Former Yorkshire Coast School Sites Put Forward for Housing Consideration

North Yorkshire Council is making 47 parcels of land it owns available for consideration for inclusion in the new Local Plan, with the potential to accommodate up to 10,000 new dwellings across the region.

Two former school premises—Eskdale School in Whitby and Scalby School near Scarborough—are prominent among the sites submitted by the council’s Property service for review under the ‘Call for Sites’ (CfS) exercise. This move is intended to help the Council meet drastically increased housing targets imposed by central government.

The submission of the 47 sites follows a comprehensive review of North Yorkshire Council’s landholdings, initiated by their Property service to identify potential development opportunities. These sites, which also include land near Pickering and Foxholes, will now be assessed by the Planning Policy & Place team using the same methodology applied to sites submitted by third parties.

Coastal communities are heavily represented in the submissions list, with specific sites put forward for consideration in Scarborough (including Stepney Road and Woodlands Drive areas), Eastfield (including Musham Bank), Newby (including Moor Lane), Seamer, and Osgodby. In Whitby, additional sites include Rievaulx Road, California Road, Green Lane, and a site designated for Extra Care.

Response to Housing Targets

The Council’s decision to submit its own land comes in the wake of a "bombshell" increase in mandatory housing need figures. Following the publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024, North Yorkshire Council’s annual housing requirement rose by 200% to 4,156 homes per annum.

Councillor Gareth Dadd, the Executive member for finance, addressed both the financial drivers and the context of the housing targets:

"We have a corporate duty to maximize the return on all of our assets. If we are successful in getting any of these bits of land through the process, that capital return will help fund our future capital program.

The land may actually help with the bombshell of the housing targets that have recently been imposed on us by central government.

The local plan process will deal with the suitability or not of these sites. Not every individual site will end up as part of our local plan. Many will fall by for legitimate reasons".

Councillor Dadd stressed the urgency of having enough options to address the new housing targets:

"Let's not forget this has been a bombshell dropped on us by central government.

Given we've got 4,000 odd properties to build every year. That's our target. The more sites available in the mix, the better the options that we will have.

Without the number of sites that we're submitting, we're narrowing that field of vision towards options for homes. Some of which may not be as palatable as some of the sites that we're we're offering".

Transparency and Process

It is emphasised that the submission of these sites for consideration as part of the CfS process does not guarantee they will be taken forward for development. Approximately 1,800 sites have already been submitted by third parties, and not all will be needed to deliver the Local Plan growth strategy.

Stuart Brown, the council's Strategic Land Manager, highlighted efforts to keep local communities informed, recognising the potential sensitivities surrounding development proposals.

"

We recognize the sensitive nature potentially of development sites on communities and neighbours, and in recognition of this, we've tried to be as transparent as possible.

I've personally contacted around about 60 members and and parish council stroke town councils.

The overall feedback from that exercise has actually been broadly positive".

The Council has produced a protocol to manage its dual roles as both landowner submitting sites and Local Planning Authority (LPA) assessing them, ensuring clarity and impartiality in the process.

Following the assessment of all submitted sites, the Planning team is scheduled to identify a shortlist which aligns with the North Yorkshire growth strategy. Public consultation on that proposed shortlist is anticipated towards the end of 2026. The statutory plan making and consultation processes will continue, leading up to the Local Plan reaching Adoption in 2028/29.