Number of planned homes increases again at controversial development site in Cleckheaton

The plan by Harron Homes on farmland in Cleckheaton had gradually already increased from 267 home to 284, then 287 as it progressed through the planning stages.

This was amid concerns about there being too many large family homes in the development.

After going before committee in December and being deferred again due to the same issues, the developer as altered the housing types again - leading to a plan for 291 homes on the site.

In a report to Kirklees Council's strategic planning committee, it outlines how the scheme has changed - from 267 homes, 191 of which were four-bedroom - which was refused in April last year, to the current proposal of 291 homes, 150 of which are four-bedroom.

A table from a planning report into Harron Homes' plans for a site at Merchant Fields in Hunsworth, showing how the house types have changed

More information has been provided on how an important hedgerow is to be relocated within the site - which had been another sticking point at the meeting last month.

Once again, the scheme at Merchant Fields Farm in Hunsworth is being recommended for approval by Kirklees Council planners.

A report to the committee states: "The applicant has satisfactorily addressed the previous application’s reasons for refusal, and the previous reasons for deferral. An improvement unit size mix is now proposed, and further information has been submitted regarding the proposed translocation of the site’s important hedgerow."

In December it was also made clear that planning officers had agreed with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, not to issue the decision notice straightaway should committee members wish to approve the plans. This is to give the Secretary of State a chance to decide whether or not to call in the application.

If approved, a section 106 agreement would need to be signed, including 58 affordable homes and £2.1m of planning obligations. The report adds that if this has not been signed within three months, then the Council can decide whether to refuse permission on the grounds that the development would be unacceptable without these benefits secured.

More than 100 objections have been sent to the Council over the scheme, with concerns raised around the impact of increased traffic on local roads, and the effect on local amenities, as well as the location of a mine shaft on the site.

The meeting takes place on January 27.

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