A PLANNING officer involved in drawing up a controversial house-building blueprint is being investigated for the second time.
Hamish Gledhill has been involved in compiling Kirklees Council’s Local Development Framework (LDF) which could lead to 28,000 new homes being built by 2028.
The council launched an investigation last month after it emerged that the principal planning officer had links to development company Princegate Estates.
And now it has emerged that Mr Gledhill is also the director of a company called Velsheda.
The firm, which was set up in 2006, is registered to his home address on New Hey Road at Mount.
Rachel Gledhill is listed as secretary of the company – the only other employee.
Velsheda’s records show no turnover or profit and a net worth of minus £27,519.
A Kirklees spokeswoman said on Wednesday: “The matter is being investigated and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
The information about Mr Gledhill’s links to Velsheda was uncovered by Bill Armer.
The Deighton man is a leading opponent of the LDF which campaigners believe will lead to the loss of too much green space.
In March it emerged that Mr Gledhill had connections to Princegate Estates.
He began work as a senior planning officer at Kirklees in June, 2005.
Mr Gledhill is believed to have started his involvement with the company in 2006 when he became the West Yorkshire contact for the developer.
He is thought to have ended his association with the company in 2008.
The code of conduct governing council officers requires them to get prior approval before taking outside work.
Kirklees said in March that Mr Gledhill had been re-deployed away from LDF matters while his links to Princegate were investigated.
Mr Armer used the Freedom of Information Act in an unsuccessful attempt to discover exactly when Mr Gledhill was moved to other duties.
He said on Wednesday: “It’s not a secret that he was re-deployed, so why is it a secret when he was re-deployed?”
