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

Object

Representation ID: 29960

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Harworth Group PLC

Agent: Rob Moore

We would like to raise a several fundamental issues and inconsistencies in respect of the Preferred Allocations in South East Bradford with specific reference to the Site Proformas and Site Assessment conclusions.

While we welcome the modest allocation of our client’s land in respect of Holme Wood North, we are
disappointed to see that the full extent of the Holme Wood Extension has not been allocated for housing.

The ‘Holme Wood North’ allocation is a group of small sites and while we understand these four sites may be brought forward under a comprehensive masterplan, we do not consider that these individual sites are of a scale to create the significant regeneration benefits that the allocation and delivery of the wider site can achieve. The reduced scale of development in this location, from 2,000 to c.297 homes creates a missed opportunity for the delivery of key infrastructure and socio economic benefits to the local community, therefore limiting the scale of regeneration achievable.

It is imperative that development directed to Holme Wood must be able to help provide the socioeconomic benefits to the community. However, the Holme Wood South site is in fact located adjacent to Birkenshaw rather than Holme Wood, with an extremely limited spatial ability to deliver the integration and accessibility that drives regeneration should it be progressed in isolation.

Object

Representation ID: 29961

Received: 24/03/2021

Respondent: Harworth Group PLC

Agent: Rob Moore

Objection to the failure to allocate site SE/163

The site is sustainably located, being on the edge of Bradford City Centre and with the proposed relief road which would act as a defensible boundary between Bradford and Leeds. It therefore does not encroach into the open countryside in a way worse than the draft allocations and would instead be the catalyst in the regeneration of Holme Wood.

The proposed residential use of the site meets the three strands of sustainable development (social,
economic and environmental).

We have addressed the three reasons cited as being reasons for the site's non allocation and do not consider any of these to be justification for the decision.

1) There are no insurmountable heritage reasons for discounting the site.

2) There is no greater impact from the high-pressure gas mains on our client’s site than the preferred allocation at Holme Wood South. It should therefore not be regarded as a constraint to development.

3) Landscape impact - Whilst a detailed landscape study will be carried out in due course the site has limited landscape value, with large scale agricultural built form and quasi-urban features (e.g. Garden Centre) already established over many areas. While we recognise that any large SUE will have landscape impacts, the Holme Wood South site totals 45 Ha in the countryside and therefore will have potentially greater impacts on the landscape to our client’s site due to its elevated positon extending further into the countryside (figure 7). For that reason, it is inconsistent to discount site SE/163 using the same rationale that applies when allocating Holme Wood South.