Backing for £10m housing estate

A COUNCIL looks set to back plans to create a £10m housing estate on the site of a former West Yorkshire colliery.

An outline proposal has been submitted regarding the site of the former buildings at Frickley Colliery, to the south of Westfield Lane in South Elmsall, and land associated with the nearby Warde Aldam nursing home.

The wider colliery land has already been reclaimed and turned into Frickley Colliery Park, which opened last summer.

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Outline permission has already been granted for 160 homes on the site and now the council is looking to grant permission for 200 homes in total.

Members of Wakefield Council's planning committee are meeting on Thursday to discuss the outline application, which is supported by a partnership of the council, Yorkshire Forward and the Homes and Communities Agency.

A report by the council's planning director is recommending that the plans are given the go-ahead.

The report says: "This is an outline proposal which seeks to establish the principle of the development of up to 200 dwellings across the whole site including the former colliery land and the former amenity land associated with the Warde Aldam nursing home."

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The site is surrounded by residential developments to the north and west, with the open green belt land of the country park to the south.

The planning report says that local people have been consulted and will continue to be involved in the process before the houses are actually built:

"This application seeks to extend the principle of residential development onto the nursing home land and secure an additional 40 dwellings for the scheme. The local community has been involved in the production of the developer brief and it is the intention of the partnership that the local community will also be involved in the selection process for the detailed scheme at the tendering stage."

The council says that 30 per cent of the 200 homes should be "affordable" homes.

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It is also proposed that the housing mix should reflect a range of house type, size and tenure.

The majority of the 200 properties will be houses, with a limited number of apartments, if any.

The plans have attracted objections that the 200 homes could have a negative knock-on effect on local roads.

It has been suggested that no further developments should be approved along Westfield Lane until a bypass has been completed to the south of the town, linking Westfield Lane and Langthwaite Grange to the A638.

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The report says there is no evidence at present to support the need for a bypass at this location. A report from the highways department concludes that the highways network is capable of accommodating the additional traffic, although some improvements will be needed to the junctions of Westfield Lane-Barnsley Road-Doncaster Road-High Street.

In conclusion, the planning report says: "It is considered that the proposal would represent an efficient and sustainable re-use of land, in an appropriate location, with a high standard of amenity, highway safety, and environmental protection, subject to conditions and a future detailed application.

Therefore, the development is considered acceptable in relation to all the relevant national and local planning policy, and is recommended for approval."

Construction at the site could start next year.

The planning and highways committee meets at County Hall in Wakefield on Thursday.