Kirklees Council officers draw up list of 64 green belt sites suitable for development
PLANNERS have picked out dozens of green belt sites around Huddersfield for possible development.
Kirklees Council has reviewed all its protected land as part of the controversial Local Development Framework (LDF), which is up for debate tonight.
Officials have come up with 64 green belt sites they believe could be built on without causing neighbouring villages to merge.
The plan suggests releasing protected land around Skelmanthorpe, Kirkburton, Honley, Holmfirth, Slaithwaite, Meltham and Marsden.
Huddersfield town planning consultant David Storrie told the Examiner yesterday that the green belt review was a “sensible” move.
He said: “As part of the LDF process the council has to examine what land they have got for housing and employment needs.
“I think the report is sensible but it doesn’t go far enough.
“I’ve always said that the green belt around West Yorkshire is tightly drawn. If you’ve got challenging housing and employment needs then it’s wise to look at your green belt and see if there is land which could be released without undermining the purpose of the green belt.
“Some villages need to sustain themselves through the release of land for housing and employment.”
Mr Storrie, of David Storrie Associates at Lincoln Street, off St Andrew’s Road, believes land can be released for development without villages merging into each other.
“Kirkheaton is close to Huddersfield, it’s a sustainable location and they have identified areas that could be released – you could repeat that in a number of villages throughout Kirklees,” he said.
“The NIMBYs of this world would be aghast at ‘destroying the countryside’ but that’s missing the point of the green belt as a planning tool.
“The green belt is there to prevent merging so, for instance, you wouldn’t release the land between Honley and Brockholes.”
But a campaigner last night criticised the review and called for more land to be brought into the green belt.
Charles Greaves of Preserve Honley and Brockholes said: “We believe that the green belt review is not sound as it focuses on the need to release land for development under the proposed LDF.
