Yorkshire residents set to battle developers over plans to build 42 homes on 'green jewel'

More than 100 residents battling plans for a housing estate say the green space in their neighbourhood is being eroded.
There are outline proposals to build 42 houses on five fields at Wood Royd Road in Deepcar.There are outline proposals to build 42 houses on five fields at Wood Royd Road in Deepcar.
There are outline proposals to build 42 houses on five fields at Wood Royd Road in Deepcar.

There are outline proposals to build 42 houses on five fields at Wood Royd Road in Deepcar.

Local residents Jennifer Anderson and Julie Brearley, Stocksbridge city councillor Fran Johnson and Stocksbridge town councillor Mark Whittaker are among those objecting.

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They are desperate to keep the green open space and say the development would add to existing traffic and flooding problems.

Coun Whittaker said: “It’s one of the last greenfield sites in Deepcar, everywhere else has been concreted over. As you go up the hill, there’s a clearly defined green corridor which separates Deepcar from Stocksbridge and feeds into Fox Glen. It’s one of the last remnants of what the area looked like before the village was built.”

Ms Anderson described it as an “absolute jewel”.

“There’s such an opportunity to do something with this land. We want the council to look at buying it with the Woodland Trust and planting trees there," she said.

“Little green pockets are being picked up because developers think people won’t notice. It’s like a creeping sprawl. One morning the last part of the green space in Deepcar just won’t be there and if we don’t shout about it and get on our soap boxes, it will be like a stealth missile.”

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Ms Brearley said there were already highway issues: “Armitage Road is a bad junction and a bus route. People park all the way down Wood Royd Road, there’s a blind brow on the hill and often cars maneuver around each other and sometimes mount the pavement, particularly if there’s a bus involved.”

In the application, DLP Planning says the site is “landlocked” and is not designated with special character, listed building, heritage assets or as a conservation area.

It says: “Open space and landscape areas will be provided and appropriate highway arrangements can be introduced.”

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