A PLAN to build a ready mix concrete plant on a farm outside Leyburn has been approved with the condition that it generates a maximum of 54 HGV movements in and out the site a day.

North Yorkshire County councillors said the condition was being imposed on Metcalfe Farms’ proposal to up to 25,000 cubic metres of concrete a year at its Washfold Farm to be fair to nearby residents who had raised numerous concerns over the potential impacts of the development on local roads and public safety.

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A meeting of the authority’s planning committee heard the scheme at the site, which has seen numerous agricultural and commercial developments in recent years, would see the removal of 7,700 tonnes of limestone and the development of a grassed mound to minimise the plant’s landscape impact.

David Metcalfe, one of three brothers behind the developments which have led to more than 200 people being employed there, told the meeting there had not been a concrete plant in Leyburn for at least a decade.

He added most of the firm’s HGVs would use a new access road, which had nearly been completed, leading to Redmire Road.

North Hambleton councillor and farmer David Hugill said the proposal represented a very interesting farm diversification scheme, for which there was an obvious need, while the committee’s chairman, Councillor Peter Sowray, another farmer, described the plan as “well thought out”.

 

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