The New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document for Maltkiln sets out an ambitious thirty-year vision and policy framework to guide how it is designed and developed.
For latest news, visit development plan document examination latest news
The New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document was adopted by Full Council on 12 November 2025. Read the Adoption Statement here (pdf / 137 KB).
The Development Plan Document now forms part of the statutory development plan and is used to determine applications for planning permission across the area. Details of other documents that make up the development plan can be found by visiting the current planning policies page.
Read the Development Plan Document here (pdf / 2 MB).
In addition, the following documents are available to view:
The New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document, Adoption Statement and Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Report, alongside the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Post-Adoption Statement, have been made available for public inspection at the Civic Centre, St Luke’s Mount, Harrogate, HG1 2AE.
Additional paper copies will be made available for inspection at the following libraries from Thursday 20 November:
The Development Plan Document requires more detailed planning work to be undertaken, including development of a more detailed masterplan framework. Work on this is already underway and there will targeted community consultation in due course.
For further information, please contact the Planning Policy and Place team at PlanPolicy.har@northyorks.gov.uk or on 01423 500600.
The Inspector has now issued their final report on the examination of the New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document. The report concludes that, subject to the Inspector's recommended main modifications, the plan is sound.
The publication of this report marks the formal close of the examination.
The Planning Inspectorate would like your feedback about the examination. If you were involved in the examination because you made comments in writing and/or you took part in a hearing session, then we would be very pleased if you could fill in this short survey.
Complete the Local Plan Participant Survey
Any comments you make will be confidential.
The following documents are now available to view:
These documents can also be accessed on the New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document Examination library page.
Printed copies are available to view at the North Yorkshire Council Civic Centre, St Luke’s Avenue, Harrogate, HG1 2AE and will be available to view in the following libraries from Wednesday 13 August:
We will now consider the report, its recommendations and adoption of the Development Plan Document at the following meetings:
If you have any questions, please contact the Programme Officer at programmeofficer3@northyorks.gov.uk
The main modifications consultation has now closed, and all relevant comments received have been sent off to the Planning Inspector for consideration.
Please visit our Planning Consultation Portal to view the comments made.
Planning Policy Consultation Portal
As part of the examination process, the council has requested that the Planning Inspector recommends any main modifications that they consider necessary to make the development plan document sound and legally compliant.
Following hearing sessions in September 2024, the council has worked with the Planning Inspector to prepare a schedule of proposed main modifications to the plan, including policy map modifications.
There are a number of main modifications proposed, which include general amendments across policies for soundness and wording changes to provide greater clarity. There are also amendments proposed to the indicative development framework and site boundary on the policy map in order to ensure deliverability.
A six-week consultation on the proposed main modifications will take place from:
Monday 10 February to midnight on Monday 24 March 2025.
All relevant comments received during the consultation period will be considered by the Planning Inspector before any modifications are finalised.
Please visit our Planning Policy Consultation Portal for further information and to view the documents.
Inspector Clive Coyne, BA (Hons) DipTP MRTPI, has been appointed to hold an independent examination of the Harrogate New Settlement (Maltkiln) development plan document.
Kerry Trueman has been appointed as programme officer and is the main point of contact for the examination. She can be contacted at:
Read the notice of submission of the New Settlement (Maltkiln) development plan document (pdf / 148 KB).
All updates and latest news about the development plan document examination process, timetable and other relevant information can be found on the development plan document examination latest news page here.
All updates to the examination library including all documents, statements and other relevant correspondence issued after the submission of the New Settlement (Maltkiln) Development Plan Document to the Secretary of State on 28 March 2024 can be found on the development plan document examination library page here.
The submission of the New Settlement (Maltkiln) development plan document for Examination was approved by Executive on 6 February 2024 and by Full Council on 21 February 2024.
We submitted the development plan document for examination on Wednesday 27 March 2024 to the Planning Inspectorate.
The submission documents are listed below, and each document has a unique reference number and a link to each document.
View the information on the hearing sessions here
The Planning Inspectorate have produced a Procedure Guide for Local Plan Examinations on the government website which provides detailed practical advice for those involved in the Examination process.
