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Leeds 700 house development rejected by council

A 700 house development by Barratt and David Wilson Homes is expected to be refused by Leeds City Council as it seeks to safeguard green spaces in the city.

The substantial plot of houses in Scholes, which has met with strong resistance from locals who opposed the plans, looks set to be turned down at the City Plans Panel meeting on Thursday 28 August.

The council report states that the developers had failed to show the road network would be capable of dealing with the significant increase in traffic. Compounding this is the fact there is only one bus an hour serving the area.

Further it is thought allowing development on this site would prejudice future housing and growth in the village seriously impacting its identity and character.

A second site at Breary Lane East, Bramhope where 380 houses are proposed to be built is also set to be rejected on Thursday 28 August at the Plans Panel Meeting. Again there are concerns around the sustainability of the scheme in terms of infrastructure. There were also issues around access to the site.

Councillor Peter Gruen, executive member for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Personnel, said: “If approved by members this should send a message out that we are looking to protect green space, where possible, in our city and will not let developers build inappropriately.

“We want to encourage the delivery of new homes to meet the growing need of residents here in Leeds. However, it is important we can choose the right sites and not be open to planning by appeal.

“If the planning panel up hold this report it demonstrates that the council is in a good position to resist inappropriate housing development. It is very important to us that this housing is delivered in the most suitable places through planning and consultation.”

A spokesperson from David Wilson Homes commented:“ Should the Council refuse our application at East Scholes we would need to review the details of this decision.

“This review will occur alongside the receipt of the Inspector’s report on the Core Strategy. We will review the report’s content to consider the impact that this will have on our current planning applications in Leeds and following this work we will consider the appropriate action moving forward.

“Both the Council and the development industry agree that there is a need for significant new homes across Leeds and David Wilson Homes is committed to playing our part to ensure that these needs are delivered.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .