The news of a new housing development proposal on Daisy Hill in Morley comes as no real surprise. The site, which was allocated by the Labour Party for Housing Development when they voted for the UDP in 2001 has been kept green by strong resistance put up by the Community and the MBIs. This battle hotted up when Labour - with the full support of local MP Ed Balls - agreed higher housing targets in the Regional Spatial strategy in 2009 ( a decision supported by local Labour Councillor Neil Dawson). These new targets were to be abolished said the incoming Tory/Lib Dem Government but they failed to take the legal action to do so.
This leaves us in a mess as Labours Housing Targets - although clearly unrealistic - are used by Developers to claim that greenfield sites - such as Daisy Hill - need to be handed over for development to reach these bogus targets. The Developers took legal action and won when a judge - equally as barking as many of his associates - agreed that such housing targets were legal and that planning appeals should therefor be shelved!
Leeds completed about 1000 new homes over the last year , 3000 below these bogus Labour targets. The 3000 unbuilt ones are carried over to next year which means an additional 7000 need to be built to keep up. Clearly Developers will cherry pick the best sites and avoid brownfield ones where real regeneration needs to take place.
Labour continue to moan and carp even though this is a problem of their own making. To satisfy their targets will inevitably mean giving up greenfield sites and this means Morley's eight greenfield sites are presently under real threat.
The choice in Morley is a clear one. You can either back Labours approach which means Morley Greenfield sites are doomed as they sprint to achieve their targets or back an MBI alternative which will put future housing development on brownfield sites and save greenfield sites for future generations.
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