We have also submitted a list of other evidence base documents which are referenced in the development plan document. The links to these documents can be found in:
Regulation 19 consultation on the Pre-Submission New Settlement (Maltkiln) development plan document was carried out between 3 October 2022 and 3 November 2022.
View the Regulation 19 consultation on the planning policy consultation portal or the original consultation webpage below
View and respond to the consultation on the planning policy consultation portal
Following earlier stages of consultation and engagement, we have prepared a draft New Settlement Development Plan Document (DPD) for Maltkiln which sets out an ambitious thirty-year vision and policy framework to guide how it is designed and developed. This includes the boundary, nature and form of the new settlement.
We are consulting on the pre-submission New Settlement (Maltkiln) DPD (Regulation 19) and the following consultation documents:
To view the documents and respond to the current consultation please visit the planning policy consultation portal.
After carefully considering requests from the local community and parish councils, we have extended the Maltkiln DPD consultation until midnight on Friday 25 November to provide more opportunities for the community to engage in the new settlement process. Comments received after that date will not be considered 'duly made'.
PDF versions of the consultation documents as well as the following supporting can be downloaded from the consultation portal using any of the links above.
Within the portal, the PDFs can be found under the heading supporting files on the left-hand side of the page.
Submitting your comments outside of the portal
The easiest way to submit your comments is via the portal, as set out above. However, if you chose to submit your comments in writing using the comment form which can be downloaded.
Or collected from the following locations;
Evidence on housing needs both now and in the future shows that new homes are needed in the Harrogate district. House prices are high and local people are outpriced and can’t afford to stay in the area. The Local Plan 2014-2035 outlines a strategy to meet the identified housing need, including Affordable Housing, in full. A key part of the long-term strategy is the delivery of a new settlement. A new settlement presents an opportunity to plan housing and infrastructure “from scratch” providing a high-quality living where people can walk or cycle to local facilities.
Recent events such as Brexit and the pandemic have not slowed the demand for housing in the district and the need for housing, especially affordable housing, remains acute. At the beginning of the plan period (2014), there was a substantial deficit between the number of homes required and the number of homes delivered. Over the last few years, progress has been made to make up for the historical deficit and a large number of homes (including affordable homes) have been provided. The intended trajectory of how housing is anticipated to come forward was included in the Local Plan and this shows larger numbers of homes coming forward in the early period, with delivery becoming steadier in the longer term.
The principle and broad location for the new settlement were established through the Local Plan for the Harrogate district.
One of the key reasons for choosing the area around the Hammerton/Cattal was its location on the railway line and the opportunity to have an existing railway station at the heart of it.
The process for developing the Local Plan involved many rounds of community consultation and also an examination in public where evidence and arguments were debated in front of an inspector appointed by the secretary of state. There was further debate as part of a high court challenge but ultimately it was ruled that the process for selecting the location was fair and robust.
We are preparing the new settlement development plan document (DPD) to set out the policy that will guide the design and delivery of a new settlement in the broad location of Green Hammerton and Cattal.
The DPD will build upon the requirements of policy DM4 in the Harrogate District Local Plan 2014-2035 and will establish the boundary, nature and form of the new settlement. Including highway and access arrangements, public transport, pedestrian and cycle infrastructure, housing types and tenures, design requirements and key infrastructure requirements.
Once adopted, the DPD will form part of the statutory development plan for the Harrogate district and will be used to determine applications for planning permission.
The timescales for the preparation of the DPD are set out in our new North Yorkshire Local Plan Local Development Scheme (pdf / 491 KB).
In October 2020, we consulted on a range of options for how a new settlement could be developed, as well as proposing a preferred option and layout. The response from this consultation provided a clear steer that the preferred option, centred on Cattal railway station was the best of the options.
The final proposed boundary reflects a number of factors, including known available land as well as taking into account physical and topographical factors as such the location of the road and railway, as well as consideration of neighbouring villages and heritage assets.
Responses at Regulation 18 suggested that the new settlement should be given a name at an early stage to provide a sense of identity and ensure clarity that it was a new settlement in its own right. No specific suggestions were put forward.
Discussion with community representatives provided a clear steer on parameters for a name, i.e. that it should not reference any of the existing villages but should have historical links to the area. Maltkiln meets these parameters and has been in common use through the planning application process and was therefore deemed an appropriate choice.
