More hearings needed
CALDERDALE LOCAL PLAN NEEDS FURTHER CONSULTATION
A THIRD set of hearings is likely next spring to consider some aspects of Calderdale Council’s draft Local Plan in even more detail.
In the closing session of the second phase of hearings, which were held in virtual form through the autumn, Planning Inspector Katie Child said that following further consultation to be carried out over the next few weeks by Calderdale Council, a third series of sessions would be arranged.
These would cover areas, including transport infrastructure, air quality and housing supply, which had arisen during phase two discussions and would depend on objections which might come back from the consultation.
Appointed by the Secretary of State, Ms Child has overseen the sessions and will eventually determine whether or not she finds the plan sound and, if so, if it should be enacted.
Her ruling will decide where new homes - potentially 9,970 of them could be built and new businesses sited in Calderdale into the mid 2030s.
The exact date of the new hearings - which are likely to be compressed into a much shorter period of time than phase two - has not been decided but may be in late March 2021.
The hearings began in summer 2019 when the first phase was held in person at Shelf Village Hall, the coronavirus pandemic delaying the second phase until more than a year later and in virtual form.
The Government requires all local authorities to formulate a Local Plan and gave indications of how many properties it believes would need to be built to meet demand over that period.