A decision on plans for up to 52 homes in a Ryedale village has been delayed after planning officers changed their recommendation following the publication of new national planning rules.
North Yorkshire Council’s Thirsk and Malton area planning committee agreed to defer the outline application for land adjacent to The Pastures, off High Street, in Sherburn, to allow officers more time to assess the implications of the government’s new national planning policy framework (NPPF).
Planning officer Alan Goforth told the meeting: “A decision has been made that officers need to properly assess and advise members on those changes to the policy framework and apply the appropriate tests and weigh the policy correctly.
“Officers would also need to take on board advice from colleagues in the policy and legal team.
“So for that reason , and the requirement for further time to reassess in light of the NPPF, the recommendation is of deferral.”
The government says the changes to the NPPF have been designed to accelerate housebuilding, drive nationwide economic growth, and overhaul England’s planning system into a faster, more rules-based framework,
The application, from Cromsdale Estates and William Edward Cundall, proposes up to 52 homes with associated infrastructure, with access from White Gate.
Councillors had been due to consider a recommendation from planning officers that permission should be granted, subject to conditions and a Section 106 legal agreement.
However, the committee was told that recommendation had been withdrawn following the Government’s publication of an updated NPPF.
The original report had been prepared using the 2024 version of the national framework. It noted that a consultation on proposed changes had closed in March, but officers had considered the draft changes should carry only “negligible weight” while they remained at consultation stage.
With the revised framework now published, officers said they needed further time to establish what impact the changes could have on the assessment of the Sherburn scheme.
The issue is particularly significant because the original recommendation relied heavily on the council’s shortage of deliverable housing land.
The report stated that the former Ryedale area could demonstrate just 0.8 years of housing supply against the five-year requirement. As a result, officers had applied the NPPF’s “presumption in favour of sustainable development”, sometimes referred to as the “tilted balance”.
The application has attracted 53 public representations, with 40 objections and 13 submissions in support. Concerns include pressure on local services, traffic, flooding and the loss of agricultural land.
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