A councillor is calling for a new town, like Milton Keynes, to be built in North Yorkshire - England's biggest county - rather then see more development in south Craven and the Skipton area.

Councillor Ken Hart, a member of Craven council's planning committee, fears more development could turn south Craven into one large conurbation.

North Yorkshire County Council is drawing up its blueprint for development until 2016 and has launched a consultation exercise urging people to say how planning should be managed in the first part of the new century.

It has put forward eight policy options, which Craven's planning and development committee was due to debate today.

Craven's members are recommended by officers to support the option to continue to develop around main urban areas and market towns and to allow limited growth in areas with a good range of services and in villages.

But Coun Hart believes more development in south Craven would vastly change nature of the area, which contains a number of villages all with their own identity.

"I would rather see a new town built somewhere in North Yorkshire, where there is plenty of land, than clog up South Craven with more development and create another conurbation.

"Skipton has certainly had enough new housing and anymore in south Craven would change the area completely.

"I will fight against all the odds to maintain the area's special identity." He believed that the vast majority of people in the villages of Cross Hills, Glusburn, Sutton, Cononley and Bradley would be fiercely against any new wide-scale development.

The options are:

Establishing a new town or towns somewhere in North Yorkshire, which officers say would compromise the social well-being of the district.

Concentrate on existing towns and villages around West Yorkshire, which would mean Skipton and South Craven soaking up all the development.

Focus growth on Harrogate, York and Scarborough.

Concentrate development on market towns, like Skipton and Settle.

Promote growth only in selected villages.

Concentrate development on the main rail corridors.

Focus growth on upland, coastal and coalfield regeneration areas.

The publication of the deposit draft structure plan is expected in December this year, with autumn 2001 the proposed time for the plan's examination in public.

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