Mirfield homes campaigners say plans rub “salt in wounds”

An action group has pledged to fight tooth and nail after planning officers advised councillors should approve plans for 32 homes in Mirfield.
STRONG VIEWS Peter Morgan with action group members.STRONG VIEWS Peter Morgan with action group members.
STRONG VIEWS Peter Morgan with action group members.

Ben Bailey Homes originally had plans to build 34 homes on land near Lady Heton Drive passed by Kirklees Councillors on the Heavy Woollen planning sub-committee.

But after crisis talks between the Lady Heton Action Group and Kirklees Council’s chief executive Adrian Lythgo in May, the developers resubmitted their application to planners.

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The new plans are for 32 homes, rather than the original 34, and have been recommended for approval by councillors at next week’s Heavy Woollen planning sub-committee.

Action Group member Peter Morgan said he was “flabbergasted” by the recommendation and claimed the council was “rubbing salt into the wounds of the residents”.

“There are 140 people in our campaign group who have been telling the council since the first plans were submitted that they are flawed,” he said.

“There was uproar when they were passed back in April in Dewsbury.

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“It created that much of an aftermath that it encouraged them to have another look at the plans and they discovered they were flawed.”

The action group argued the application breached the council’s planning guideline BE12, which states that facing houses should be at least 21 metres apart.

Mr Morgan said the group welcomed the improvements made by the applicant but 30 houses were still in breach of the guidelines.

“The plans are inaccurate and very misleading for councillors,” he said.

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“The drawings clearly show the 21 metres have been taken from the upstairs building plan and do not take into consideration the ground floor buildings such as people’s conservatories.

“The plans are very detrimental to the residents and councillors should be sending them back. How can they consider them when they are inaccurate?”

Members of the action group have called for Ben Bailey to remove four houses from the application and rotate two houses to create sufficient space between the new buildings.

They also recommended the three storey houses should be reduced to two.

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The application will be discussed by the committee next week when councillors will decide whether to give the applicant the green light to build.

The meeting takes place at Cleckheaton’s town hall on Friday July 11 from 1pm.

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