Plan for nine homes on green belt land in Brontë Country dismissed by planning inspector
The decision to refuse housing plans for a Brontë Country green belt site was the correct one – a planning inspector has confirmed.
Earlier this year, Bradford Council refused an application for nine homes on land off Moorhouse Lane in Oxenhope.
The plans had been submitted by the Trustees of the Holmes Family Trust of 2017, and were seen as an early test of the recently introduced “grey belt” planning policy.
That policy allows developers to push for green belt areas to be considered “grey belt” if they believe the land does not meet the purpose of the green belt.
The application said there were “significant benefits in bringing the site forward” and that it would “contribute to the vitality of the village.”
But planning officers said the development could cause harm to the land, which is close to the South Pennine Moors Special Protection Area – a protected natural habitat.
The applicants decided to appeal the decision, saying the council’s reasons for refusal were “unsubstantiated.”
They also applied for the costs of the appeal to be paid for by Bradford Council.
But now the Government appointed planning inspector who was looking into the case has dismissed the appeal, as well as the appeal for costs.
Inspector Chris Mayes repeated concerns about the impact of the homes on the Special Protection Area (SPA), arguing much more evidence would be needed to show there would be no impact on wildlife.
They said: “Residential development of the type proposed could result in the loss or deterioration of land that supports qualifying SPA bird species outside the designated site boundary.
“A net increase in dwellings is also likely to increase recreational use of the sites, with potential effects including disturbance to breeding birds, trampling and erosion of sensitive habitats, increased fire risk and dog fouling.
“Likely significant effects may be ruled out where the entire site falls within one or more specified categories, including woodland, land within a settlement boundary, within 25m of a settlement boundary or within 25m of a main road.
“The plans, aerial imagery and other evidence show that parts of the appeal site extend beyond 25m of both the nearest settlement boundary and the main road, neither is the entire site woodland.
“The site therefore does not fall wholly within any relevant category capable of being discounted at the initial screening stage. Ecological evidence is consequently required to determine whether likely significant effects on the SPA can be excluded.”