Report suggests a new town for the north - York
The historic city is named for its potential to expand into greenbelt and provide 75,000 new homes
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Two think tanks have identified just one location in the north that’s suitable for a whole new town to be built - York.
Residents of the often traffic-choked city could be surprised to learn that, according to Britain Remade and Create Streets, it could house thousands of homes by busting across the greenbelt to its outer ring road.
“Since Roman times, York has been defended, and defined, by walls. Yet it is no longer the mediaeval walls that constrain how York can grow, but York’s greenbelt, which is among the most restrictive in England. You can walk from the Shambles, in the city centre, to the green belt in less than a mile. The centre of York faces challenges between balancing new homes, new student accommodation, places for tourists, and businesses wanting to expand in the highly educated and well-connected city.”
What happens to greenbelts in the push for homes was also the focus of attention by environmental groups when the new mandatory higher housing targets were announced by the government last week.
Councils in Yorkshire and the Humber will need to build 25,957, the North West some 34,678 and the North East 10,976 homes each year if the Government's target of 1.5 million is to be hit by the next General Election.
In response to that, The Wildlife Trusts have reissued their call for wildbelts to be established:
“The Wildlife Trusts believe that a lot of the debate around brown field, green belt and grey belt misses the point - and that the development of a wildbelt cuts through a lot of these issues. People need to have good quality nature close to where they live as it improves quality of life. From better mental and physical health to reduced flood risk - a wild belt would help create communities that are nice places to live and invest in.”
The idea to expand York across the greenbelt would, the Creating New Towns Fast and Well report says, help to boost housing affordability and let more people live near the employment and educational opportunities that the city provides.
“Expanding York to its ring road and building around Poppleton station could provide York with 50,000- 75,000 new homes based on developable areas within the ring road at a gross density of 30 to 50 homes per hectare. Plus these new homes could bring trams back to York’s streets for the first time in 90 years.”
But in response, York Councillor Michael Pavlovic, the executive member responsible for housing and planning, told us the city had not submitted any proposals for a new town.
“We recognise the challenges York faces in meeting housing demand, especially affordable housing demand, but any development plan must carefully balance the need for growth with the protection of York’s unique historic, cultural, and environmental character.
“City of York Council will achieve this through its own Local Plan, which meets statutory Government requirements and whose adoption is imminent. Our Local Plan sets Green Belt boundaries for the first time, developed through rigorous scrutiny to preserve the city’s setting, maintains the distinct identities of its villages, and protects York’s key ecological and historical sites.
“The report includes some worthwhile ideas, including funding transport infrastructure through development and ensuring housing is situated in well-connected locations, both principles we endorse. But York’s Local Plan remains the most appropriate and evidence-led framework for managing York’s growth, providing a clear strategy that reflects the city’s needs while ensuring development is sustainable and respectful of York’s unique identity.”
York and North Yorkshire Mayor, David Skaith said that, as a relatively new Combined Authority, the immediate priority is to provide affordable homes and ensure York and North Yorkshire residents have more choice about where they live.
“We support the Government’s ambitious housing plans, and will work to identify barriers to housing development in our region. We’ll work with the Government while advocating for the powers and changes required to deliver the homes we need in our urban, rural and coastal regions.
“As well as new homes, we are committed to support the construction sector to retrofit and decarbonise our housing stock, helping us reach our regional goal of achieving net-zero by 2034.”
Boosting British economic growth
In the executive summary of the report, the authors outline the thinking behind the areas chosen as potential sites for new towns:
“This paper lays out principles for selecting the location and design of new towns, along with policy changes that will make it easier to build new towns quickly, well and with the maximum boost to British economic growth and productivity. We then use these principles to produce a shortlist of twelve new towns from a long list of 50 options that were identified through a combination of internal workshops, spatial analysis, and desk-based research.”
