Councillor claims borough’s housing needs ‘exaggerated’

FAR FEWER new houses are needed in Kirklees than are highlighted in the borough’s controversial Local Plan.

That’s the view of a Liberal Democrat critic of Kirklees Council’s plan, which must construct 31,340 homes by 2031 – a quota of 1,730 per year.

Coun Alison Munro says the council is sticking to its target despite evidence showing that the figures are “exaggerated”.

She claims the Local Plan could be delivered on half of its current target – meaning contentious sites such as Bradley Golf Course, Dewsbury Riverside and areas of green belt in Lepton and Fenay Bridge need not be bulldozed to accommodate nearly 1,000 homes.

Coun Munro attacked the Local Plan prior to its adoption in February 2019, saying it was fundamentally flawed and based on out-of-date figures. That was rejected by the council, which said it had been guided by the Government on its housing projections.

She is sticking to her assertion that the Local Plan was based in Office of National Statistics (ONS) data from 2014, which projected growth by 47,800 people and 27,300 households.

She said actual population growth has been much slower, and only about 900 new homes each year are needed – 16,600 less in 2031 than the Local Plan.

She added: “In the original planning White Paper back in August 2020 it was acknowledged that far fewer houses are needed in the north than around London, but a Tory revolt led by Theresa May reversed this policy. A new estimate of 1,666 houses per year for Kirklees was published in December. However even this exaggerated figure results in a need for 9,000 fewer houses in 2031 than the Local Plan target.”

Prior to the adoption of the Local Plan in 2019, Kirklees Council said the ONS figures were not out of date and were “the most appropriate” for the authority to use.

It said the Local Plan was decided on 2014-based household projections, which were issued by the Government in 2016 and that its use of those figures was consistent with guidance it published.

It added: “Whilst a further set of household projections were published in 2016, Government guidance states these do not give an appropriate basis for identifying housing need.”