On 28th February 2012, Bradford Council Shipley Area Planning Panel voted by a 5 to 2 majority to accept outline plans to build up to 135 houses on green fields at Bingley Road and to accept full plans to build 173 houses on Derry Hill fields.
This followed a report from the Bradford planning officers which recommended approval of the plans. The report was heavily biased and failed to include important material facts. It became apparent during the panel meeting that information had been suppressed.
All the MPC & MCA objections had been trivialised and no reference was made in the report to the written MAG representations.
Major concerns about road safety and flood risks were presented to the panel by local Ward Councillors, Parish Councillors, Menston Community Association and Menston Action Group.
These concerns were dismissed by Council officers during the meeting. The community had no right to reply to the subsequent statements made by the Council's planning, highways and drainage officers or developers.
In summing up, five Councillors said they could not find reasons to reject the plans yet two Councillors did find reasons to vote against approval.
Telegraph & Argus, 28th February 2012. Read more...
The Bradford area has 13,000 houses standing empty and 270 derelict sites waiting to be regenerated, yet Bradford Council continue to recommend building on green fields, at the same time allowing large chunks of the district to fall into urban decline.
Menston is a village which spans the boundaries of Leeds and Bradford.
The majority of Menston people travel to Leeds, work in Leeds and shop in Leeds. For secondary education, most children attend Leeds schools.
Leeds Council is opposing Bradford’s designation of Menston as a local growth centre.
Leeds Council has a proven track record of resisting green field applications and encouraging urban regeneration.
Many Menston residents are now left wondering about which local authority they would prefer to belong.
Wharfedale Observer, 1st March 2012, Read more...
Thank you to everyone who contributed over the past year. This has provided invaluable technical reports. However, we do need to raise more if our campaign is to be successful. Help to save your village by writing a cheque to “Menston Action Group” and delivering to one of the addresses below:
Bradford's Local Development Framework Draft Core Strategy proposes that Menston will become a “local growth centre” with proposals for 900 houses.
Please send comments to:
Bradford Local Development Framework, FREEPOST NEA 11445, PO Box 1068, Bradford, BD1 1BR.
Local Development Framework.
Download Comments Forms.
Leeds City Council.
Fury as Menston homes plan meeting ends in farce:
Wharfedale Observer 28th September 2011. Read more...
A strategic director has admitted the council has made changes to its procedures in the wake of a planning “farce” surrounding applications for nearly 300 new homes:
The Guardian 5th May 2011. Read more...
Objection Letters to Derry Hill and Bingley Road plans will still be accepted.
You can view the plans at Bradford City Hall Planning Office or on the internet http://www.planning4bradford.com/online-applications entering the reference number:
For Derry Hill, the reference is 10/04551/MAF
For Bingley Road, the old reference is 10/06229/MAO. Please quote the revised reference number 11/05691/OUT
Letters should be sent to the Planning Service, 3rd Floor, Jacobs Well, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 5RW.
To object to both sites, separate letters with separate reference numbers should be sent.
The Menston Parish referendum held on 7th April 2011, about the proposals for Derry Hill and Bingley Road, saw a total of 1,790 residents take to the polls.
Slightly more than 98 per cent – 1,760 voters – backed a motion urging Bradford Council to turn down the applications by Barratt Homes and Taylor Wimpey. There were 28 people against the motion, with two unmarked or void papers.
Read more: Telegraph and Argus 8th April 2011
More than 550 letters of objection to the major housing development plans on the greenfield site at Bingley Road in Menston were handed to Bradford Council on 3rd March 2011.
A group of about 20 residents dressed in yellow Menston Action Group T-shirts held a protest walk from Bradford Forster Square railway station to the planning department offices Jacobs Well. They handed in documents outlining the raft of reasons why they object to outline plans for 124 properties off Bingley Road.
This was in addition to more than 1000 objection letters to the Derry Hill plans which were hand-delivered last October.
Telegraph & Argus 4th March 2011. Read more...
Join the T&A battle to save our green field sites by identifying brown field alternatives.
"Hundreds of parcels of land are sitting undeveloped while our green fields are under threat. The Council says it doesn’t know where they are – so we’re asking YOU to help us find them" Read more...
Our MPs are backing the T&A Campaign, read more...
To report a derelict site please click here.
Latest figures show there are 13,720 empty properties in Bradford among a total of 47,477 across West Yorkshire.
Rows of boarded-up homes stand across the district, including in Oak Lane, Manningham, Morley Street, Bradford, as well as off Westgate, near the city centre. Read more...
