Monday 28 November, 7pm, Slingsby Village Hall
Jasper Hasell, Castle Howard Chief Executive, will give a presentation on the detailed plans for the site East of the Balk.
Other items on the agenda include Fryton flooding, Christmas lights funding request, 20’s Plenty, and a Parish Survey update.
As for all Parish Council meetings, residents are encouraged to attend.
The full agenda can be found on our website HERE.
Castle Howard’s latest Christmas extravaganza opens on Saturday 12 November and continues until 2 January.
After last year’s Christmas in Narnia, Charlotte Lloyd Webber returns with her latest creative spin on the Christmas theme, bringing us a wonderland of happily ever afters, fair maidens and magic. You will meet Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, and Goldilocks, among many other familiar characters, as you walk through lavishly decorated rooms. The immersive light and soundscape culminates in the Long Gallery for the wedding of Cinderella and Prince Charming.
Tickets can be booked online at Christmas at Castle Howard
As Slingsby and the nation prepare to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next weekend, from tomorrow Friday 27th May visitors to the Big House are offered a rare glimpse at some unique pieces from Castle Howard’s collection [in exchange for the House entry fee, if you are not a member].
Situated in the grandeur of the Long Gallery, this special display will reveal links to the coronation of our Queen in 1953 and royal connections to Castle Howard itself.
The Village website will soon be bringing you full details of Slingsby’s Jubilee weekend (from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th June), where all of the activities are FREE!
This post tries to clarify the consultation process and, further below, suggests how you can submit comments.
This whole issue has kicked off this month because Ryedale District Council has to review its Local Plan, a major part of which is to see if new sites for housing need to be identified, to supplement those which are already in the Plan (e.g. the Balk/Aspen Way site).
This year the Review has quite a short timetable because of the Local Government Reform taking place in 2023. (Ryedale, along with other District Councils, will be superseded by the new North Yorkshire unitary authority in April 2023).
Only if a site were to be adopted into the Plan (which we believe would happen later in the summer at the earliest) would it then be possible for Castle Howard to submit a planning application, which would again give rise to further consultation.
While a few people might feel they only need comment when a planning application is actually submitted, others might take the view that the adoption of any site in the Local Plan is the thin end of the wedge and the principle of the development has been established.
Those who attended the lively Parish Assembly on Monday 23 May will have heard Councillor Simon Thackray mention that he and Councillor Steve Mason (also present) were members of a local plan group which was to meet on Tuesday 24 May to have a look at the proposed sites. They naturally wanted to represent residents’ views. Some of you may even have rushed to get in your comments in advance of that meeting. But there is still plenty of time.
The Village website has heard from planning officers at Ryedale DC that;
However, a planning officer has now advised that “consideration of sites has begun and we would recommend making comments sooner rather than later as they will inform officer assessments”.
We understand that further information (for instance, supporting documents) about all the 300 sites across Ryedale that have been submitted will be published on their website in due course, and anyone would be welcome to make additional comments after this if they would like to.
So, still wondering how to comment or struggling with the online form?
We published in our post “Review of the Ryedale Plan” on 18 May a link which will take you to this slightly difficult online form asking many tick-box questions, but allowing you also to send a supplementary email. Although the Council would prefer you to use the online form (to make assessment quicker), we have established that you can, if you wish, simply send an email to [email protected] with your views. It will be acknowledged and recorded. Remember to state the site numbers you are commenting on, and your name and address.
For further information visit: https://www.ryedale.gov.uk/information/planning/future-planning/
No one had seen the Village Hall as packed as it was for the Parish Assembly on Monday 23 May 2022. It was standing room only for late-comers.
You had to feel sorry for Parish Council Chair Fiona Farnell, for scarcely anyone was there to hear her annual report or about the four Parish Council vacancies. Everyone wanted to find out what Castle Howard were thinking of for the sports field and Castle area (plus the three proposed sites to the south of the village).
Publication in previous days of the four sites proposed by Castle Howard for adoption in the Ryedale Local Plan had given rise to much concern among residents.
It was good to see that Nick Howard had taken the time to come along to introduce and place in context the situation facing Castle Howard and explain the nature of this early consultation. Estate Chief Executive Jasper Hasell gave a full presentation on the overall vision for a sustainable future and then talked about the development sites, particularly the site which included the sports field. We also learned that the Castle Farm and Heights Farm site might go forward fairly soon to a planning application (the website understands that development here would be considered infill and therefore the site did not need prior adoption into the Ryedale Local Plan).
A lively question and answer session followed. Many concerns were raised. These came from residents young and old, from Ryedale Councillor Simon Thackray (who was there with his fellow Councillor Steve Mason), Slingsby School’s Head Teacher, and the Sports Club Chairman, among others. Castle Howard said protection of the sports field (as an integral part of the development) was their aim and it was suggested from the floor that it might be gifted to the community (as the Village Hall site had been donated, back in 1931).
In concluding, Jasper Hasell admitted that the evening had seemed like a bit of a roasting (it was always civil – Ed) but he was grateful for the expression of residents’ views.
A quick straw poll after the event seemed to suggest that a good deal more would have to be done to allay residents’ concerns.
The Slingsby Village website will bring you more on this story as the process continues.
Previous posts:
Review of the Ryedale Plan and the proposed sites
