Further consultation “is likely to be necessary” around proposals for a massive Amazon fulfilment centre near the M62 motorway at Scholes.
Kirklees Council is waiting on “outstanding information” on jobs and traffic figures associated with the project, which emerged last year and is expected to go before a planning committee this summer.
One councillor opposed to the facility said the incomplete nature of information around the use of surrounding residential roads was “worrying”.
In a seven-page letter sent as she left the council on May 24, Kate Mansell, the former group leader – development management, said timescales would be impacted as a result of further data being needed – and the time required to digest it.
Confirmation that massive warehouse will be run by Amazon
Ms Mansell raised several issues in her letter including environmental health, design and landscape, and the “stopping up” of a public footpath crossing the 59-acre site.
She also sought clarification on the number of jobs set to be created on site, which was initially announced as 1,500 to 1,700 permanent positions rising to around 2,400 jobs over a three-year period.
A spokesman for campaign group Save Our Spen said it was “shocking” that almost a year after the Amazon application was received by Kirklees Council “a significant amount of information is still missing or unclear”.
He added: “One of the major issues concerns the number of jobs claimed. How many jobs are there going to be? If it is really 2,400, why is the traffic report and with it the air and noise pollution report only based on 1,350 employees?”
“The incomplete nature of the information on the use of the roads surrounding the site, including Whitechapel Road past the primary school, is worrying. Residents should expect to see this level of detail; it’s about trust.
“The application continues to drain authority resources by being consistently vague across the board, it’s always a bad sign when officers have to chase developers to this degree.”
The most recent consultation period expired last Tuesday, but Kirklees Council has indicated that people can still send in comments on the Amazon plan, and that they will still be taken into account.
Via social media Kirklees Council confirmed there will be a further 21-day consultation period and that it would take comments on any application “up until the date a decision is made. In this case, we’ll still take comments after June 30 when the notification period expires.”
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