PLAYERS and fans of a popular rugby team have been assured that Kirklees Council will not force their club to move.
Worried residents have contacted councillors about plans to build homes on land used by the Newsome Panthers for training.
The fields next to Hall Bower Cricket Club have been earmarked for development by Kirklees planners.
The Local Development Framework envisages 300 homes on the land between Newsome Road South and Ashes Lane.
But Clr Julie Stewart-Turner assured residents yesterday (Tuesday) that the area would not be developed.
The Newsome Green said: “The Panthers lease two fields from the council next to Hall Bower Cricket Club. It’s all Green Belt land and it would only be released for development as an absolute last resort.”
Clr Stewart-Turner said she and her two fellow Newsome councillors had been contacted by residents concerned at the plan. She said: “I’ve had six calls about this and I know my colleagues have had lots of calls and emails as well. People seem to think there’s a fixed proposal set in stone to build on the land.”
Clr Stewart-Turner said Kirklees planners should never have put forward the land for development. She said: “It looks to me like a big misunderstanding.
“The planners have not been liaising with the council’s estates department.”
Kirklees has drawn up four proposals for its Local Development Framework, a 15-year plan which could mean see as many as 37,000 new homes being built.
Residents can have their say on the four options by contacting the council by Friday.
Information on the plan is available at libraries and town halls or by visiting www.kirklees.gov.uk/localdevelopment.
Residents can send comments by post to Freepost, RRKS-SKHX-ZBYR, Research and Consultation, Kirklees Council, Huddersfield, HD1 2NQ or by email to local.development@kirklees.gov.uk.
