Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Cottingley LDF

In the 11th of a series of 27 articles analysing the key study into the availability of land in Bradford, reporter Marc Meneaud looks in depth at the possibilities for housing sites in Cottingley.

Hundreds of new homes in Cottingley would cause "complete gridlock" on already badly-congested roads, a senior councillor has warned.

Conservative Councillor Baroness Eaton, whose Bingley Rural ward includes the Aire Valley village, said the prospect of 300 more homes would pose a traffic nightmare for people living there.

Coun Eaton, who lives in Cottingley, said: "As a resident I would say we have a huge issue with the saturation of traffic.

"I am not a NIMBY - I think housing development is important in some places to stimulate villages so they don't become ghost towns - but the prospect of extra new houses in Cottingley would mean it being completely gridlocked, unless somebody can miraculously find a way of accessing or exiting the village."

Councillor Eaton spoke out amid an ongoing consultation on the district's future housing needs in the Local Development Framework (LDF).

Draft plans show that 300 homes could be built in Cottingley - the majority in the green belt surrounding the village - towards the 45,500 which the Council say are needed throughout the district by 2028.

A strategic land assessment has been undertaken by Council planners to inform the future LDF, which identifies nine sites in Cottingley where up to 667 homes could be built.

Sites off Hazel Nook, Lee Lane and New Brighton have been ruled out for development within the 17-year lifetime of the LDF because they are separate from the village centre.

Another site for 189 homes off Cottingley Cliffe Road has also been rejected because there would be no road access to any future development, other than through the grounds of Aire Valley School.

Green belt land behind homes in March Cote Lane and to the east and west of Cottingley Moor Road could see developments of 222 and 273 homes, respectively, according to the assessment.

Homes could be built on both sites as early as 2018.

A practice ground at Shipley Golf Club, off Hazel Beck, has been identified as a site where 33 homes could be built within the next six years.

It is an area of greenfield land with direct access from Hazel Beck but is the only available site in Cottingley not protected from development under the Council's current planning policies.

A wooded area of land behind Hazel Beck, which is also designated as greenfield, could yield 127 homes in the next 13 years, if planners can iron out problems with accessing the site.

Planning permission has already been granted for a dozen homes in Crowhurst to the east of Bradford Road, the main road into Cottingley.

In total, Council planners believe 25 hectares of land could yield more than twice as many homes as the 300 set out in the LDF.

However, Coun Eaton, said she believed villagers would "fight tooth and nail" to protect the village character and the green belt.

She said: "Once we start invading green belt to the extent that is proposed, we are going to have a huge place with no distinction between the villages.

"People will not feel like they belong to a community."

At an executive meeting last week, the Council agreed to extend the consultation period on the LDF.

Coun Eaton said: "It is clearly very important that the people of Cottingley do pay attention to this (consultation) and express their views."

THE LONG-TERM LAND STRATEGY

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) is a technical document which will provide a pool of sites from which to select land to be allocated for housing when preparing the Local Development Framework.

The Framework is a blueprint that will manage development and growth across the district over the next 15 years.

Consultation on it's core strategy document, which sets out a long-term spatial vision for the district until 2028, is continuing. It sets out broad locations for development and policies that will influence the use of land and the type and scale of development permitted, as well as identifying key infrastructure requirements.

The overall Local Development Framework is expected to come into effect in 2013 with consultation over specific land allocations taking place during 2012.

Sites included in the current SHLAA may not make it into the land allocations documents and final framework. In addition further potential sites could be identified as the assessment is updated every year.