A housing developer has been told to honour its promise made nearly a decade ago to build a footpath on a Yorkshire estate, but the local council can’t force it to do so.

Back in 2011, plans for 42 homes on a plot of land off Cowrakes Road in Lindley were given the go-ahead by Kirklees Council, with the properties built and occupied for the past decade.

However, a footpath that was part of the original application and would link two streets within the development – Dryden Way and Wadsworth Fold – has not been constructed.

Harron Homes submitted a planning application seeking permission to remove the path from the plans and landscape the area with wildflowers instead. This was determined at a meeting of Kirklees Council’s strategic planning committee on July 31.

placeholder image — A view onto Dryden Way, Lindley

At the meeting, it emerged that due to the wording of the planning application that was approved in 2011, the council has no power to enforce the construction of the footpath.

As a result, officers had recommended that the committee approve the developer’s plan to axe the path.

Residents felt differently, with a total of 43 objections submitted to the council and all three Lib Dem ward councillors against the plans.

One person commented: “Expecting residents to bear the cost of maintaining an area that serves them no practical purpose is entirely unreasonable.

"This appears to be a deliberate attempt to evade responsibilities laid out in the original agreement. Such actions clearly do not serve the best interests of the residents or the wider community.”

West Yorkshire Police agreed that the path should be removed in the interests of preventing crime, while Kirklees Council’s Highways department objected to the plan, believing it would hamper connectivity.

Speaking on behalf of developer Harron Homes, Jon Beeson, said that while it was “perhaps regrettable” that the path hadn’t been constructed, its benefits would be “very modest” for a relatively small number of residents.

When the matter was discussed by the committee, members had strong views, with Coun Cathy Scott saying that residents would feel “misled” if the plans were changed at this late stage. Councillor Mohan Sokhal was also “not happy” with the plans.

Coming from a different angle was Coun Bill Armer who said he understood his colleagues’ viewpoint but was struck by the fact that the construction of the footpath would be unenforceable. The councillor said he regretted that the wording hadn’t been stronger in the original application.

The application was ultimately refused, with members agreeing that the removal of the path would result in the development and surrounding neighbourhood being “insufficiently permeable, walkable and connected” and fail to promote active travel and sustainable transport methods.