If communities feel that another name is more appropriate then they are encouraged to submit other suggestions which can be considered in the future.
Addressing climate change has been a key driver of the development plan document’s content. We commissioned specialists to prepare a Climate Change Strategy to inform the development plan document approach in recognition of the importance of this issue.
As a result, the development plan document includes policies to ensure that the development will reduce carbon emissions and contribute to our 2038 ambition for a net zero carbon economy in order to reduce future warming. Policy focusses on emissions from energy use in buildings and transport but also targets emissions across the life-cycle of development, including carbon embodied in building materials.
The development plan document also includes policies to ensure that Maltkiln will be resilient to climate impacts that scientists already consider inevitable. Included within this is a requirement to not develop land at risk of flooding now but also additional land that would be at risk in the future due to climate change; a requirement to reduce water use; and a need to identify and address further climate impacts specific to this development.
Alongside climate change policies the development plan document contains other important environmental policies. These include a requirement for the development to protect and enhance green blue infrastructure and deliver a connected network that is good for nature but also helps to create a quality environment in which to live. This will include a wide range of public open spaces including two significant destination areas, one at Doodle Hill and the other at Cattal Belt. The development will also be required to deliver a 10% net gain in biodiversity compared to the current pre-development levels; this is particularly important in recognition that the area is a green field site.
The purpose of the Regulation 19 consultation is to provide an opportunity for representations to be made before it is examined by a planning inspector. We may recommend minor modifications to the DPD before it is submitted to the inspector.
As this is a formal stage of consultation (for instance, with procedures governed by planning regulations) all responses need to be in written form and from a named individual (for instance, no anonymous responses). We encourage all responses to be made via our consultation portal. It is easy to register and submit responses and ensures that you will be kept up to date with what is happening on the development plan document.
The New Settlement (Maltkiln) development plan document is published in order for representations to be made prior to submission of the development plan document to the Secretary of State for examination. The representations will be considered alongside the published development plan document when it is examined by an independent Planning Inspector. The purpose of the examination is to consider whether the development plan document complies with the legal requirements, the duty to cooperate and is sound.
To help present your comments in the best way for the inspector to consider them, a standard comment form has been created for you to complete and return. We ask that you use this form because it structures your response in the way in which the inspector will consider comments at the public examination. Using the form to submit your comments also means that you can register your interest in speaking at the examination.
Please read the guidance notes carefully before completing the form.
Please fill in a separate form for each issue/representation you wish to make.
You can make representations on any part of the publication draft of the New Settlement (Maltkiln) development plan document and its supporting documents, which include the Sustainability Appraisal; Habitat Regulations Assessment and the Equality Analysis Report. Comments may also refer to the justification and evidence in the supporting technical papers. The purpose of this consultation is for you to tell us whether you think the plan is legally compliant and ‘sound’.
Yes, please. This is because further changes to the development plan document will be a matter for a Planning Inspector to consider and providing responses in a consistent format is important. For this reason, all responses should use this consultation response form. Please be as succinct as possible. You can upload additional evidence to support your case, but please ensure that it is clearly referenced. It will be a matter for the Inspector to invite additional evidence in advance of, or during the Public Examination. If you prefer not to use the portal: hard copies of the response form can be collected from the main council offices and the district’s libraries. However you choose to respond, please ensure that you include your name and address with your comments.
Yes, you can. Where there are groups who share a common view on how they wish to see the development plan document modified, it would be very helpful for that group to send a single representation that represents that view, rather than for a large number of individuals to send in separate representations that repeat the same points. In such cases the group should indicate how many people it is representing; a list of their names and addresses, and how the representation has been agreed for example, via a parish council/action group meeting; signing a petition etc. The representations should still be submitted on this standard form and there is an option to upload additional information in question 6.
Legally compliant means asking whether or not the development plan document has been prepared in line with statutory regulations; the duty to cooperate; and legal procedural requirements such as the Sustainability Appraisal (SA). Details of how the development plan document has been prepared are set out in the published Consultation Statements and the Duty to Cooperate Statement.
