Draft Bradford District Local Plan - Preferred Options (Regulation 18) February 2021

Object

Representation ID: 16287

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

The council has particular concerns over the following sites;

KY2/H this site is situated off Black Hill Lane and is a greenbelt site. The impact assessment states the access to the site will require infrastructure improvements given it is situated on a narrow lane.

The site would also see potential future sites opened for development and increasing the urban sprawl in the vicinity of the site.

Object

Representation ID: 16288

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

KY12/H is a greenfield site in Bogthorn. The site description includes a mention of a former quarry. However, that former quarry now forms part of the existing Occupation lane estate, which is a development of approximately 123 dwellings which is due to be completed during 2021.

Additionally, there are serious ground water issues on the proposed site. The development on Occupation Lane had to install a sluice gate for that reason.

If this site is included as a suitable development site the houses would be roof height for the properties along Moorlands Avenue. There would also concerns over access to the site, especially for construction vehicles. Moorland Avenue rises from Keighley at a gradient of about 1 in 6 and parked vehicles on both sides of the road are an additional problem.

A petition with over 80 signatures against this proposed development has been handed into the town council.

Object

Representation ID: 16289

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

KY13/H is a proposed site, separated from KY12/H by a small piece of land, but it is clear these sites could easily be merged in the future. This site also has issues of access, the top of Thornhill Avenue (a cul de sac) is steeper than Moorlands Avenue and this could make it unsuitable for heavy construction traffic.

Object

Representation ID: 16290

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

KY15/H is a site situated off Carr Bank, Riddlesden. The greenbelt has been earmarked for up to 139 dwellings.

The site impact assessment recognises there is no opportunity to create a stronger green belt boundary other than the current boundary. As with the council’s concerns with site EM1/H this site could potentially open further development sites between Morton and Riddlesden which would continue the urban sprawl and eventually merge the two services centres of East Morton and Riddlesden.

Object

Representation ID: 16291

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

KY18/H is a large site situated on Moss Carr Road, it is a greenfield site, and it is proposed that 103 dwellings are built on this land.

Moss Carr Road is a particularly narrow road at the access point of this site. Due to the type of housing many vehicles are parked both sides of the road and cars travelling this road must proceed carefully. The land itself is waterlogged and extremely boggy. This can be seen quite clearly from the road due to the vegetation that is growing. It backs on to Moss Carr Avenue the gardens of which are regularly flooded. It should be noted that the land in the Victorian era was used for mines and when mines collapsed these were not excavated nor were the bodies of the miners who died below ground.

Object

Representation ID: 16292

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

KY19/H is a greenfield site and backs onto the medical practice and housing on two roads. Long Lee Lane and Moss Carr Road.

Again, the land itself is boggy and waterlogged as can be seen at the village hall adjacent to this site where a pump is in operation 24/7 to drain away the excess water. In torrential rain conditions the pump is unable to cope with the excess water which in turn drains onto the adjacent fields.

Moss Carr Road leads to a crossroads with Long Lee Lane, Calton Road and Thwaites Brow Road and visibility is particularly poor. There have been numerous near misses and building on Moss Carr Road with increased vehicles can only exacerbate this situation.

Any impact assessment would show that the road would not be able to accommodate a further 100+ houses with 2 cars per household on average without serious traffic intervention modifications.

Object

Representation ID: 16293

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

KY20/HC is a large greenfield site with proposed housing of 45 dwellings.

Access to this site would be via a narrow, elongated cul-de-sac from an equally narrow set of roads. Visibility would be poor as vehicles would have to manoeuvre around a very tight corner. This is another infill, and the green space would be lost if it was to become urbanised.

Object

Representation ID: 16294

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

The council is concerned that this site cannot be considered on its own without first assessing the impact on the land surrounding the site.

The council believes this site would quickly become a gateway site to allow further access to the green fields surrounding it. This can easily be seen by the development of Golden View Drive, where the same development creep has occurred piece by piece. This is the very purpose of the greenbelt to stop this development creep and urban sprawl. The impact assessment or local plan policies fail to address these issues in any meaningful way.

This site if developed would meet up with the proposed site on Moss Carr Road of 103 dwellings thereby taking a large section of the green space away from the village and sprawling further down the valley to the dual carriage way. These two sites would surround the cricket field and could compromise the rights of way down to Bingley.

Object

Representation ID: 16295

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

The site at KY36/H is on greenbelt and is there for a purpose.

Long Lee and Thwaites Brow suffer from urban creep from Keighley due to the number of developments that have occurred over the years. Once they were villages in their own right but now Long Lee and Thwaites Brow have been sucked into Keighley. Due to its proximity to the crag, there is excess water running through this site. It is also exactly opposite to another proposed site, thereby removing green space from both sides. Access is particularly difficult as it is right on the junction of Long Lee Lane and Harden Road and could cause difficulties for traffic emerging from another junction.

Object

Representation ID: 16296

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Keighley Town Council

Although a small site, KY40/H is also part of this urban creep and more importantly, greenbelt. It would create with KY36/H a pincer movement to taking over the whole of this area by infill. Again, just off a busy junction which is a shortcut for many motorists travelling from Keighley to Bradford.