SKIPTON MP Sir Julian Smith has urged the secretary of state for housing to reconsider proposed changes to national planning policy which would see the annual housebuilding target for North Yorkshire set at 4, 232 new homes.

In his letter to Angela Rayner, Sir Julian agrees there is a need for more housing, but expresses his concern over the targets set in the government's proposed changes to the standard method for calculating housing need.

Under the current method, North Yorkshire Council is required to deliver 1,384 new homes per year; if the proposed changes go through, the figure would increase to 4,232 new homes annually across the whole of the county.

In his letter, Sir Julian notes that North Yorkshire Council has consistently surpassed its housing targets, averaging around 2,800 new homes per year - exceeding both the 1,384 homes required under the current method and the 2,289 homes planned for in inherited local plans, including in Craven.

However, he believes the size of the new target is unrealistic and unsustainable for the region, and has highlighted that generating demand for the new figure would require job creation in the county to increase more than nine-fold alongside significant upgrades to infrastructure, neither of which are feasible within a short time frame.

Sir Julian has also raised concerns about the region’s environmental protections, noting that North Yorkshire is home to two national parks and two national landscapes, which restrict development, and warned that the infrastructure upgrades necessary to support such a large increase in housing would likely lag behind the pace of development, leading to negative impacts on the local community and environment.

In his letter, he writes: "I would urge you (Angela Rayner) and your officials to engage with North Yorkshire Council, as well as the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, to find a solution that matches their pre-existing ambitious plans for housing with stretch targets from the Government that are more deliverable than the current consultation projections."

North Yorkshire Council has already said it believes the proposed annual target is unrealistic and at the last area meeting of the council in Skipton, councillors raised their concerns and called on Sir Julian to do what he could to raise the issue with the government.

The meeting was reminded that the figure was a proposed one and that the council was consulting with the government.