CAMPAIGNERS fighting for better consultation over major developments in Menston head into the first stage of a High Court legal battle on Monday.

Menston Action Group (MAG) raised £5,000 for its fighting fund in a week, and has enlisted a barrister, as it heads to the High Court in Leeds to push for a full judicial review over Bradford Council's handling of the plans for a 179-home housing development on green fields at Derry Hill.

The group, which opposes the plans to build hundreds of houses on fields at both Derry Hill and Bingley Road, believes flooding and drainage issues at Derry Hill were not fully taken into account, and planning decisions were based on "inadequate" flood risk assessment information.

MAG believes it is the first group in the country to take such action against a planning decision.

It last year funded an independent review of Menston flooding problems, which it claimed would be made worse by more building in the area.

The group has already raised and spent more than £200,000 fighting the housing developments, and an appeal in its most recent newsletter for further funds swiftly raised another £5,000.

Dr Steve Ellams, of Menston Action Group, is expecting many campaigners from the village to head to Leeds on Monday to show solidarity at the preliminary meeting.

"It's going to be quite a crowd," said Dr Ellams. "We're going to go on the 9.21am train, we've been told not to take banners or drums, we'll be on our best behaviour."

But he admits he has become "jaded" with the planning system, especially after the bid to attain village green status for Derry Hill was turned down.

"I was very upset with the result of that, because we felt all along we have a very good case," he added.

Despite barristers' fees running into hundreds of pounds per hour, MAG said it needed to have legal parity with developers, who can afford the best lawyers.

A barrister from outside the Yorkshire area has been hired for Monday's hearing.

MAG has asked any residents hoping to attend the hearing on Monday to get in touch via its website, so the group knows how many people are likely to be there.

In December, the Telegraph & Argus reported how an independent report on flooding issues surrounding the two greenfield developments at Menston had confirmed the fears of campaigners fighting to overturn planning decisions.

The review of flooding problems in the area by leading expert Dr Duncan Reed was commissioned by members of Bradford Council's Regulatory and Appeals committee, which decided to seek clarification when it met in October.

And in the 60 page detailed document, Dr Reed highlights two significant issues, particularly the unique landscape surrounding Menston and the impact on underground water levels caused by closure of the old High Royds Hospital.

In Dr Reed's opinion, Barratt Homes, who want to build homes on the Derry Hill site and Taylor Wimpey, who want to put 134 properties beside Bingley Road, have not been specific enough in their approach.

"The developers have relied on generalised methods of flood estimation that are widely but wrongly applied to such sites," he wrote in the opening to his report.