THE VILLAGE of Hutton Rudby appears to have sparked a gold rush for development. No less than eight parcels of land have been submitted to Hambleton council as suitable for housing in its new Local Plan this year.

In the last couple of weeks, residents have heard some details of two of the proposed sites and expect plans to be submitted before the local plan has been finalised.

The village has a housing need which needs addressing; rents and house prices in the village are out of reach for most people growing up in the village. But residents are trying to address this by drawing up their own plan of where they would like housing and amenities built.

They fear they will be locked in perpetual battle with developers who will be imposing housing that returns good profits.

The features that make Hutton Rudby such an attractive place to live in the first place could be gone for good if Hambleton District Council don’t keep the bigger picture in mind when considering all the planning applications.

In a village with a population of roughly 1,500, adding hundreds more homes could place a huge strain on the village.

Housing developments needn’t be imposed on communities; Broadacres’ Paddocks End development in the village was built with careful, prolonged discussions with residents.

All of the 16 homes went to people from Hutton Rudby who would otherwise have been forced to leave the village and the development was largely welcomed by everyone.

Let’s hope the collective voices of Hutton Rudby are listened to.