PLANS to build housing on Greenbelt land in Apperley Bridge have been refused a second time, with planning officers saying it would be "clearly inappropriate development."

Last summer an application, by AL Properties Yorkshire, to build nine houses on land off Apperley Lane was refused by a planning committee on Bradford Council.

Members said the fact that the site is classified as protected Greenbelt land was a huge hurdle to the development, and disagreed with the applicant's claims that there were "exceptional circumstances" that would allow the housing to go ahead.

Earlier this year the company submitted a similar application for the 0.5 hectare site.

The new plans pointed out that Bradford Council does not have a five year housing supply, and that a development such as this would help meet housing targets.

It says the applicants had nominated the land as a possible future housing for Bradford Council's local plan - an in-progress document that will set out where future housing developments should be built.

Greenbelt housing development refused - with one Councillor claiming he was 'baffled' it was ever submitted

They also claim the homes will be in a highly sustainable area, on a bus route and a short distance from Rawdon and Greengates.

It said the development would include biodiversity improvements on the site.

However, the latest application has now been refused by Bradford Council - with planning officers saying the applicant's arguments about why they should be allowed to build on Greenbelt land were "weak."

Building on Greenbelt lane can be allowed under some circumstances, including agricultural buildings, facilities like sports pitches, allotments or cemeteries, "limited" affordable housing and infilling between two developed sites.

Referring to the new plans, planning officers said: "The proposed residential development within the Green Belt does not fall into any of these categories and is therefore clearly inappropriate development.

"In addition, the scale, size and location of the proposal would intrude spatially into the countryside, resulting in urban sprawl.

"This would have a significant impact on openness, which is in conflict with the fundamental aims of Greenbelt policy."

Referring to the claim that the land is in a sustainable location, officers said: "The site lies approximately 2.2 km from the centre of Rawdon and 2km from the shops in Greengates."

And addressing the claim that the site had been nominated as a housing site in the upcoming local plan, officers said: "Whilst it is too early to comment on what status will be allocated to the site as part of the SHLAA process, colleagues from the Local Plans team note that the location of the site within the Greenbelt and some distance north of the urban edge of Bradford would make the site unsuitable for residential development. In any case, simply putting the site forward for consideration in response to a call for sites does not alter the site's status as Green Belt in any way."

Refusing the plans, the report says: "It is clear that this development is wholly unacceptable given its location within the Green Belt. The arguments submitted in support of the development are considered to be weak and are not considered to represent any very special circumstances."

Highways officers had also raised concerns about access to and from the site, claiming the development provides "substandard access onto an extremely busy road."