Concerns over location of proposed new Norton school

Plans for 645 homes and a new primary school in Norton will be debated by members of North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee next week.

However, Sofina Food Group, which owns the town’s bacon factory, has expressed concerns about the site of the school which has been relocated in the amended application.

Council officers have recommended that councillors approve the full planning application for the new homes and outline application for a two-form entry school at Norton Lodge, in Beverley Road.

The proposed development would also include a new link road connecting Beverley Road to Hugden Way.

A total of 141 affordable homes would be built as part of the development.

Plans for the scheme were first submitted in 2021 by developers Barratt Homes and Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd.

The application was later amended with the school repositioned to the north of the site and a reduction in the 672 homes originally proposed.

The school would now be built next to a bacon factory and slaughterhouse owned by Sofina Food Group.

Sofina has raised concerns about the location of the school, which it says would mean it being affected by noise and odour from its factory.

It has called for an undeveloped buffer to be included between the factory and the development.

The Environment Agency and the council’s children’s and young people’s services department have also raised concerns about the impact of the factory on residents of the proposed housing and users of the school.

Norton division councillor, Keane Duncan, said the scheme was the town’s largest ever single housing development.

He added: “Its scale and impact cannot be underestimated.

“There is significant concern within our community about the pressures this will place on local infrastructure – including traffic congestion, health provision and sewage capacity.

“These are not minor details. They are fundamental to the decision about whether this development, and others likely to follow, can be considered sustainable.”

Cllr Duncan said a number of questions he had submitted on behalf of local people remain unanswered.

“One key issue is the decision to locate the proposed primary school next to the bacon factory. I fear noise and odour concerns could jeopardise planning permission for the school when detailed plans come forward.

“I am also concerned that falling pupil numbers locally mean the school may never actually be required, leaving redundant land that fails to deliver benefits for the community.”

A report for councillors recommending approval of the scheme notes the concerns about the factory, but states that all mitigation measures within the

applicants’ control have been considered and incorporated.

It adds: “The measures include an eight-metre high acoustic barrier and a substantial buffer of landscaping and public open space between the industrial premises to the north and the sensitive receptors within the application site.”

The report says the development would be built on land earmarked for housing within the development plan, adding: “The proposal would make a significant contribution towards housing supply, including the provision of affordable homes, as well as significant green infrastructure not previously available to the public.

“In addition land is made available for future school provision.”

The strategic planning committee will meet on Tuesday, December 9 at County Hall in Northallerton.