'Eco-town' site on market at £4.65m

More than 500 acres of the Oulton Hall grounds to the south of Leeds are on the market for 4.65m.

The site includes Royds Green Farm, a Grade II listed five-bedroom farmhouse, two derelict cottages and a range of traditional farm buildings.

Under the eco-town plans – which would have seen the area re-named The Green – around 9,000 carbon-neutral homes were proposed.

The scheme was put forward in 2007 and included building six new primary schools, a secondary school and rebuilding the A642 Leeds-Wakefield Road to make way for a new dual carriageway and extending Woodlesford railway station.

The plan, which met with considerable local opposition, was rejected a year later.

Agents Knight Frank said the estate, worth more than 45,000 a year in rent, could be sold as either a single unit or in 23 separate lots.

The firm said the land was suitable for residential, commercial and leisure uses, subject to planning permission.

The new Government has announced it would not support any eco town developments where the local community was in opposition.

In March this year the previous Government approved more than 1m of funding for thousands of eco-homes on brownfield sites across the region.

Up to 28,000 new sustainable homes are planned on sites in Leeds Aire Valley, north-west York, the Bradford-Shipley canal corridor and North Kirklees and South Dewsbury.

Local authorities say all the homes will be built "to meet the highest standards of sustainability", and are expected to have solar panels and wind turbines.

The 1.2m funding will be used to help with planning of the schemes and the construction of initial showcase projects.

Development work has started on the first phase of the Leeds Aire Valley scheme, to the south-east of the city centre, and construction will begin soon in York.