Controversial plans to build on fields at Keighley were given the green light yesterday.

But a developer was told to go back to the drawing board with plans to build homes next to the Bradford Bulls ground at Odsal.

A scheme to build up to 135 houses on a 4.8-hectare greenfield site at Shann Lane, Keighley, was approved at a meeting of the Regulatory and Appeals Planning Committee yesterday.

Neighbours and Keighley Town Council had objected to the plan, saying it could increase the risk of flooding in the area.

A decision was deferred in February, when councillors told the applicants – the trustees of the Chatsworth Estate – to provide more information about flooding and access to the site.

Yesterday, the committee granted outline planning permission, saying concerns over drainage could be addressed at a later stage of the planning process.

The developer of a Steeton housing estate got permission to alter the number of homes it is building for a second time.

Redrow Homes, which has already started building the development on fields off Thornhill Road, has now reduced the total number of homes from 220 to 206.

But in Bradford, Persimmon Homes was told to look again at its plans to build 115 homes next to Odsal Stadium.

The 2.7-hectare brownfield site in Rooley Avenue has been lying vacant since a former hospital was pulled down.

Deferring a decision, committee members said they wanted Persimmon to look at including a play area and also sound-proofing some of the homes against noise from the stadium.

The committee also deferred a decision on an application to build 14 flats on a steep banking near Bingley town centre.

Pearl Northern Developments Jersey has applied to build the one and two-bedroom flats on the site of a former garage at the junction of Edward Street and Mornington Road.

But the developer’s choice of materials – cedar cladding on the walls and a metal roof – did not prove popular with the committee. The developer was asked to go away and look into alternatives.

A seven-storey student development in the heart of the city was approved. The building, containing 160 studio flats, will be built on a car park at Salem Street, near the inner ring road.