Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Harden LDF

In the 15th 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 Harden.

A total of 150 new homes could be built in Harden, near Bingley, in the next 17 years to meet Bradford Council's predicted housing demand.

That is despite the Council's own study stating that there "is no significant short term potential" for sites to be developed.

A consultation is under way on the draft Local Development Framework (LDF), a blueprint to show where 45,000 homes may be built across the district by 2028.

A survey known as the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) has been carried out, which identifies only three sites where up to 78 homes could be built.

They could potentially be developed, but not within the next seven years, according to the SHLAA report.

In the meantime, only small areas of "infill" such as the former Granic petrol station land or the gardens of homes could be used to build houses.

The report reads: "There is no significant short term potential in Harden other than from small infill opportunities."

Only greenfield or green belt sites have been identified ripe for development within the next 17 years.

They include an area in Harden Road - at the centre of the village - designated under the Council's current planning policies as "village green space", where 20 homes could be built.

An area of privately-owned farm land north of the Harden Road site could also accommodate 29 homes, the report states.

Land off South Walk, which is protected under the Council's current planning policies, could also be developed to provide another 29 houses within the next 12 years.

The largest potential development would be on farmland in Long Lane, a site on green belt land, where planners have estimated 50 homes could be built.

Another site is in Wilsden Road where Chelston House stands, which could provide 17 houses.

It was included in Bradford Council's previous draft planning policies as housing land but was rejected as a development site by a Government inspector following a public inquiry.

Areas of green belt land in Ryecroft Road and next to Midgham Cliffe End Quarry, in Hill Lane End and in Harden Road, opposite the village cricket ground, are not suitable for development, according to planners.

Bradford Councillor Simon Cooke, whose Bingley Rural ward includes Harden, said development on any of the sites included in the survey would prove controversial and would be likely to spoil the rural feel of the village, Coun Cooke (Con), said: "There is an open aspect right in the heart of the village, which gives it its char-acter.

"The other difficulty with Harden is that in one direc-tion, there is the St Ives estate, which is not only green belt and owned by Bradford Council but is a huge country park, so it cannot be built on.

"If you build in any other direction, you are going to close the gap between Harden and Wilsden or build on large tracts of green belt land.

"You have to think about the effect this will have on the feel of the village centre and the surrounding area."

Coun Cooke said the Council had to decide whether to build huge "urban extensions" of hundreds of homes or build in the green belt, a move which may prove controversial for many of the district's rural residents.

He said: "If you are going to do the latter, it has to be done in conversation with local people. Regardless of the numbers of houses needed, the Council cannot simply impose huge numbers of houses in places like Harden."

 

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.