BATLEY and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater has given further support to local people campaigning against the prospect of a massive warehouse and distribution centre on farmland near Cleckheaton.

She says they must be given “all the relevant facts” about the proposed site off Whitehall Road close to junction 26 of the M62 motorway.

Ms Leadbeater said planning applications should never be shrouded in secrecy and she will raise the issue in parliament next week.

The warehouse, which has been linked to online retailer Amazon, could provide 1,500 jobs.

The 59-acre sloping site between Whitehall Road, Whitechapel Road and the M62 will be entirely given over to the building – which will be a third of a kilometre long, 178m wide and 23m high – as well as space for nearly 200 HGVs and 900 cars and vans.

That has lead to concerns that local routes – including the Chain Bar junction – could become clogged.

An action group, Save Our Spen, has now been formed to harness local opposition to the plans.

Plans for large industrial building are approved

Ms Leadbeater said: “Local residents, including the Save Our Spen group, are frustrated that they aren’t being given all the facts about the so-called Amazon development.

“Planning decisions, large or small, should be made with the utmost transparency and local people should never be kept in the dark about proposals that could have a huge impact on where they live.

“I will be holding an early meeting with planning officers at Kirklees Council to discuss the proposed development off Whitehall Road. And I am writing to the developers to ask them to be as open as possible about the plans.

“The fact that we don’t even know for sure that it is an Amazon warehouse cannot be right.”

She has tabled a question in the House of Commons and will be urging ministers to ensure “that in all cases like this local residents are able to have their voices heard and their objections taken fully into account.”

She said: “I am very concerned about proposed changes to the planning system and remain committed to ensuring that the need to provide good jobs and housing should not be at the expense of our most valued green spaces.”

The application is expected to come before Kirklees Council ’s Strategic Planning Committee later this month.