Menston housing campaign may be first to halt homes as law changes

The homes could be built on fields on the outskirts of Menston near Ilkley, after a Government planning inspector designated the land be taken out of the green belt and used for housing.

Since then the coalition Government has scrapped regional spatial strategies and housing targets with immediate effect, claiming councils will now have the freedom to prepare their local plans without having to follow "top-down targets from regional quangos and bureaucrats that prescribe exactly what, where and when to build".

Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark yesterday visited Menston to outline the policy, though confusion remained as to whether the decision could be reversed.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has said that local authorities can review their housing strategy but a spokesman for Bradford City Council said the issue was not about policy, and that they had been given a directive by the Government and would follow it until told otherwise.

Philip Moore, spokesman for the Menston Action Group, said they believe there is a chance the developments can be stopped. "Mr Clark said he supported what we were doing and the council is now free to review the strategy.

"New legislation is due to be put forward in the autumn but he said as the RSS have been scrapped, we no longer have to follow commands from central Government.

"The rules have changed, we are a test case and could be one of the first in the country to take advantage."

The proposals, unveiled by developers Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Homes, would see 340 homes built on sites overlooking Ilkley.

Campaigners have claimed there will be a major impact on the town and local roads, including the A65, one of the most congested in the region.

Stewart Currie, Bradford Council's Major Development Project Leader, said: "The allocation of the land in Menston for housing was directed by a Government appointed planning inspector, not Bradford Council.

"No planning applications have been submitted yet but when and if they are, members of Bradford Council's Planning Panel will take all opinions into account before making a decision following strict legal guidelines."

Previously, local councils had to allow houses on areas they wanted to protect – if they failed to do this their planning decisions were vulnerable to appeal.

A Whitehall spokesman said now local authorities can go back and change their plans, which must be done in consultation with the community.

A spokesman said: "This Government is determined to give councils and local people the freedom to decide where development should go. That's why we've abolished the regional plans with their top-down planning targets that forced councils to wave through development in the wrong places against the will of the community."

National housing targets scrapped

Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles launched the Coalition's new policy on housing earlier this month, scrapping regional strategies and centrally imposed building targets for three million homes to be built nationally by 2020.

Mr Pickles said the move would hand power back to councils and

communities to make their own decisions.

Previously councils had to base their housing plan (known as a Local Development Framework) on the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) even if it meant allowing houses on green belt. If local authorities failed to do this all their planning decisions were vulnerable to appeal.

Plans have also been outlined for a new Right to Build, which will enable rural communities to set up local housing trusts for small numbers of new homes.