The Ryedale Plan was adopted in September 2013.

Councillor Andrews says: "This plan has been imposed on the towns of Ryedale, so as to protect the narrow vested interests of country residents, who have decided to dump all the development they don't want on the towns, including 90% of all new housing and more than 90% of all new employment land. Ryedale comprises 550 sq.miles, and it is a joke to think that there is no room for more housing in the country areas."

Councillor Andrews opposed three of the main policies:

• The Retail Policy (The "Northern Arc")
• The Housing Policy, which requires Malton/Norton to take 50% of all new housing development for the period of the plan (2012 - 2027)
• The Employment Policy (which requires Malton/Norton to take 80% of all new employment development over the plan period.

Malton and Norton Town Councils also opposed the same policies. An interim "Neighbourhood Plan" was prepared, and a full public consultation of the towns and neighbouring parishes was undertaken. This consultation concluded:

• In favour of a new store on the Cattle Market and not at Wentworth Street Car Park
• That both towns should take no more than 1,000 new homes;
• That the employment land allocation should be much less than 80% (just over 60%).

The Neighbourhood Plan was adopted as an "interim" plan by both Councils, and submitted to Ryedale. However, Ryedale failed to submit it to committee for discussion and debate.

The plan had to pass inspection by a government inspector, and Councillor Andrews attended the inspector's public hearing for its entire twelve day duration. During some of this time he was accompanied by Councillor David LLoyd Williams and the former Mayor of Malton, Councillor Jason Fitzgerald-Smith.

Councillor Andrews says: "The hearing was a nightmare. The Council produced several wheel barrow loads of long and complex documents, and the best I could do was to select what I thought were the key documents and examine them. Needless to say these seemed to be as badly flawed as the documents which the Copuncil used to justify their decision to grant permission for a superstore on Wentworth Street Car Park. Unfortunately, cross-examination was not allowed, and the inspector was simply able to choose to accept the Council's flawed evidence.

"For most of the time I was on my own against a full team of Council officers, about ten developers' representatives (including a solicitor and a barrister) and other local people who were only too pleased to go along with the Council's plans  in regard to Malton and Norton.

"Generally speaking the inspector was not prepared to make any changes unless the Council agreed to them. So, for example, he refused to insist on the Coluncil removing the "Northern Arc from the plan, even though he admitted there was "little evidence" to justify it. Indeed the inspector seemed to be under pressure to get the plan approved, and in the end, very little of any substance was changed.

"I found myself pitted against overwhelming odds. Malton and Norton will suffer as a result, as there just is not the infrastructure to accommodate such a vast increase in building and population, particularly in regard to highways and drainage. The towns' residents will increase by over a third."

The plan as adopted, contained no land allocation, and as a result developers have been putting in their applications for permission on several large sites expecting that "first come will be first served". It has become  a free for all. In order to stop this, a small group of councillors from Malton and Norton, including Councillor Andrews, are meeting with Council officers to bring the Neighbourhood Plan into line with the Ryedale Plan, and to deal with site selection.

Councillor Andrews says: "The public should be under no illusion: this is a damage limitation exercise."

Before, during and after the public local plans hearing, Councillor Andrews prepared documents in support of the policies in the Interim Neighbourhood Plan. It has not been possible to reproduce all of these, but the main ones have been uploaded, and can be visited by clicking on the documents set out in the menu below.