Avant Homes say they are not yet in a position to fulfil their promise to talk to the village about ideas for improving their plan to build sixty new homes in the village. The developer has told 'Bishop Monkton Today' that delays by some statutory bodies in providing their formal comments on the planning application mean they are not yet able to start discussions on issues like road safety and sewerage infrastructure.

It is now almost seven weeks since Avant held a public meeting in the Village Hall at which they promised to engage with the village. At the meeting several speakers suggested that Avant should be working with the village to put pressure on Yorkshire Water and North Yorkshire Council to improve the village infrastructure before the planning application was decided. Ideas discussed at the meeting included changes to the road layout at the Knaresborough Road, Moor Road, Hungate junction and taking the proposed surface water discharge pipe from the development to a different point in the village, further away from the areas most liable to flooding.

In response, Avant’s Technical Director, Jon Birkin, undertook to respond to the village soon after the deadline for comments to the Council had passed in November about whether the company would incorporate any of the village’s suggestions into their scheme.

The deadline for comments to the Council was November 22nd - almost four weeks ago. 'Bishop Monkrton Today' understands that several statutory bodies which are required to comment, including the Highways Department and the Lead Local Flood Authority, have not submitted their view. Until then council planning officers can't finalise a recommendation on whether the plannng application should be approved or rejected. It is now almost certain that the target date of 15th January for a decision will not be met and that the application will not be discussed anytime soon by councillors on the Skipton and Ripon Planning Committee, which considers plans for our area.

An Avant Homes spokesperson said: “We are currently awaiting the formal consultation responses from a number of key consultees, including North Yorkshire Council Highways Department and the lead local flood authority, regarding our pending planning application for the proposed residential development in Bishop Monkton. Once we have received these outstanding consultation responses, we will be in a position to enter into discussions with all parties to further consider the various concerns raised by residents. We remain committed to working with the residents of Bishop Monkton to deliver quality new homes for the local area.”

You can see the full list of comments submitted to the Council on the NYC planning portal click

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