A housing developer has vowed to fork out cash for a community library plan if it gets the green light to build a new estate.
New Mill based builder, Conroy Brook, wants to construct 31 homes off Wakefield Road in the heart of Denby Dale.
The majority of the homes, built on pasture land to the north of the main road, will be luxury three or four bed properties, with just six meeting Kirklees Council’s definition of ‘affordable homes’.
This equates to only 11% of the total floorspace and falls short of the council’s requirement for 30%.
Conroy Brook says it will make up the shortfall in affordable housing floorspace by making a financial contribution to a Denby Dale charity’s community library plan.
The Denby Dale Community Project, (DDCP), has vowed to construct a ��m library and community building on the site of the current Kirklees Council run library.
The project was sparked after it became clear that the council was unlikely to be able to fund the library past March next year.
The DDCP plan to demolish the existing site and build a new facility for community groups, charities and library users.
A spokesman for Conroy Brook, said: “We wanted to put together a package that would meet the needs of the local community.
“Discussions with community representatives revealed that an affordable housing element to the development was not viewed by them as a priority.
“As a result of this feedback, we decided to reduce the amount of affordable housing in the development and to make a contribution to a community facility – the proposed new village library – instead.”
Conroy Brook said no figure had yet been agreed but said it was usual to hand over the money before the completion of the new homes.
The application is currently open for public comment until December 22.
