Eco-town site 'is identified'

9:29am Saturday 31st May 2008

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A SITE for the controversial 5,000 home eco-town in North Yorkshire looks to have been identified.

Gascoigne Wood in the Selby area will be proposed as the site for the town at a meeting later this month, according to top Selby district councillors.

Last month, Housing Minister Caroline Flint revealed a shortlist of 15 potential eco-town locations across the country, with confirmation that the Selby are would be home to one of them.

York had been considered for the destination but plans for a site at Clifton Moor fell at the first hurdle.

Much to the consternation of councilors and residents in the Selby area, all four sites proposed for the city region area were within the district.

As well as the controversial Willow Green site, the consultants included Gascoigne Wood, near Sherburn-in-Elmet, Burn Airfield and Church Fenton in their report.

The leaders' board of the Leeds City Region is due to hear their findings on Thursday, June 12. But The Press can exclusively reveal former Selby Mine hub and strategic railhead Gascoigne Wood as the site selected for further investigation.

Coun John Mackman, local councillor chairman of the planning committee, said the decision had been revealed to him at a meeting with GVA Grimley, county councillors and representatives from the Leeds City Region on Thursday.

He said they would be recommending the site for development of a 5,000-home eco-town.

"I think it's absolutely imperative that the views of the community in the western part of the district are heard," he said.

He said there would be two public meetings on Saturday, June 7, for residents to express their opinions on the proposal - one at Monk Fryston Primary School at 11am and another at South Milford Women's Hall at 1.30pm.

Nigel Adams, the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Selby, said: "I'm against the whole concept of eco-towns - it's a con.

"It's got nothing to do with building eco-friendly homes. It's to do with reaching Gordon Brown's target of building three million new homes."

Coun Brian Percival, the deputy leader of the district council, said: "The council is being asked to jump on bad and utterly incomplete information, the consequences of which will last forever."

The Press tried to contact GVA Grimley but no-one was available for comment.

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Should the eco-town be built at Gascoigne Wood?