Tong and Fulneck Valley green belt campaigners launch appeal to fund legal fight

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tong fulneck valley community walk 3
Walkers survey the valley.

Campaigners fighting against plans to build 1,500 houses on greenbelt land between Bradford and Pudsey have launched a crowdfunding campaign to fight the proposals.

Bradford Council recently began a public consultation on its Local Plan, a document that will map out sites where housing should, and should not, be built.

The hefty document, which runs into hundreds of pages, also includes locations for future employment sites – and have sparked concerns on the impact on the green belt bordering Tong Village and the Fulneck area of Pudsey.

A map drawn up by campaigners combining all the sites proposed for housing and employment/industrial on protected Green Belt sites. The roads indicated are potential routes.

The Tong and Fulneck Valley Association fears 1,500 new houses could be built in the green belt between Bradford and West Leeds, along with a new employment site between Tong Garden Centre and the Tong Lane farm shop.

They say the proposals, alongside ongoing plans plans for a new £64 million road that will link the Westgate Hill roundabout with the East of the city, will damage the heritage sites of Fulneck and Tong.

Julia McGoldrick, chair of the Tong and Fulneck Valley Association, told an online public meeting last week that they have appointed solicitors to help fight the proposals – and have launched a £3,000 crowdfunding campaign to help fund legal fees to fight the proposals. At the time of writing, more than £1,300 has been raised in less than a week. She said:

“We have now instructed formal legal advice and we will be submitting a robust objection to these plans.”

Campaigner Elizabeth Edgington said the land provides a vital countryside ‘lung’ between Leeds and Bradford and that proposals were ‘completely disproportionate’. In the online crowdfunder, she wrote:

“Bradford Council have made it clear in their Core Strategy Plans that they are considering the development of substantial new housing and a road in the beautiful Tong and Fulneck Valley.

“This is despite two separate public consultations where the local residents overwhelmingly opposed any plans to develop in the greenbelt of Tong Fulneck Valley. The Council are under pressure to provide housing, and greenbelt land is much preferred by the property developers because it is cheaper to build on.”

The crowdfunder can be found here.

To take part in the consultation, and to see the full list of sites, visit https://bradford.oc2.uk/document/20.

Volunteers are also being sought by campaigners for a tree survey of Black Carr Woods.

One of the most controversial aspects of the early drafts of the plan was a proposal to build 2,500 homes in the Tong Valley to the East of Holme Wood, much of which is green belt land. The plan says that the allocation for this area has been reduced – now 2,126 need to be built across the entire South East Bradford area.

4 COMMENTS

  1. This proposal needs to be vigorously contested,but sadly (as with Pudsey visitor’s center the council will throw people a bone by saying they will downsize the project and not implement the full plans but will still close the centre, which is what they wanted in the first place)it must be fought that no building work is acceptable on this beautiful greenbelt area.

  2. Your lucky only 1500 houses, dewsbury south 4000 houses planned on land degraded from green belt to brown belt, enabling them to push the development through with government approval, beautiful land with plenty of woodland and walks, nature is pushed further and further back.alas the government says councils had a obligation to provide housing, join the club

  3. Good luck to them!! Hope they’re ready for a long and expensive ordeal! We feel your pain with T V Harrison Sports Ground!

    • Dont understand why do they have planning permission ?
      Who gave them it ?
      If it’s bradford and Leeds together there must be a liaison group calling the shots
      Who are they ???

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