Developer’s swing bridge plan for village hangs in the balance

The controversial Sty Lane site in one of the areas’s most picturesque and affluent villages - Micklethwaite - has been earmarked for 443 homes, despite strong opposition to previous applications from local residents.

Campaigners from Greenhill Action Group spent £30,000 fighting a planning application for 420 homes in 2010 and are well on the way to raising another £60,000 to fight a planning appeal in February.

The public inquiry is due to start on February 21 and is due to last for 10 days.

Prior to that members of the Shipley Area Planning Panel will discuss a report on Wednesday regarding plans by applicants Redrow Homes and Bellway Homes Ltd to build a replacement vehicular and pedestrian swing bridge following demolition of the existing swing bridge over the Leeds-Liverpool canal.

The two-lane swing bridge across the canal would be the first of its kind to be built across the canal in the Bradford district and possibly in the whole country.

Permission to build the vast number of houses has been refused by Bradford Council.

Coun Chris Greaves, a former member of the panel, said:

“The bridge is the sticking point, really, because that is effectively the access to the site and as far as I can see it is a complete non-starter. That’s the crunch on this one.

“Although the site might seem to make sense if you look at it on a map you can’t see a problem but it is a very different picture at ground level.

“You would have to upgrade the entire local road network and create either a tunnel or proper drive over to make it work.

“The roads around there are very narrow and there have been lots of serious accidents on the moors. There are the most incredible Alpine bends and the speed limits keep having to be reduced.

“As for people using the trains those from Leeds are already full to bursting.”

He added that there was also the concern that the emergency services could struggle to access patients while waiting for the bridge to swing back.

Dozens of objections to the replacement bridge have been received by Bradford Council.

One of those quoted in the report for panel members says: “The proposed new bridge will be three times wider than the original bridge and will destory the conservation area.”

While another says: “the infrastructure around Crossflatts and Bingley is totally inadequate to deal with the additional 800 cars minimum that will be on the roads from such an estate if it was built.”

And a third says: “The proposed one way system for Sty/Greenhill Lane will mean that in winter properties in this area will be cut off should the swing bridge fail or during its consultation at times of heavy or persistent snow.”

Heritage group, Bingley Civic Trust members are not keen on the application for new homes to be built either and recommends that this application should also be refused.

Planning officers say the present bridge at Micklethwaite Lane dates from 1985, is a modern steel structure encased in concrete.

“Although a historic crossing point from the time of this stretch of the can in the 1770s there is virtually nothing visible which has any historic merit.

“The conditions of the present bridge is somewhat neglected and the environment around the bridge is unsightly.”

In conclusion officers say there are good reasons for recommending approval of the application subject to conditions.

They say: “The demolition of the existing bridge is acceptable as it fails to make a positive contribution to the special architectural/historic interest of the areas

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