New difficulties have emerged in the 4,000-home Maltkiln scheme after Caddick Group said the project would be "undeliverable" unless changes are made to help facilitate the purchase of land owned by Johnsons Nurseries.
North Yorkshire Council, which only learned of the requests this month, said it is prepared to accept most of what has been put forward by Caddick.
However, any changes to the Development Plan Document (DPD) will need final approval from government-appointed planning inspector Clive Coyne.
Mr Coyne is chairing a planning inquiry that is taking place at Harrogate Civic Centre all week.
Talks broke down in December 2022 between Caddick and a separate landowner to Johnsons, Benjamin Dent, who owns 43% of the proposed site where the homes would be built.
It plunged the whole scheme into doubt but North Yorkshire Council said it would be prepared to use a compulsory purchase order to force Mr Dent to sell his land and ensure the homes are built.
Giles Cannock KC, a barrister representing Caddick, told the inquiry yesterday (September 17) that whilst the developer supports the use of a CPO it would have a knock-on effect on other parts of the scheme and when homes can be built.
Mr Cannock said the soonest a CPO could reasonably be completed would be 2028.
This would mean the developer would be unable to meet housing targets set out in the Harrogate local plan, which would make the Maltkiln development plan “unsound” in legal terms.
The commercial horticultural business, formerly known as Johnsons of Whixley, has agreed to sell its land around Cattal station to Caddick so it can relocate to a new site in Hopperton.
Last year the firm had sales of £19m and it employed 175 full-time people, with many coming from the local area.
After finding a new site, Johnsons sent a letter to Caddick last month that said the business is contractually obliged to sell its land by February 2026 in order to relocate.
This is earlier than Caddick had been expecting so the developer has proposed phasing the Johnsons land sooner in the process which would mean 1,080 homes could be built across the Maltkiln site by 2035.
Crucially, this would mean the developer would be able to meet housing targets and the DPD could be judged “sound”, allowing the project to move forward.
But it would involve changes being made to the DPD including the site boundary being altered as well as the inclusion of a new access road to the A59.
Caddick has warned if this does not happen there is “no realistic prospect” of relocation of the nursery and a large part of the Maltkiln site would be unavailable.
Stuart Vendy, a planning agent who was speaking at the inquiry on behalf of Mr Dent, described the land ownership situation as a “house of cards that is hanging by a thread”.
Mr Vendy insisted that Mr Dent would fight any attempts by the council to CPO his land.
He said:
“We knew Johnsons was an issue back in the day. I can’t quite believe how thin the thread is. To request these changes at this stage is alarming and smacks of it not being thought through.”
Paul Townsend, chair of Kirk Hammerton Parish Council, said he believes the land ownership issues were financial and not planning-related.
He said:
“It would have been possible for the developer to exercise its option to secure the Dent land. There’s nothing stopping them from acquiring the Johnsons’ land and allowing them to relocate. These are not planning issues, they are down to finance.”
Paul Brown KC, speaking on behalf of North Yorkshire Council described the changes proposed by Caddick as “minor” and said the council would work with the developer to ensure the plan is sound.
The council’s planning manager Natasha Durham suggested that Homes England could be waiting in the wings to play a “delivery role” in Maltkiln.
She emphasised that the public body does not have a formal role in the scheme at this stage.
The government’s housing developer has stepped into other troubled schemes across the country to help ensure homes get built.
Ms Durham said:
“We liaise with Homes England about our pipeline of sites and they can play a delivery role.
“We have secured some capacity support from them allowing us to look at the council’s options if it does acquire the Dent land and what options would be available to the council, which could include Homes England taking a delivery role.
"We want to make sure we have all those options on the table.
“The council is serious about delivering and looking to explore all options.”
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