A property firm behind plans to bulldoze farm buildings and create commercial and industrial units, two drive-thru restaurants, a convenience shop and a fuel station across 21 acres of sheep grazing fields has claimed the development will generate more than 700 jobs.
In planning documents it hopes will convince councillors to approve its scheme off Darlington Road, Northallerton, Beckwith Knowle Developments has said the 21,000sq ft of trade counter space, 190,000 sq ft of industrial units and 15,000sq ft of office space, alongside the retail outlets, would create between 715 and 782 jobs.
The claims follow concerns being raised the development could undermine the viability of a plan to create a community centre for the nearby North Northallerton estate as well as prove harmful to trade on Northallerton’s high street.
However, agents for the developers state in planning documents: “The proposals will result in an additional number of economic benefits over and above job creation, economic investment, increased spending in the local economy and increased generation of business rates.
“The development of the site will therefore proactively drive and support sustainable economic development, delivering a mixed-use commercial scheme that meet the needs of the local area.”
The job creation claims follow the council’s planning department facing questions from leading North Yorkshire councillors over the extent to which it scrutinises the details developers’ put forward to justify their schemes.
Last year the Conservative-led district council approved a controversial roadside services area at a greenfield site on the outskirts of Thirsk, despite there being uncertainty over its benefits, after developers claimed 106 full-time jobs would be created there.
Councillor Gareth Dadd warned the job creation claim was “outlandish”, just months before a revised plan for the site said it would only “directly support over 75 local jobs”, without stating how many of them would be at the site and how many of those would be full-time roles.
When the Beckwith Knowle scheme was considered by the council’s planning committee last August, members asked for more information with regard to job creation.
In response, agents for Beckwith Knowle have provided figures supplied by their clients or calculated using assumptions used by the council for its Local Plan, which have repeatedly been questioned by campaigners.
The papers state 65 full and part-time workers would be employed at both of the drive-through restaurants, despite one measuring 167sq m and the other spanning 351sq m.
At one of the industrial units, which would measure 9,290sq m, the documents state 258 jobs would be created.
The officers’ report, which recommends the scheme be granted, does not reveal whether there has been any analysis by the council of the job creation claims, but states it would create “a variety of employment opportunities for a broader range of skill sets”.
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