Osgoldcross Councillor Gillian Ivey is writing to Government Ministers expressing her concerns about proposals to build a 15,000 to 20,000 home Eco Town adjacent to Darrington and the A1/M62 interchange.

Councillor Gillian Ivey will argue

Government Plans are being pushed through with undue haste and without adequate consultation with local residents

No local consultation has taken place prior to proposals being sent to the minister.

What economic benefit will this bring to the area?

The proposal as it stands appears to focus on housing and not on developing a sustainable eco town – a place to work and live.

There will be Travel Chaos on the M62

The proposed development will place a further intolerable strain on Motorways in the region. A development on a busy motorway intersection is an invitation to create further ‘non-eco’ road travel to Wakefield, Doncaster and Leeds.

Tragic loss of green belt

The area projected for the development is an area of green belt and rural villages which under this proposal would simply become an extension of the Pontefract/Knottingley urban sprawl.

We will consult the residents

Councillor Ivey proposes an extensive consultation process with residents in the affected villages and will be writing to households in the area asking their views on the proposal.

Plans seen by Councillor Ivey and made out by Tangent Properties North are summarised below:

In response to the request from the Department for Communities and Local Government for proposals within the English regions for new “Eco-towns”, Tangent Properties (North) Ltd wishes to submit an initial submission for a sustainable new settlement at Darringfield within the Yorkshire & Humber region.

Darringfield has been selected by the promoters as it has the potential to fulfill many of the key objectives of the Eco-town Prospectus. In summary;

• It has a central location within the region at the intersection of the M62 and A1 motorways and has a rail line on its boundary. The key regional cities of Leeds (15 miles), York (20 miles), Sheffield (24 miles) and Hull (36 miles) are all in close proximity.

• It offers an opportunity to utilize and re-develop a major, historic area of quarrying and landfill/tipping, removing a significant blight from the local landscape.

• Darringfield can play a significant part in the re-generation and reconstruction of a local economy and housing market which has suffered from the decline of the mining industry. The towns of Selby, Castleford, Pontefract and Knottingley are all within a 12 mile radius of Darringfield.

About Gillian Ivey

Gillian Ivey is Selby District Councillor for Whitley Ward which includes Cridling Stubbs, Womersley and Stapleton the three villages most affected by the proposal.
Gillian Ivey is also North Yorkshire County Council member for Osgoldcross Division.
Gillian has served on Selby Council for 5 years and NYCC for 3 years she is married and lives in Little Smeaton.

 

Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service.
Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.