An assault on our community and the Greenbelt nationally.

On 29 April 2021, North Yorkshire County Council granted permission for the extraction of up to 1 million tonnes of ash at Gale Common Ash Disposal Site. Permission was only very closely granted as the planning committee was split and it came down to the casting vote of the chairperson. The application had received local press attention and numerous objections. It will be a disaster for the preservation of our small community and the protection of the Green Belt everywhere.

This is why we are taking our campaign to get this planning permission overturned to the Court of Appeal. We have been granted permission to proceed with the appeal and the hearing is set for the end of November 2022. When seeking permission, the Court of Appeal stated that our matter has “real prospects of success”. We are now seeking your assistance in making sure we can confidently continue with our campaign.

We ask that you please read more about our campaign below and consider donating any amount you can to help us.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/villagers-appeal-for-help-to-halt-plans-to-truck-ash-waste-near-primary-school-and-homes-3372772

Who we are

We, Whitley Parish Council, are bringing this appeal against North Yorkshire County Council’s wrongful decision. We are made up of local residents who live in Whitley and work hard to improve our community for the benefit of everyone, but we have limited funds to do so. We have instructed solicitors at Irwin Mitchell and a leading KC in planning and environmental law to represent us in this matter as we are passionate about protecting our village and the whole of the Green Belt from such irrational and greedy decision making.

Our campaign has been supported by numerous other local parish councils, Nigel Adams MP (MP for Selby and Ainsty) and gained the attention of the Yorkshire Post and BBC Look North.

Impact on our small local community

The roughly 300 hectare site is just 500m from our village. The extraction programme is scheduled to last 25 years and would result in over 250 heavy goods vehicles attending the site between the hours of 7am and 7pm, six days a week, all year round. That is, on average, one HGV going through our village and right past the primary school, every three minutes for 25 years.

We submitted numerous proposals for more sustainable extraction and transport options and these were all rejected by the developer and the council. HGV’s are apparently the only feasible option. This development would clearly be a disaster for the health and safety of local residents, including children at the primary school, as well as being incredibly damaging to the environment.

Impact on the wider community and Green Belt

The impacts of this decision reach far beyond our small community and could impact protection of the Green Belt nationally. We firmly believe the Green Belt should be protected and development should not be granted that would be harmful to it.

Currently, development in the Green Belt is to be deemed as inappropriate if any part of the development deemed inappropriate. However, in this matter, the Council decided the development was appropriate because just one part was deemed appropriate. This is obviously a much wider interpretation. If this precedent is set in our courts, this could have a detrimental impact on the protection of our Green Belt as a whole.

Why you should support this campaign

The aim of this campaign is to raise sufficient funds to protect us against the possibility of an adverse costs order in the Court of Appeal. By supporting this campaign you will be:

• ensuring higher levels of protection for the Green Belt nationally.
• protecting the environment by preventing an HGV driving through our village every 3 minutes a day, six days a week, for 25 years.
• assisting our Parish Council in protecting the health and wellbeing of local residents.

We care deeply about preserving our community in North Yorkshire and the Green Belt nationally. It would mean a great deal to us if you could donate any amount to our campaign and share this page with your connections.

Relevant weblinks:

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/villagers-appeal-for-help-to-halt-plans-to-truck-ash-waste-near-primary-school-and-homes-3372772