Thanks for your interest in the proposed development by Jones Homes at Dunford Road, Hade Edge. You may or may not be aware, there has been a lot of activity since the first public meeting at the Hade Edge Football Club on 14 June, mainly around gearing up for an objection to a proposed planning application.

The Working Group

An official working group was formed after the public meeting – the group meets weekly, but up until recently it wasn’t actually definite that an application had been submitted. (It is now). In preparation, we have been busy with the following:

Parish Council Planning Committee

We have attended two Parish Council planning meetings to get this application onto the local agenda and make sure the local representatives are aware of the strength of opinion.

The Village Gala

We had an ‘Information Desk’ stand at the Gala on 9 July, this was well attended, 100+ people signed a petition opposing development of the fields at Dunford Road.  Our local MP Jason McCartney is on fully on board as you can see from this image.

Background Research and Making Connections

The Group has conducted extensive research into Council policy and other planning decisions which may have some relevance to our situation.  We have also been accumulating knowledge of other matters which we hope will make an impact on the planning decision.

The Group has met a number of other local interest groups who may be able to offer us some support and whose experience may be helpful to us.

Professional Help

All in the ‘working group’ are very enthusiastic and energetic – but we are laymen – and we only get one shot at this. To this end we have approached a planning consultant and solicitor and have them lined up to advise on an objection. We believe it is important that no stone is left unturned and that an objection is best made with professional advice.  

The Official Status According to Kirklees

Last week a small representation met Council Officers and as a result have a clearer view of where Jones Homes planning application has got to:

• A planning application for 66 dwellings has been submitted but has not been validated. (‘Validated’ means that all necessary information has been submitted sufficient for Kirklees to put the application ‘live’’).
• Kirklees Officers expect to have validated the application in approximately 2 weeks time
• This means that the application will be live on the Kirklees website and planning notices will be posted in the vicinity, we estimate, by mid August.

There Will be a Limited Time to Object

As soon as the application goes live we will be holding another public meeting with the following purpose:

• To review the current status of the application and the campaign so far.
• To outline to everyone the key points that should form an effective objection – that can be made by the group, by local residents and any interested parties.
• To show how we intend to help, guide and support everyone who wants to make an objection.

Once the application goes live, the ‘statutory period’ for objections to be submitted is 21 days so the clock is ticking. We may be able to get an extension to this in order to prepare our case – but we should be all prepared to act fast.

For any further information please make sure you leave your details here  – or please get in touch at hadeedge@hadeedge.com.

As a result of engaging professional help, it’s inevitable that costs are going to be incurred. We’d be delighted to hear from anyone who can help us raise funds to try and protect our village.