DPP, acting on behalf of Mulgrave Developments Ltd, have successfully promoted a site for release from the general extent of the Green Belt for a small-scale extension to the sustain rural settlement of Rufforth to the west of the City of York.

The City of York has not had a development plan since 1954 and whilst the general extent of the Green Belt has been established in the Regional Spatial Strategy the detailed inner boundaries and much of the outer boundaries have never been set.

DPP initially commissioned a project team to produce a suit of technical reports to demonstrate that the site is available for development, suitable for residential development and that the development was deliverable. DPP also set out a detailed case for the exclusion of the land from the general extent of the Green Belt.

The site was allocated for residential development by the City of York Council in the Preferred Options (June 2013) version of the draft local plan and the allocation has been retained in all subsequent iterations of the emerging local plan.

The site was also allocated in the draft neighbourhood plan, but the allocation was removed as the definition of the Green Belt was deemed to be a matter for the emerging local plan to determine.

DPP have commented on the allocation policy itself, the general housing need and affordable housing provision and the Councils Green Belt methodology and the lack of safeguarded land amongst other matters. In the context of the above DPP have responded to the Inspectors matters, issues and questions and have attended numerous sessions of the examination in public into the draft local plan.

At the time of writing, the Council are awaiting the Inspectors report into the soundness of the drat local plan.

Achievements

DPP prepared a suite of supporting technical information, to demonstrate that allocation of the site was achievable, deliverable and justified and have supported the allocation over a number of years.