Council issues Denby Dale housing plan verdict amid 'disaster' warning

Denby Dale residents can breathe a sigh of relief as plans for 62 homes have been turned down by Kirklees Council.

The proposals from Urban Group York Ltd would have seen the properties brought to a plot of grassland at Cliff Hill which sits on the Northern edge of the village. The application, previously branded an “environmental disaster” by a ward councillor, had already been deferred once so that more details could be provided to the Strategic Planning Committee.

The committee had requested further information about the plans to stabilise the site given its coal mining past. However, when it came to the vote yesterday (June 20), not all members were convinced that concerns had been adequately addressed, with the application refused by three votes to two.

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The meeting saw a high turnout from the local community who urged the committee to reject the application. All three ward councillors - Cllr Tim Bamford (Con), Cllr Hannah McKerchar (Labour) and Cllr Will Simpson (Labour) - had also been vocal against the scheme throughout the planning process.

One resident and Parish Councillor, Neil Denby, said: “Essentially, this is a proposal for a noisy, traffic-heavy industrial site involving coal extraction in the heart of a rural village.

“It will scar the village for years, block a major access road to the village centre shops and businesses and result in unacceptable levels of noise pollution, traffic pollution, air pollution, loss of amenity both visual and natural. It’s an unsuitable site that should not be developed just because Kirklees has not reached its housing targets.”

Another resident, Jack Little, said: “I am concerned that this application includes a plan to remediate the site by way of coal extraction but has no substantial detail of how this will be achieved. It will in effect be an open cast coal mine in the centre of the village and bordered on three sides by existing properties.”

On behalf of the applicant, Mark Lane spoke in support of the plans and said: “This will not be a coal mining operation, it will be work simply to stabilise the land to allow housebuilding. This will be a waste and will not be commercially extracted. This equates to about 10 HGV movements in and 10 HGV movements out per day.”

When the matter was passed to the committee, Councillor Mark Thompson (Con, Birstall and Birkenshaw) moved refusal of the application saying: “Without a shadow of a doubt I would move to refuse this application on an environmental point of view, unsuitability and the potential risk to the existing residents and the potential residents that would live there.”

This was backed by Cllr Ammar Anwar (Kirklees Community Independent, Dewsbury West) who said he agreed with the majority of the concerns raised by residents.

After a lengthy discussion, the scheme was refused by just one vote. Cllrs Anwar, Thompson and Bill Armer (Con, Kirkburton) voted to refuse the application, with Cllr Mohan Sokhal (Labour, Greenhead) abstaining from the vote. Councillors Andrew Pinnock (Lib Dem, Cleckheaton) and James Homewood (Labour, Greenhead) voted against the refusal of the plans.

The committee’s decision contradicted the views of council officers who had recommended approval of the application. An officer told the meeting that from their perspective, there wasn't enough evidence to support the committee's reasons for the refusal of the scheme but officers would 'do their best' if the applicant decides to appeal.

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