I attended the demo in Huddersfield last Saturday against the LDF proposed by Kirklees Council. As readers will know Kirklees are proposing a massive ripping up of greenbelt land at Chidswell for Industrial and Housing Purposes. We have formally objected to this proposal as its will inevitably impact on Dewsbury Road and delivers a substantial blight on popular greenfield sites used by Tingley and West Ardsley Residents.
The demo was a good one and alternative LDF options were proposed by people representing a wider political spectrum than you would normally expect for such campaigns.
Kirklees LDF was ratified at a full council meeting on Tuesday with Labour and Lib Dems ramming it through despite opposition from Conservatives and the Greens. Disappointingly the Huddersfield's "Independents" - who seem closely aligned to Labour - backed the proposal presumably because it left their area undamaged.
It is clear that Kirklees has not consulted Leeds on its Chidswell proposals as Leeds would not be proposing 7200 homes for Morley, many on their end of Dewsbury Road if it was aware of the high volume of traffic the Chidswell project will bring to Morley and Tingley.
The problem with all Councils LDFs is the lack of cooperation between Councils who all remain desperate to give up their greenbelt and greenfields in some bizarre attempt to attract the business sector. The fact of the matter is that there is only so much private sector cash around to bid for and Developers will go to the lowest common denominator.
Both Kirklees and Leeds LDF has to go through public examination for soundness and this is where we all need to get stuck in to the planning Inspector to confirm the foolishness and unsoundness of all these proposals.
Roll on the next demo!
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