Officials back building scheme in spite of opposition by public

The outline proposals from Barratt Yorkshire West would see homes and commercial buildings built on a 35-acre site which is presently used for agriculture and is close to Junction 40 of the M1 motorway.

At this stage the developer is seeking approval for the principle of development and access to the site, which will be taken off Dewsbury Road.

Issues of layout, scale, appearance and landscaping will be discussed in the future. But Wakefield’s Labour MP, Mary Creagh, fears the development will increase traffic and bring increased risk of flooding. She also raised the issue that the site was a former coal mine.

The Wakefield Civic Society objects due to the loss of greenfield space, the impact on the roads network and concerns about flooding.

Wakefield Council’s planning and highway committee, which meets on Thursday to discuss the planning application, has received more than 350 letters of objection from the public and a petition signed by 231 people. But officers are recommending that the outline plans are given the go-ahead subject to conditions being met.

A report said: “The application would establish the principle of mixed commercial/residential development on site. Whilst the land is presently allocated for other purposes it is not considered that this forms a barrier to consent being granted given the need for housing and oversupply of industrial land.

“Whilst the high level of local objection to the application is noted, particularly on highways, drainage and land stability issues, there are no objections to the application from relevant statutory consultees and it is not considered that there are grounds to refuse the application on these issues.”

Residents raise a number of concerns including the fact there is no need for any more houses or industrial units in the area, the application will lead to a loss of open space and agricultural land, they are worried about the impact on the environment, fear it will increase the risk of flooding and increase traffic.

They also claim that previous mining activity on the site makes it unsafe.

The report says that the site was previously a coal mining area and as such it may have been contaminated with ash, heavy metals, asbestos and mine gas which could be affecting the site.

Officers are recommending that further studies are carried out before any development takes place, but stress the presence of any potential contamination is not a reason for refusing the application at an outline planning stage.

They have also said that the traffic generated by the new development should be capable of being accommodated by existing or known improvements to highways and “ensure it will not create or add to problems of safety, congestion or damage to the environment”.

West Yorkshire Archaeology Service has also called for a site investigation to be carried out before permission is granted. The archaeology service has advised that if permission is to be granted, conditions should be made requiring this work to be done before any actual development begins.

The developer, at this stage of the application process, is proposing to use 10 acres of the site for industry for a variety of uses including general industry, storage and distribution and light industry.

A further 22 acres located to the east of the site would be used to build a maximum of 285 homes. It is proposed that any commercial development will be separated from the proposed residential development by a swathe of green space.

All access to the site is due to be taken from a single access point off Dewsbury Road.