Kirklees councillors to rule on Local Plan idea – but open land will still be lost to housing and employment

The saga of the planning process in Kirklees has taken another turn.

A Local Plan could be developed instead of Kirklees Council re-writing and resubmitting its Local Development Framework (LDF) Core Strategy.

But it still means more land will be allocated for housing and employment.

Clr Peter McBride said: “A Local Plan speeds up the process of the LDF and we’ll get to the detail and allocation of land stage much quicker.

“We’ll set out our overall objectives and then we will need to allocate more land for development.

“From the public’s point of view, I understand this can seem a convoluted process, but a Local Plan will mean we can have an approved plan in place sooner. And the sooner we can reach an agreement the better.”

The council was required to set out its proposed planning policy until 2028 and allocate land for housing and industry development.

But, following the advice of the Planning Inspector, the council withdrew the LDF.

Its housing numbers were too low and the Inspector queried how the authority had co-operated with neighbouring councils.

Cabinet members backed the idea of a Local Plan and it will need to be voted on at Full Council.

Clr McBride said his fellow councillors of all parties had to be realistic that more land would be allocated for housing or industry. He added: “All councillors need to wake up to the fact that the numbers we need will go up, we’ll need to find space for an extra 9,000 homes.

“And it will be areas already allocated as Provisional Open Land (POL) that we see come forward.”

Clr McBride explained that in the council’s former planning policy – the Unitary Development Plan – they set some open spaces aside for development in case they ran out of land.

It is those locations that are likely to be earmarked for new development.

“There are some in Newsome, Almondbury, Lindley, Dewsbury South and Dewsbury East, those are the obvious areas.

“There will be stormy waters ahead,” he added.

Cheryl Tyler, chair of Save Mirfield, said they supported the Local Plan in principle but urged councillors to fully consult the communities.

The LDF set aside 122 hectares for employment land and land for 22,470 new homes in the borough, which could increase by 9,000.

The Local Plan idea will be discussed at Full Council. Specific sites will be identified at a later date, with public consultation to take place.