Town council in call for planning system review

SENIOR planners in Kirklees have been asked to consider a formal independent commission to review they way planning works in the borough.

It aims to address a perceived ‘lack of clarity’ in how planning decisions are made by Kirklees Council – and to address what has been described as ‘a reduction in confidence’ among residents.

Initially raised in February last year, the matter sat in limbo for more than a year.

Now it is to be raised with the senior councillor who chairs the authority’s Strategic Planning Committee.

In response to a request for an update, the council’s head of planning and development, Mathias Franklin, wrote: “I have asked the Chair of the Planning Committee for his thoughts on this request.”

That is likely to refer to Clr Steve Hall, who chairs both Strategic Planning and the council’s Heavy Woollen Planning Sub-Committee.

The Huddersfield Planning SubCommittee is chaired by Clr Terry Lyons.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that committee chairs do not possess the delegated powers required to set up a review, which instead is an administrative function of the decision-making Cabinet.

The call for a Community Commission on planning came from Mirfield Town Council, which agreed a motion on the issue last year.

It said a commission was needed to take evidence from residents and constituted community groups of their experiences with the remit to consider any changes needed.

It said it should be open to all in Kirklees ‘but held in Mirfield.’

Its motion read: “Councillors in other areas are also infuriated with the planning process and Kirklees staff. Kirklees ignoring key factors like trees, flooding and traffic surveys carried out at quiet times or during school holidays.”

That was circulated to other town and parish councils for their consideration in the hope that they would support the approach.

Mirfield has been at the forefront of several stand-offs over contentious – and fiercely fought – planning applications.

They include:

A proposal to bulldoze 11 acres of pastureland at Balderstone Hall Fields to build a housing estate, which was thrown out. The field, stripped of topsoil, had to be returned to its previous state.

More housing at Northorpe, which was approved despite locals’ concerns that it would ‘swamp’ the village

And the long-running saga of Granny Lane, where developers have now been told they cannot build houses on an ancient floodplain.

Mirfield Town Council, which includes Kirklees councillors Martyn Bolt and Vivien Lees-Hamilton, set out its motion ‘in order to try and restore public confidence in the council and its processes.’ It comes as the council prepares to formalise arrangements for its Inclusion Commission this summer.

The cross-party group backed by Labour, Conservatives, Lib Dems, Greens and the Holme Valley Independents aims to create a more inclusive society by instigating generational change.