Travellers’ site sparks protest
KIRKLEES’ controversial Local Plan is facing its first tests just days after it was adopted during a fiery “extraordinary” meeting in Huddersfield Town Hall.
Residents, councillors and local MPs have stepped up to challenge elements of the planning blueprint, including a travellers’ site at Birstall and the refurbishment of an 18th century mill in Milnsbridge.
Labour MP Tracy Brabin (Batley & Spen) has written to the council’s chief executive Jacqui Gedman seeking more information after being made aware of local residents’ concerns.
Writing on social media Mrs Brabin said: “Although planning locally is strictly a matter for local government, and I have no authority in the decision making, I understand this is a significant issue.
“It strikes me that there is an urgent need for more information about the potential plans for the site and what processes are yet to come.”
In response council leader Clr Shabir Pandor pointed out that the Local Plan “only earmarks the land for this use.
“A lot of work, checks and balances will need to be carried out and there is still ample opportunity for representations to be made.
“There’s still a long way to go before anything happens and a lot more detail needs to be considered.”
Clr Pandor warned that not having a Local Plan could have led to one being imposed on the authority by central Government.
There was uproar in the council chamber when Labour councillors called for the debate to be cut short, and for the Local Plan to go to the vote.
It meant several councillors hoping to speak about contentious sites in their wards were not heard.
One member who did speak was Clr Mark Thompson (Con, Birstall and Birkenshaw), who questioned the logic of creating a travellers’ site close to a popular retail park.
The parcel of land, off Bankwood Way and close to the Showcase Cinema, has been reserved for 20 caravan pitches.
A petition objecting to the proposals was signed by more than 5,000 people in less than a week.
Clr Thompson warned that its proximity to the nearby Junction 27 Retail Park contradicted the council’s support for business growth. The shopping and leisure area currently earns Kirklees around £7.6m in rates every year.
He also pointed out that it was less than three miles from a dedicated traveller site at Kidacre Park in Hunslet, which was opened by Leeds City Council in January.
The encampment, built on the site of a disused former council depot, is near the Crown Point Shopping Park.
He commented: “I’m not sure that’s the right place to put a gypsy encampment. We collect £7.6m in rates from Junction 27 and we’re talking about putting a site in the middle of it.”
In a further upset councillors voted against planning officers’ recommendations to allow a mixture of flats and light industrial units within a former mill in Milnsbridge as a way of ensuring the building’s survival.
The project, within Stanley Mills on Britannia Road, marks a departure from the Local Plan with senior planning officer Mathias Franklin warning members that to deviate from it could cause problems.
But after hearing an impassionedplea from a local architect to safeguard the building, councillors at the Planning Sub-Committee (Huddersfield) on March 7 decided to support the conversion of the rundown Victorian mill even though it had been designated as a Priority Employment Area (PEA) in the Local Plan.