THE first turf has been cut on one of North Yorkshire’s largest-ever housing developments.

Leading figures involved in the North Northallerton project got together in recognition of the importance of the scheme.

It will see more than 1,000 new homes constructed alongside a primary school, a sports village and commercial buildings – as well as a link road and bridge over the railway between Darlington and Stokesley roads.

Construction by homebuilders Persimmon Homes and Taylor Wimpey on the initial 300 homes will start soon - while work on the road is already underway.

The road has been designed to add capacity to the local network and provide an alternative route avoiding the town’s Low Gates level crossing.

The first phase of road construction will be carried out by Seymour Civil Engineering.

The scheme has been in development for several years and brings together a consortium of developers and funders. As well as the housebuilders they include Hambleton District Council, North Yorkshire County Council, and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership – which has provided a £6m grant to match-fund the developer’s construction of the road and bridge.

District council leader Cllr Mark Robson said it was the biggest housing development in the authority’s history.

“This scheme will deliver big economic and community benefits for Northallerton and the district as a whole,” he said. “We will initially see 300 homes built along with the road which we hope will also relieve pressure on the town centre.”

The deputy chair of the LEP, David Kerfoot added: “Strategically this scheme is one of our most important investments. In particular the £6m investment has been put towards the link road through the development which kickstarted the scheme.”

The first phase is to build new roundabouts at each end of the new link road, one on the A167 Darlington Road and one on A684 Stokesley Road – work which will take about 20 weeks.

Ultimately Northallerton Road will close to through traffic at Stone Cross and Brompton traffic will use the new roundabout and link road into the village.