A NEW Amazon warehouse will not be coming to Scholes, Cleckheaton, it has been confirmed. 

The retail giant has confirmed it won’t be appealing Kirklees Council’s decision to refuse its application.

Amazon had proposed a huge warehouse built on land close to junction 26 of the M62 at Chain Bar for a 24/7 operation.

The plans came up against strong opposition from community campaign group Save Our Spen (SOS), which fought against the controversial application.

If the plans had gone ahead, more than 200,000 HGV journeys were expected to be made going to and from the site every year, raising environmental and safety concerns. 

Other fears included the impact that lighting would have on the surrounding area, with the outcome likened to the Blackpool Illuminations, and the generally imposing nature of the building with it described during the planning meeting as “a blot on the landscape".

The application was rejected by the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee in March leaving the Cleckheaton community victorious.

Despite this, a sense of uncertainty remained as Amazon could have chosen to appeal the Council’s decision.

However, Amazon has now confirmed in writing that it will not be appealing the decision to refuse the application and is no longer considering the site.

An email to the council from Amazon’s public policy operations manager, reads: “At the Kirklees Council Strategic Planning Committee meeting on 15th March 2023, a decision was made by committee members to refuse planning consent to application number 2021/92603.

"The application was for the erection of a storage and distribution unit (use class B8) located at land west of M62, south of Whitehall Road.

“The applicant has decided not to appeal the committee’s decision. As such, Amazon is no longer considering this site as a potential future location.”

SOS welcomed the news, while the leader of Kirklees Council's Liberal Democrat group and Cleckheaton ward councillor John Lawson said: "I’m happy to hear that Amazon, having assessed their options, are not pursuing an appeal for the Cleckheaton site.

"It took our community two years to show that it was not the right application for the site and I’m certain we’d start again tomorrow if we had to."

Councillor Andrew Cooper leader of the Greens on Kirklees Council, said he was "full of admiration" for the Save our Spen campaigners.