More details of 3,000-home village between Harrogate and York set to be revealed

Harrogate Borough Council has announced it will this week publish a long-awaited development plan document for the village which will be built near Green Hammerton and Cattal, and mark the area's biggest urban expansion in decades.

The document will set out the boundary limits of the village to be named Maltkiln and include key details on access for vehicles, public transport, pedestrians and cyclists.

Housing designs will also feature in the document which once approved will help determine planning applications in the area.

Councillor Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning at the council, said: "The development plan document sets a clear and ambitious thirty year vision for Maltkiln.

"It will also be planned and delivered in a way that supports the delivery of net-zero carbon emissions by 2038.

"This means reducing the need to travel, providing walking and cycling infrastructure and improvements to public transport as well as supporting the transition to low emission private cars."

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The question of where to build a new settlement to meet Harrogate's housing demand was at the centre of fierce debates during the adoption of the district's Local Plan in 2020.

People living in the villages of Green Hammerton and Cattal - which have a few hundred residents each - said the council's decision to build the development in the area would be "utterly devastating".

The decision also led to a legal battle between the council and a developer which argued the former Flaxby Golf Course was the better location.

The council said it has chosen the Green Hammerton and Cattal area because of its proximity to the A59, as well Cattal train station which could form the central focal point of Maltkiln.

This comes after a previous public consultation during which the council asked for views on roughly where the 3,000 homes should be built in the area.

The council said focusing the village around the train station was the "emerging preferred option" and would also help "steer development away" from the surrounding villages.

If this option is progressed, a primary school, shops and a "local centre" would also be built near the York-Harrogate-Leeds railway line.

The development plan document will be revealed ahead of a meeting of the council's executive next Wednesday when senior councillors will be asked to agree to publish it for public consultation.

The consultation is planned for autumn and following this the document would then be submitted to the government for public examination.

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter