Councillor’s ‘jokers’ blast at developers over plan for 300 homes
A KIRKLEES councillor has labelled the people behind plans to build more than 300 houses in Lepton “jokers”.
And he said their idea of sending traffic from the site down a cul-de-sac was “crazy”.
A community consultation leaflet has been published by planning and development consultants Johnson Mowat, on behalf of Leeds-based KCS Developments, explaining to residents what is being proposed for the site off Rowley Lane and Hermitage Park.
Kirklees councillor Bernard McGuin, (Con, Almondbury), said the development was being planned in stages with 115 houses expected to be built in the first phase, if permission can be obtained. But he said a major stumbling block would be how to funnel all the increase in traffic onto Penistone Road, including creating an expensive new roundabout, saying the current plans to take it down a cul-de-sac were “crazy”.
He said: “This bunch of jokers want to hide the fact that they want to get permission to build 115 houses and take the traffic down a small cul-de-sac in Lepton, Hermitage Park.
“In a pre-consultation meeting, I told them that they must tell people living in the area of this plan.
“The local plan makes it clear that there should be a masterplan with another developer, on a separate plot, to take traffic to Penistone Road. There is no consultation on a master plan as there is none at the moment. There was a lot of opposition to putting this field in the Local Plan, as it was previously green belt. What this developer is trying to do is get this piecemeal development accepted for building more than 600 houses so that they can sell it to a builder at a premium price.”
In the consultation document, Johnson Mowat says: “The fact that the site is allocated for residential development means that the principle of housing is accepted within the Local Plan as the site is within a sustainable location with a short walk to public transport and local facilities.
“The purpose, therefore, of this consultation is not so much to discuss the principle of development but how a development best suited to the particular site can be achieved.”
Mark Johnson, managing director of Johnson Mowat, said: “We have this week commenced consultation with local residents and councillors regarding a site on the southern edge of Lepton, known in the council’s Local Plan as site HS3. This site is to be jointly master-planned with a neighbouring housing site. When combined together, Kirklees Council expect these two sites to deliver approximately 600 new homes. The principle of the development is already established by the council and the Local Plan gives further advice on its points of access and how to preserve long-distance views from certain listed buildings in the area.
“We have invited all interested parties to give us their views on the early planning preparation work and look forward to receiving all relevant constructive remarks at this stage.”