A NEWSAGENT’S plans to extend his shop and build a three-storey house next door has sparked a dispute with his neighbours
Inderpal Randhawa, who owns Linthwaite Minimarket on Manchester Road between Milnsbridge and Linthwaite, has submitted plans to extend his shop by one-third and build a four-bedroom house next door for his family.
But neighbours, who live on the adjacent Ramsden Mill Lane, have complained that if the house is built it will aggravate the hazard motorists face when they turn off the lane onto Manchester Road.
Keith Taylor, who lives on Ramsden Mill Lane, said: “It’s difficult to turn out as it is. You’ve to claw you way out and traffic goes racing past having been held up down the road.
“I understand lowering the wall has been suggested but this will not make a scrap of difference.
“I have lived here for 20 years and the traffic build up over those years has increased tremendously – and it will continue to increase.
“This area now needs a box junction, not a property extension to limit the exiting view even more.
“Even access to the right is now a problem. Lorries and others now mount the kerb here to go to the shop if it is blocked outside the shop by other vehicles.”
Mr Taylor added: “It is a bottleneck waiting for more accidents to happen.”
Mr Randhawa said the plans he had submitted were not finalised and he was in consultation with Kirklees Council officers to find a solution that would suit everyone.
Kirklees councillors will decide whether to approve Mr Randhawa’s plans around April 25.
The council’s highways department has indicated that the plans are acceptable with a few provisos.
But council conservation and planning policy officers have not recommended that the plans be passed.
They believe the house will be out of keeping with the area and will have a negative impact on the listed cottages opposite.
