HUNDREDS of people have objected to plans to build housing on a field on the edge of Clayton.

Barratt Homes revealed plans to build 69 homes on a 1.7 hectare field off Westminster Drive, currently used as grazing land, late last year.

Bradford Council has yet to make a decision on the planning application, but over 240 people, including a local campaign group, have so far objected to the plans.

The site is next to another development by Barratt Homes, the 99 house Spring Valley View scheme.

The developer says that 20 per cent of the homes on the site will be classed as affordable housing, and point out that Bradford Council has recently classed the field as a “safeguarded site” that could be used for housing in the future.

The application says the “construction value” of the project is £9.8 million, and that the new residents the homes will bring to the village will bring and extra £1.7m “spending power” to the area each year.

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It adds: “The development of the site will bring significant investment to Clayton and Bradford by delivering a wide range of direct and indirect economic benefits. This will stimulate employment growth during and post construction. It is considered that the application site will create a sustainable, high quality and accessible housing development. It will provide significant social and economic benefits to Bradford.”

However, many residents of Clayton feel the development will put more strain on the area’s roads and services.

Local campaign group Keep Clayton Green has written to the Council saying: “It is acknowledged that there is a major need for housing that addresses the key needs of the area, but it is our contention that the plans submitted to build a further 69 dwellings in Clayton are both inappropriate and unsustainable - providing nothing more than short term achievement of housing delivery targets, whilst exacerbating community and infrastructure failure and causing long - term and ongoing problems for the residents of Clayton and adjoining villages, the council and ultimately all Bradford Council tax payers.

“Clayton is a historic village which was not built to cope with the current level of traffic at peak times, and the additional vehicles the planned development will add.

“We would contend that Clayton has borne its fair share of new building over the last ten to 20 years.”

The group’s letter also claims the site is a wildlife corridor, and that deer have been seen on the field.

Clayton resident Neil Topham said: “As a Local Authority committed to improving the health and well being of the local population, Bradford Council must not approve this planning application, which would add to the flood risk for local residents and remove yet more green space from our local community, when the current Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for more not less community assets, which offer opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors locally, especially in areas of such natural beauty.”

Other concerns raised among the hundreds of objections include fears Clayton was losing its “village” feel due to new housing developments, and pressure on doctor’s surgeries and roads.

And Clayton Parish Council has also objected to the plans.

A date for a decision on the plans has yet to be set.