A major milestone in Kirklees’ Local Plan journey has now been accomplished.
After almost three years in the spotlight and many more behind the scenes, the huge development blueprint is just months away from being signed into law.
It asks Kirklees Council to take the next steps on the path to finalising its masterplan.
And while she has ordered some large sites that were earmarked for industry be removed, Kirklees Council chiefs have been told they do not need to find replacements.
So what happens now and what does it mean to ordinary people in Kirklees?
Is this green light for the Local Plan good news or bad news?
Politics are at play here so it obviously depends on who you ask.
The aim of the Local Plan is to better control future development in the borough and grow the economy.
Since the council’s last attempt at a plan was thrown out – the ill-fated Local Development Framework (LDF) – Kirklees has been at the mercy of developers who could put in unsuitable applications which councillors and planning officers had little chance of defeating.
Those days will soon be over as only the plots agreed in the Local Plan will be available, bar exceptional circumstances.
Clr Peter McBride, Cabinet member for Economy, has said the plan protects our green belt until 2031 but the Campaign For Rural England has highlighted that significant chunks have been sacrificed in this Local Plan.
Nevertheless, the plan should stop any nasty surprises for the next decade or so.
Then there’s the economic growth. Officials have estimated the Local Plan will boost employment to the tune of 32,000 jobs in construction and associated industries.
It also provides vital increases in business rates and council tax receipts from the extra businesses and homes planned, if the government is to continue its policy of asking councils to survive without grants.
Clr McBride has said when Wakefield was the only borough in West Yorkshire to have a Local Plan it grew faster and further than any other area. The benefits can still be seen with the area having better infrastructure than Kirklees and more than 70 large employers, such as Coca Cola.
And let’s not forget the simple fact of a lack of housing.
The Local Plan will enable an acceleration in the availability of homes for ordinary people and the council has vowed to radically boost the amount of “extra care” social housing facilities for the over 50s who have care and support needs.
Does the public get any more say on this?
A six-week public consultation will start in August, but that is merely on the things being taken out on the orders of the inspector.
The council has said it will abide by her recommendations and will not put anything new in, so there is virtually no chance of the inspector taking issue with the results of the consultation or changing anything significant.
The consultation is not another chance for feedback on the principle of building on the sites the inspector has already accepted, such as Bradley Park golf course.
The only people likely to take issue with her modifications are the landowners and developers who wanted to build at the two major industrial sites that she deleted from the Local Plan– Cooper Bridge and Clayton West. Unfortunately for them, the inspector is unlikely to change her mind.
Can Conservative, Lib Dem and Green councillors get together to block this Local Plan?
In short, probably not.
Once the consultation is done and the inspector’s happy the Labour group’s powerful Cabinet has said it will approve it before Christmas.
It must then be voted through by the full council in early 2019, but after last May’s elections Labour has a majority in the council chamber so it doesn’t need any help from anyone to get it passed.
How is Kirklees going to cope with 31,000 new homes and new industrial parks?
The first thing to note is that a considerable amount of the 31,140 homes have already been approved or built. That’s because the ‘plan period’ dates back to 2013 and anything delivered or approved from the past five years is included. The most recent estimate is that about 8,000 houses have been constructed so far.
The infrastructure requirements for the remaining 23,000 new homes are less clear at this stage.
Whether existing roads, health centres, schools and even sewers, will be sufficient to cope with the growth will be debated and investigated for years to come.
How can they commit us to so many new houses without guaranteed new roads, schools and doctors’ surgeries?
Kirklees Council’s Local Plan is an order from the government.
While the places it puts those development sites are within its own control, the numbers of houses required was dictated by officials and politicians in Westminster.
Those numbers and sites have now been agreed by a government appointed planning inspector.
Kirklees Council does not have full control over if or where new roads, schools and doctors are created.
It was said at many of the Local Plan hearings into the larger housing sites that new roads, schools and doctors will be needed with plans to deliver them already drawn up.
But as ever, the reality of getting the money and the permission is partly reliant on other government ministries such as the Department for Transport, Education and Health.
Kirklees also has to bid for cash from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which has its own pool of money to dish out.
Are we going to be stuck in traffic and unable to get GP appointments thanks to the Local Plan?
Kirklees has said it wants to radically overhaul the road network around the two biggest proposed housing sites – Bradley Park and Ravensthorpe.
Plans have been drawn up – but not confirmed – for upgrades around Cooper Bridge and an entirely new link road from the Bradley area to junction 25 of the M62.
At the same time there are proposals for a North Kirklees Orbital – a £110m new road from the M62 through to the M1 – but the preferred route has not yet been revealed.
The masterplans for both sites feature new schools, new community and health centres along with new sports facilities and open spaces.
Much of the cash for the new roads is reliant on the Local Plan developments being approved.
Whether the scrapping of the Cooper Bridge industrial park will threaten the adjacent road upgrades is to be seen. However, a new employment site, less than half-a-mile away at Mirfield Moor, has finally begun construction which could persuade road chiefs that the enhancements in that area are vital.
In Ravensthorpe, Clr Peter McBride says he is sure there will be huge investment in rail facilities which could see the area benefit from an all new station.
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Elsewhere in Huddersfield and across Kirklees it is less likely that there will be improvements directly linked to the Local Plan.
However, the council is committed to upgrades of the A62 Leeds Road from the centre of Huddersfield all the way to Cooper Bridge and the A629 Halifax Road from Edgerton through to Ainley Top.
Doctors’ surgeries and dentists are a matter for the Clinical Commissioning Groups and NHS England. It is likely that extra capacity will be provided when it is necessary, depending on the NHS funding available.
