five of these have been rejected. The sports field site was rejected owing to its key position near to a group heritage listed buildings, including the Castle, which is also a scheduled ancient monument. There was also possible flood risk here as well as other service problems. A small site to the east of Wheatland’s Farm also failed the test, being too small among other problems.
Development of land further north to the east side of Railway Street was designated as ‘ unlikley’ due to a number of service problems and the adverse impact it would have in the settlement pattern of the village. Land to the west of Castle Farm was considered unsuitable for similar reasons, although it is stated as having some potential for building conversions when the farm buildings there cease to be needed.
The Mowbray Oak field to the north of the sports field was not considered suitable, being too far outside the settlement, and in the possible flood zone. The owners have in any case withdrawn this site from the plan, although it is still shown on maps.
This leaves two open field sites to the east of The Balk, which are considered to offer potential, and which can be taken forward to the next stage of work if the owners wish. Together the sites are listed as achieving up to 73 dwellings of mixed types. This is the approximate number of houses being looked for in each service village. There are detailed matters yet to be considered, not least the means of access and drainage and infrastructure improvements. If these problems can be overcome, the present village development limit line will be varied to include this area of the village.
This is a brief update on where things stand. All the detailed information can be found on the Ryedale District Council’s website under Ryedale Local Plan. It is a long and detailed read, with five years worth of reports. The recent detailed sites analysis is there in table form. If you visit the site, be warned to take careful note of the publication dates of each document. Many are now superseded, but remain there as a record of the process so far.
SLINGSBY VILLAGE DESIGN STATEMENT
This is a different document, designed to help residents with the more detailed design and alteration of buildings specifically in Slingsby. A small group of people in the village have been working on this. It is nearly ready for public consultation and should appear in February 2016 on the Council’s website for inspection. It will at the same time be published here on the Slingsby Village website.
Margaret Mackinder, Jan 2016