3,500-home Heronby plans for land between York and Selby

Escrick Park Estate is progressing plans for Heronby on land west of Escrick, with proposals also expected to include schools, a health centre, country park and other community facilities.

An early masterplan for the development was prepared as part of the former Selby Local Plan process in 2021.

Heronby Illustrative Plan September 2026 For Media

However, that process stalled and was subsequently halted after North Yorkshire Council took over responsibility for planning in the area following local government reorganisation in 2023.

Escrick Park Estate has now confirmed it is working towards submitting an outline planning application for the development.

As part of that process, an Environmental Impact Assessment scoping request has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council.

The request is not itself a planning application. Instead, it asks council officers to determine what environmental issues will need to be examined in an Environmental Statement accompanying a future application.

The developers say the proposals are being revived in response to North Yorkshire’s shortage of planned new housing.

Beilby Forbes Adam, of Escrick Park Estate, said the estate had remained committed to the project despite the previous local plan process ending.

“Two years later we are moving closer to being ready to submit an outline application,” he said.

“But before we do we want to hear what the potential future residents of Heronby would like to see there.”

Mr Forbes Adam said the consultation was open to all ages but the team particularly wanted younger people to get involved, referring to those struggling to find homes of their own as “Generation Limbo”.

“The housing crisis means too many young people can’t find a home of their own and are struggling to get on and lead their own lives,” he added.

“We want to hear from ‘Generation Limbo’.”

Selby councillor, Steve Shaw-Wright, said there was a lot of support for the proposal among councillors in the former Selby district when the plans were first discussed.

“It would, if you like, mop up all the developments that were planned for the Selby area at the time.

“Instead of having bits and bobs of development in each village causing uproar, you would have this large development that would be like a new village with a school, a medical centre and everything else you need.

“It just seemed to be a sensible solution to the long-term housing issues that we’ve got in Selby.”

But Councillor John Cattanach, who represents the Cawood and Escrick division, including the site of the proposed development, is opposed to the plans, which have been criticised as potentially marking the ‘death of villages’ in North Yorkshire.

He said: “Since the inception, I’ve spoken out against it completely and utterly — it’s complete madness.

“It’s the size of the development and where it is, and the fact that all these people would go on to the A19.”

A public exhibition is planned in Escrick later this year, while initial proposals and a feedback form are available on the Heronby website.