It says, new towns should be located in:
Places that are in an area with acute housing need;
Places with strong links to existing cities or towns, especially those which have a large housing shortage;
Places with room for at least 10,000 homes today and future expansion opportunities;
Places where new homes can be popular and successful by using existing or planned infrastructure rather than spending extra money and time developing major new projects;
Places that make use of existing plans or proposals that can be developed at pace, rather than creating completely new plans;
Places that do not need to expand into National Landscapes, flood plains or Sites of Special Scientific Interest in order to grow (though these places can be ones that need to use green belt land to grow); and
Places with good public transport links to encourage sustainable lifestyles, not just collections of poorly-connected sustainable buildings
The other 11 places selected using that criteria include Cambridge, Oxford and Chippenham in Wiltshire but the authors do also put Sheffield on a reserve list for a new town of 15,000 - 30,000 homes saying:
“Sheffield is Britain’s sixth biggest city. Some neighbourhoods have some of the highest house prices outside the south east. However, it is often overlooked when planning for growth. The Sheffield Supertram has been running since the mid 90’s. However, many stations to the south of the city are surrounded by golf courses and fields failing to make the most of this vital, and already existing, service. Creating new, gentle density, communities within walking distance to these stations would deliver thousands of sustainably located homes in a city crying out for more homes and space for advanced manufacturing.”
This is a tricky topic to navigate - should historic, beautiful old cities like York be preserved at all costs or do they need development in order not to become museums rather than liveable places? I’d love to hear your views.
In water news
💦 Those of you who follow us on social media or the app will have already received the first of two special reports about river pollution and the UK water companies that I'll share before the Christmas break. Here, campaigners discovered 30 chemical pollutants at a Yorkshire river's designated bathing site during largest inland bathing water quality study ever conducted in the UK.
💦 This briefing provides a first overview of pollution by so-called forever chemicals in water based on monitoring data reported to EEA’s Waterbase. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) levels are compared to provide an initial understanding of risks in European waters. From 2018 to 2022, 51-60% of rivers, 11-35% of lakes and 47-100% of transitional and coastal waters exceeded the annual average environmental quality standards (EQS) for PFOS.
💦 This week sees the official announcement of water bill increases from OFWAT. At the weekend, environment secretary Steve Reed told Michael Savage at The Observer that a widespread “failure of regulation and governance” was to blame for bill rises expected to average at least 21% over the next five years. We will have a special report on the increases coming to your inbox on Thursday.
The three most clicked links from last week were:
Arla, methane and milk - the truth
Yorkshire Water to invest £4M to stop River Swale discharges
In other news
🎄12 Days Wild is Tees Valley Wildlife Trusts’ festive challenge, starting on 25th December, running through to 5th January. The idea is to do one wild thing every day or night to keep you well and connected to nature in the lull between Christmas Day and the first week of January are you up for the challenge? Sign up at www.wildlifetrusts.org/12dayswild and you’ll receive daily inspirational emails packed with fun ideas to help you embrace winter walks in nature or the magic of night-time star gazing.
“This investment launches a new era for clean energy in Britain - boosting energy security, backing industries, and supporting thousands of highly skilled jobs in Teesside and the North East,” hailed energy secretary Ed Miliband.
All eyes were on the region last week as a £4bn plan that could bring 4,000 jobs to Teesside passed its final financial test. Mike Hughes at The Northern Echo was one of those reporting last week.
💨 Contracts worth between £75m and £100m have been handed to offshore suppliers operating in the North East and Yorkshire for a major North Sea wind farm project, reports Tom Keighley at Business Daily.
⚡️ A proposed battery storage site in North Yorkshire is being discussed to take advantage of the proximity to pylons and overhead cables, reports Patrick Gouldsbrough at the D&S.
⚡️ With a rash of renewable energy announcements coming out just now, you can read the full Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and what it means for the North here. It includes measures to speed up planning decisions on clean energy projects, unblock the queue for connecting to the grid, boost renewable capacity, expand energy storage and increase flexibility in the system.
🌿 A win for landscape scale nature recovery in the Yorkshire Dales was among this year’s National Park Protector Award winners organised by Campaign for National Parks and revealed at Westminster ceremony, reports Yorkshire Dales National Park.
🌳 Plans to build a 5G mast next to a well-loved tree in Kendal are facing a large amount of public opposition, writes Lucy Edwards at Cumbria Crack.
🌳 Northumberland County Council ‘can’t afford’ to plant new trees to replace shrubs it removed from Amble earlier in the report reports, Anna Williams at The Ambler.
There won’t be a newsletter next Tuesday (24th) as we’ll be taking a Christmas break.
But we will be back on Thursday this week with a special report on those water bill rises.
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It must be borne in mind that York is low-lying and is likely to flood badly in the future.