PLANS for a giant new “garden village” with nearly 1,000 homes, a school and country park have been unveiled.
The massive 164-acre site will be located less than three miles from one of the most historic city centres in England.
The huge development near York has been in the pipeline for nearly 10 years, with plans first submitted in 2018.
The first phase of more than 300 homes, featuring one-, two-, three- and four-bedroomed houses, is expected to be approved this week.
There will also be nearly 100 affordable homes, said the developers.
Once fully complete, the Monks Cross Garden Village will also include a primary school, community facilities and a convenience store.
A country park is also earmarked for the area near the village of Huntington as well as cycling lanes and transport links.
Traffic issues
Some councillors have reportedly expressed concern over potential traffic issues arising as a result of the development, with developer Redrow Homes planning to build a total of 970 homes on the land.
Outline planning permission for the development has already been approved.
There has also reportedly been concerns that the primary school will not be needed due to the falling birth rate in the area.
Officers have stated expanding existing schools remains an option if it is deemed to be preferable to building a new facility.
In its application, Redrow Homes outlined its plans for the site.
In addition to the homes, the new village would feature its own shops and good walking, cycling and public transport links.
These would connect the development with Monks Cross Shopping Park and nearby Huntington.
Sustainable extension
The developer added the aim is to “deliver a new garden village development that acts as a sustainable urban extension to Huntington”.
In 2022, the previous Tory ministers acknowledged the development would cause harm to the green belt but approved the plans, stating there would be a “further social and economic benefit” to the area, with 30 per cent of the development containing affordable housing.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s Government is determined to press ahead with its ambitious plans to build more than 1.5 million homes before the end of the next parliament.
The approval of Monks Cross Garden comes as Labour has vowed to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament.
Last month, ministers announced plans to spend more than £40 billion building a dozen new towns in the UK.
Ambitious plans
According to the plans, each of the dozen new towns will have at least 10,000 homes.
Labour has said the towns represent “the next generation of cutting-edge communities”.
Speaking to delegates at the Labour party conference last month, Steve Reed, the housing secretary, said the project is designed to “restore the dream of home ownership” for families priced out of the market.
Housing, as well as delivering economic growth, was one of the Labour Party’s key areas that it wanted to focus on when taking office.
Planning officers from the City of York Council will scrutinise the plans for the new garden village on Thursday, October 16.
New towns for the UK – 12 sites revealed
THE UK is expected to see the construction of a dozen new towns as part of a new Government scheme.
Estimated to cost a total of £48 billion, this new generation of homes hopes to tackle the housing crisis.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed pledged that construction will begin at three of the locations before the next election.
Speaking at Labour’s party conference, he said the Government will “do whatever it takes to get Britain building”.
Labour plans to take forward the construction of 12 new towns as recommended by a report from the Government’s New Towns Taskforce.
While the locations are spread across the country, priority for construction in the current Parliament will likely be given to Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill, north London.
Labour has described each of these locations as the “most promising sites”.
Tempsford, home to 600 people in around 300 houses, has been earmarked as a potential hub on the Oxford–Cambridge growth corridor, at the crossroads of the East-West rail line and the East Coast Mainline railway.
Meanwhile, Leeds South Bank is already part of a significant regeneration scheme which aims to double the size of the city centre.
And similarly, Crews Hill in Enfield, located around 12 miles from the centre of London, is already the subject of a draft local plan.
