- New detailed planning application for 59 houses on Dunford Road, slight reduction numbers and no shop
- Habitat surveys already underway
- Further rumours of land sales to developers
Since the last update about the flyer from Savills, we have learned that a detailed application has now been submitted (ref 2017/91623) – this can be found on Kirklees Council’s website by clicking here.
It is interesting to note that this time Jones Homes are submitting a detailed application (that means there are more plans and reports to consider), that the number of houses has been reduced from the first application (slightly!) to 59 and that the shop has been omitted. The applicant suggests that approval of the detailed application will allow a quicker start but does not say what will happen to the first application. The applicant has also suggested that the reduction in the number of houses and omission of the shop is (in part) due to the views expressed by locals, this is misleading and we will be making this clear to the Council in due course
There are also rumours that other pieces of land in the same tract have been sold to developers, we are keeping our eyes on this in case another application comes in.
More advice coming soon
The HEFF committee will be going through the new planning application and make some recommendations as to how villagers can make their views known with the dates by which this should be done. Don’t worry too much about the dates currently shown on Kirklees website as these will be amended when site notices go up.
We expect that we will restating the same points that were raised last time round as the new application has shown little change with additional comment on the new plans and reports.
We remain of the view that development of the scale proposed is still not appropriate or sustainable given the location of the site and the nature of the village. We also know that we continue to be up against it given Kirklees’ situation and track record. However we believe we have a good team and we will nevertheless continue to work hard to oppose the proposals in their current form.
How can you help?
- In due course we will be calling upon as many people as possible to oppose the application (see above). More advice coming soon.
- We have also depleted the funds we raised last year and will be looking for your generous donations.
Thank you for your support so far and keep tuned in for updates soon.
Local Plan News:
While all this activity is going on, Kirklees Council’s new Local Plan is moving ahead slowly –we have submitted comments and the next key stage is where a Government appointed inspector takes charge of the process and calls an “examination in public” – this is a relatively informal process where comments from invited parties can be discussed with the inspector and the Council and the inspector can decide whether any further changes to the plan should be made. This next stage is not expected to take place until September by which time the new planning application could have been to Committee so that will be our main focus of attention. We are aware that many villagers made comments on the Local Plan so thanks for your contributions.