Soundness may be considered in this context within its ordinary meaning of ‘fit for purpose’ and ‘showing good judgement’. The Inspector will use the Public Examination process to explore and investigate the development plan document against the National Planning Policy Framework’s four ‘test of soundness’ as listed in question three. The scope of the Public Examination will be set by taking into consideration the key issues raised by responses received and other matters the Inspector considers to be relevant.
You can indicate whether at this stage you consider there is a need to present your representation at a hearing session during the Public Examination. You should note that Inspectors do not give any more weight to issues presented in person than written evidence. The Inspector will use his/her own discretion in regard to who participates at the Public Examination. All examination hearings will be open to the public.
The procedure for preparing Development Plans is governed by planning regulations. This formal stage of consultation (or so-called Regulation 19) follows on previous consultation in 2020/21 and provides an opportunity for comments to be made before it is examined by a planning inspector.
The examination in public will determine whether the plan is “sound” and therefore can be
recommended for adoption. The term “sound” is defined in national planning policy and includes a number of criteria:
Comments submitted will be forwarded to a Planning Inspector for consideration as part of the examination in public. We may recommend modifications to the Plan as a result of comments, again to be considered as part of the examination in public.
We have always been committed to leading the development of a New Settlement through a Development Plan Document. The proposed DPD set the detailed boundary for the New Settlement, as well as a set of policies and principles.
Delivery of the new settlement, as with most development on privately-owned land, will be reliant on private developers. They will need to obtain planning permission in accordance with the Local Plan and DPD, showing in detail how the vision and principles for the new settlement will be met.
The proposed DPD includes a number of requirements for more detailed design work and consultation and so there will be further consultation on aspects such as the Local Centre and detailed layouts.
This consultation is a separate exercise to any consultation undertaken on planning applications.
We have one current planning application:
The council has been notified that some of the land previously available and included in the proposed New Settlement boundary has now been withdrawn and is no longer available for development. As a result, submission of the proposed New Settlement DPD to the Secretary of State for independent examination has been paused while options for the DPD are considered.
Further updates will be published in due course.
Following consultation and engagement, we are now finalising the content of the development plan document ahead of formal public consultation and independent examination.
The development plan document will set out policies and proposals for Maltkiln, a new settlement in the Hammerton/Cattal area of the district.
Over the summer councillors are being asked to approve the draft development plan document to be published for consultation. In line with our constitution, the material will be considered by the following council bodies. The links below can be used to access relevant documents:
Subject to Member approval a six-week formal consultation will begin in early October. The comments received will form the basis of an independent examination of the development plan document carried out by the Planning Inspectorate.
The consultation was undertaken to inform the emerging new settlement development plan document between Monday 19 October 2020 and Friday 22 January 2021 (4.30pm).
We also consulted on the following associated documents: Interim sustainability appraisal and habitats regulations assessment screening report.
The consultation documents and comments provided can be found on our consultation portal:
PDF versions of the consultation documents as well as the following supporting documents can be downloaded from the consultation portal using any of the links above. Within the portal the PDFs can be found under the heading Supporting Files on the left-hand side of the page:
A communication and engagement strategy (pdf / 486 KB) was prepared (with input from local community representatives) which sets out how we will communicate and engage with communities and other stakeholders.
Work on the new settlement development plan document was paused pending the outcome of the local plan examination.
We prepared a document setting out answers to a range of frequently asked questions (pdf / 229 KB) about the delivery of a new settlement in the district.
A strategic environmental assessment (SEA) needs to be undertaken alongside the development of the new settlement DPD.
SEA is a mechanism for considering and communicating the likely significant effects of an emerging plan, and reasonable alternatives, in terms of key environmental issues. The aim of SEA is to inform and influence the plan-making process so that negative environmental effects are avoided or mitigated and positive effects are maximised.
We commissioned a SEA scoping report and this has been passed to statutory consultation bodies for their views. Scoping is carried out to establish the key issues that the SEA should focus on. It involves a contextual review of existing relevant policies, plans and programmes; as well as the identification of baseline information about the state of the environment, economy and society. These are then used to develop a framework that the emerging plan can be assessed against as it is developed.
New settlement DPD: strategic environmental assessment scoping report (August 2018) (pdf / 4 MB)
A sustainability appraisal, informed by the SEA, will be produced alongside the DPD. All parties will be able to comment on the sustainability appraisal as the DPD is developed.