Severus Hills housing proposal set to be refused planning permission

It looks like residents are set to win their battle to prevent the development of a key site near Lindsey Avenue.

Yorkshire Housing want to build 43 affordable homes next to the landmark water tower.

Severus Hills comprises a 1.66 hectare partially wooded site occupying a prominent hill top location to the north west of the City Centre. It was formerly occupied by a, partially below ground, reservoir.

The site is a notified SINC (Site of Interest for Nature Conservation) on the basis of providing a calcareous grassland habitat.

Now planning officials are recommending that the application be refused. 159 letters of objections had been received by the Council.

Officials conclude that the development would “by virtue of its overbearing nature would give rise to substantial harm to the residential amenity of adjacent properties within Howe Hill Close”

The planning meeting is taking place on Thursday

 

New council homes completed on Lindsey Avenue

A development of 14 new council homes is almost complete.

Pack of cards developmentThe apartments have been built on the site of the former Pack of Cards pub on Lindsey Avenue by local contractor Woodhouse Barry.

The purchase of the whole block has been completed by the council’s housing department in the first such arrangement of its kind in the city. The first tenants moved into the apartments on 14 December.

The former public house had been on the market for 18 months but no interest had been expressed in running it as a public house or in purchasing it as a commercial development opportunity.

However it was subsequently purchased by the York-based developer RHW Developments. The planning application was submitted in late March 2014 and the acquisition price paid by the council in stages during construction.

The flats have been built to high energy efficiency levels – Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 – and to Lifetime Homes’ standards to ensure they can be easily modified as tenants’ needs change.

With easy access to shops, bus routes, medical services and a Post Office, the homes are prioritised for people with good tenancy records and tenants aged over 55 wishing to downsize thereby freeing up larger homes for growing families.

Meanwhile, tenants of eight new homes at Hewley Avenue will be moving into the two-bedroomed apartments in the coming weeks.

Early in the new year, work will start on eight new homes at Chaloners Road providing two houses and six apartments, and construction of eight apartments at Fenwick Street will begin, as well as six houses on Pottery Lane.

For information and advice on your housing options, visit www.york.gov.uk/housingoptions or call 01904 554500.