A developer has agreed to more than treble the number of affordable homes it builds in a bid to get a controversial housing plan off the ground.
Kier Ventures has said it will make 41 of the 236 homes it plans to build, on the former Black Rock Mills site at Linthwaite, ‘affordable’.
The company had previously agreed to build 12 affordable houses on the site, off Waingate.
But following a meeting with concerned residents and council officers, Kier Ventures agreed to increase the number.
The previous figure had been blasted as ‘galling’ by Kirklees Planning Committee member Clr Steve Hall.
Despite welcoming the prospect of more affordable homes Colne Valley councillor Nicola Turner said the development was still unsuitable.
Clr Turner said: “Forty-one affordable homes is very good but that’s not going to help the people already living there.
“They’re going to be affected by the traffic and places at school not being available.
“We need affordable homes but that’s not going to be enough.”
The company has planning permission to build 191 homes on the site.
And despite a wholly negative reaction to Kier Ventures’ plan to build a further 45 homes, councillors voted to defer their decision earlier this month.
Residents and councillors have expressed concern that the development would be prone to flooding from the nearby Blackmoorfoot Reservoir.
Objectors have also said the development would put excessive strain on the area’s infrastructure, including roads, schools and drains.
A sewage pipe on the adjacent Causeway Side has backed up so many times it has been dubbed the ‘Linthwaite Fountain.’
