Green light for business park
A MAJOR multi-million pound plan to build a new business park in Brighouse has been given the go ahead.
Plans to build a business park on a greenfield site, off Coal Pit Lane, Clifton, have been carried by Calderdale Council.
The business park is being lauded as a major economic value and is expected to bring an estimated £42.6 million to the area each year.
However, concerns were raised by Clifton Village Forum chairman, Tony Perryman, who felt the development would only “intensify congestion” through employment, which is estimated to reach 1,300 throughout the project and beyond. He said: “The planning application would increase congestion in the Brighouse town centre with a view of movement through increased employment.
During a Calderdale Coumncil planning committe meeting at Halifax Town Hall on Tuesday, questions were raised as to why close-by alternative brownfield sites, as well as empty business premises, were ignored by developers.
This also raised concern of the council, which carried the planning proposal of the project on the greenfield site despite brownfield sites being available. One objector said was a “contradiction to Calderdale Council’s proposal to extend and enhance existing green infrastructure”.
Robert Summerfield,
corporate lead for major projects at Calderdale Council, said the Clifton Enterprise Zone said it would create around 1,300 jobs, with 300 estimated during the build and 828 net additional full-time jobs, with the borough’s economy generating an estimated £42.6 million per year. He added five businesses within the borough confirmed they would move to the site after construction, with another three interested at this early development stage.
Councilors gave the green light after considering noise and light pollution, traffic impact - with the site being near junction 25 of the M62, and the effect on air quality within Brighouse. There were 45 letters of objection mainly over air quality.
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