New village plans to get £27m boost
KIRKLEES Council’s vision to build a new village near Mirfield should be backed with £27m of public money, councillors have agreed.
The controversial Dewsbury Riverside scheme was allowed by a government-appointed planning inspector during the 2018 public inquiry into Kirklees Local Plan.
The huge plot of green belt land between Ravensthorpe and Mirfield is big enough for up to 4,000 homes.
Kirklees Council’s cabinet has now approved its ‘Masterplan’ for the site, which will seek £4.6m from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and £22.5m from the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund.
The masterplan shows the scheme will have a large public park at its centre, with six neighbourhoods around it, connected and surrounded by woodlands, walking and cycle routes, bridle paths, allotments and natural play areas.
The village centre would include a GP practice, pharmacy, care provision for elderly people, a mosque and small retail outlets. There will also be community sports pitches and play areas.
The first 1,869 new homes, a local centre, a new primary school and parks and public facilities, will be built over the next 15 years.
The remaining 2,131 homes would be developed in phases up to the year 2045, with a secondary and further primary school to be delivered at that time.
Miller Homes already has permission to build a few hundred homes on plots close to Ravenshall School and is set to be the firm behind most of the private housing built at the 160 hectare site.
But with the firm now set to fast-track construction, there has been concern that there are no plans to build new roads or upgrade Ravensthorpe train station until after 2,000 homes are finished.
Mirfield Tory councillor Martyn Bolt said he was concerned the council’s plan was not identical to what was shown at a recent public consultation, especially regarding schools.
He said a new secondary school and a second primary school on the latest documents weren’t to be built until more than 2,000 of the homes were finished.
“People who went to the drop-in sessions were told these were the schools,” he said.
“They weren’t told they were potential, hypothetical or even mystical.”
And he also criticised the council’s position to not develop any new roads until after thousands of the homes are built.
He continued: “Six years ago the council was told the council was proposing a Ravensthorpe relief road but we’ve seen no further development.
“If you go to our neighbours in Wakefield, the Wakefield Eastern Relief Road, the Glasshoughton by-pass and now the Glasshoughton southern bypass, were all built before developments even start.
“We haven’t got one road that’s been built in advance of a major development.”
Clr Peter McBride, cabinet member responsible, responded: “We have the money from West Yorkshire to develop the North Kirklees Orbital which will take the pressure away from there and bear in mind that the 4,000 homes are not going to happen overnight.”