North Yorkshire Council

Thirsk & Malton Area Committee

12 June 2026

North Yorkshire Council and the North York Moors National Park Local Plan co-operation

1.0       PURPOSE OF UPDATE

1.1 At the Committee work planning meeting held on 1 May 2026, Members requested information on how NYC and NYMNP work together across both Local Plan processes, particularly with regard to the building of affordable housing and the national housing targets.

1.2 Colleagues in the Planning Policy and Place team have provided the following information.

2.0       INFORMATION

2.1       As local planning authorities, North Yorkshire Council (NYC) and the North York Moors National Park (NYMNP) have been cooperating across boundaries on matters of strategic importance since NYC’s inception in 2023. This has extended to the procurement of shared evidence to inform the production of our respective Local Plans, including the commissioning of a “Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment” (HEDNA), which explored development needs across the areas. This relationship is continuing, with future collaboration planned on understanding infrastructure capacity and future needs – this work will also cover the City of York and the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

2.2       It remains the responsibility of the individual planning authorities to develop their own policy responses to the evidence produced. This includes setting their own housing delivery targets, which as a minimum should reflect the extent to which nationally identified needs can be accommodated in their plan area. The national need figure for our area (4,156 homes per year) relates to North Yorkshire as a whole – i.e. including those parts of the National Parks that fall inside NY. Given the constraints associated with delivering development in the Parks, their housing targets have historically been nominal. Indeed, the 2020 NYMNP Local Plan does not set a firm target but anticipates delivery of 29 dwellings per year. How this works in their new plan is to be decided and will be discussed across boundaries / authorities as it emerges.

2.3       Similarly, both authorities will continue to develop their own policies relating to affordable housing delivery, which will not only respond to ‘on the ground’ needs but to varying levels of financial viability across the area. Other ‘direct’ delivery mechanisms for affordable housing (i.e. not driven by local plan policy) are covered by the Council’s Housing Services team.

3.0	RECOMMENDATION
3.1	That the information be noted.