Planners backing moves for Halifax ‘village’ in green belt

CONTROVERSIAL PLANS for a retirement community including a residential care home on green belt land in West Yorkshire are being backed despite objections.

Blackshaw Holdings wants outline planning permission for the development, including 74 apartments, a 40-bed care home, community centre, bowling green and allotments at Allen Works, Badger Lane, Hipperholme, Halifax.

Critics fear the scheme, on the site of a former brickworks, will lead to traffic problems and disturbance and Calderdale Council has received 32 letters of objection to the proposal.

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But members of the local authority’s planning committee will be advised to grant planning permission when they meet on Tuesday.

The Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) would include a residential care home, two independent living apartment buildings and three assisted living apartment buildings along with a social centre and recreational land uses.

A report for councillors says that such a development can enable residents to live independently, while receiving care and support directly in the residents’ home, where required, and if full-time care is required by a CCRC resident they can move to the on-site care centre.

A bid for a similar scheme including 96 apartments on the same site was refused outline permission four years ago as it was deemed to be inappropriate development within the green belt.

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The latest bid to develop the site is proving to be just as contentious.

Critics fear the amount of traffic would increase, causing problems and that a lack of public transport would mean residents will be reliant on cars.

There are concerns the scheme would pose a threat to wildlife and plant life and that the proposal is essentially creating a small village in the valley. 
Opponents fear a “massive increase in the amount of traffic volume, noise, disturbance and pollution”.

Critics claim that the community would “not be in keeping with the rural nature of the valley.”

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It has also been claimed that “the application is not significantly different to several other applications to develop the site, which have been rejected”.

The report states that while the scheme does not have access to public transport, providing a minibus is being proposed, which will offer transport for residents and staff, minimising the number of private car trips.

The report says: “Following consultations it is considered that the development can be accommodated by existing infrastructure, and that there are no constraints to the development of the site which can not be covered by relevant conditions.

“It is considered that the proposal would not result in adverse impacts, rather it would make use of previously developed land that is in need of regeneration and subject to satisfactory treatment of reserved matters it would enhance the site.”