KIRKLEES Council has been urged to re-think its planning policy over Mirfield Moor in the wake of David Brown’s decision.
Mirfield councillor Vivien Lees-Hamilton said it was time to abandon efforts to interest industry in the site, designated Mirfield 25 , and retain it as green space.
She said the land had been allocated for industry in the Urban Development Plan since 1999, but had failed to secure a developer.
Plans for a retirement community, a possible move for Fox’s Biscuits and now the David Brown scheme had all collapsed.
Clr Lees-Hamilton said: “We have had a lot of people look at it, but no-one seems to want to go there.
“The A62 is the most congested road in West Yorkshire. Maybe that’s why people are not interested. Maybe it’s the economic downturn, but whatever it is, it seems to be cursed.”
She added: “There has been a lot of opposition to developing the site. North Kirklees has little enough green space as it is. It’s time Kirklees took Mirfield Moor out of the planning equation.”
Clr Lees-Hamilton said she backed efforts to create jobs in Mirfield “in the right places” but said David Brown’s plans would have only transferred existing jobs from Lockwood, adding: “David Brown was only going to bring traffic and buildings.”
Kirklees Council leader Clr Mehboob Khan said Mirfield 25 would continue to be marketed for industrial development to attract inward investment and generate jobs.
Clr Khan said that although it had been designated for development since 1999, Mirfield 25 had only been actively marketed in the past few years as other sites had taken priority.
He said job creation was vital for the local economy, adding that any councillors who opposed the policy “are not living in the real world”.
