Kirklees Council’s inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply could see another piece of open land built on.

Stuart Hepworth has applied for outline planning permission for 34 dwellings on land between St Mary’s Avenue and The Cricketers Arms in Netherthong.

It comes just weeks before councillors are set to rule on another planning application for 18 homes off Miry Lane, also in Netherthong.

The applications have prompted the Netherthong Action Group (NAG) to rally support, saying the village’s highways cannot take any more traffic.

NAG, on their website, www.nagonline.org , wrote of the latest application: “The housing density of this scheme is quite excessive and totally out of character with the surrounding area.

“The development’s residents will rely heavily on use of the car for commuting and access to core services putting yet more pressure on an already overdeveloped conservation village and the environment.”

In the planning application, the developer says the 1.07hectare land is currently open pasture.

It is classed as provisional open land (POL), which is land previously allocated for development.

Kirklees Council’s definition of POL are sites that are “judged to be capable of development either now or when new infrastructure such as roads and sewers can be provided”.

The latest application says the developer wants consent for 34 homes on the site, with matters of design, layout and appearance reserved until a full planning application is submitted.

However, they have given an indication that it would be a cul-de-sac of two-storey homes built in stone and natural slate.

If approved, access would be via an extension of St Mary’s Avenue.

The application says: “The development will bring considerable investment into the area with significant construction costs.

“It will also include planning gain in the form of affordable housing and open space. Jobs will be created in the construction industry.”

Andrew Keeling, of David Storrie Associates, explained: “Provisional Open Land sites were reserved for new housing in 1999 in the Unitary Development Plan.

“They were reserved so that, if housing land was in short supply, they could be brought forward at the time of the preparation of a new plan or a review.

“That is the situation now – the UDP is out of date and Kirklees does not have a five year housing land supply therefore these POL sites that have already been assessed as suitable for housing should be brought forward now.”

The application is open to public consultation until January 13, 2014.