Controversial proposals to build up to 130 houses on open fields in New Farnley could be approved in principle – at the second time of asking.
As previously reported, Redrow Homes and Park Lane Homes have applied for initial outline planning permission to build the houses on a triangle of empty fields off Whitehall Road and demolish two houses to provide access to the site.
The application was deferred by councillors at the South and West Plans Panel meeting last month to allow for further information on the site’s accessibility, local bus services, and also to clarify the number of school places in the area.
A fresh Leeds City Council report to be considered next Thursday recommends approval of the plans in principle, with more detailed plans on the size of the houses to be submitted at a later date.
Final decision on the proposals would be delegated to the council’s chief planning officer, subject to a number of conditions.
Those conditions include 15% of the properties being affordable housing, a contribution of £30,000 towards the creation of a 20mph speed limit on neighbouring roads and the creation of public open space on the site.
The council report says both Lawns Park School in Farnley and Cobden Primary School in Lower Wortley are over-subscribed and suggests Ryecroft Academy in Farnley or Gildersome Primary School have capacity to cater for extra demand.
The report also highlights local bus services which would serve the development.
There have been 234 individual letters of objection against the plans, as well as a 300-name petition which was circulated in New Farnley.
Residents say the development would be based on so-called ‘PAS’ land which is protected from development until 2028, would add to existing problems with traffic congestion and a lack of local services which would make the estate unsustainable.
The report – which can be read in full here – concludes that the site is sustainable and does not contravene planning policy.
The South and West Plans Panel meets at Leeds Civic Hall next Thursday, April 20, at 1.30pm.
I’m curious to know if this idea has taken into consideration the route which will have to be travelled by parents to get their children from this location to, for example, Ryecroft. One obvious route is via Lawns Lane, which travels past both Lawns Park & Farnley Academy – a route which is already overly congested at school opening & closing times. If this goes ahead, then a new assessment should take place of whether or not it might be appropriate to have a school crossing patrol by these schools, preferably before a serious accident occurs. There has been a previous assessment, but this took place on a day when the secondary school was closed (perfect example of ‘joined-up thinking’!) and so it was judged not to be necessary.