CHANGES to the area's planning blueprint look likely after high level concerns were raised about building on the greenbelt.

And it could spell delay for proposed housing development at Otley, Pool-in-Wharfedale, Bramhope and Rawdon.

The plan, now in its revised, draft stage, also includes provision for the east of Otley Relief Road - connected to more than 400 houses.

It was hoped that the Leeds Unitary Development Plan (UDP) would be in place by the summer. But following greenbelt concerns more discussions are to take place with council and government officers.

Those against the plan, which will provide planning guidance until 2006, say the council must now either scrap it, or hold another public inquiry - so delaying its adoption for at least two more years.

But the council says it will not know what steps it will have to take until the meeting takes place later this month.

Councillor Malcolm Bedford, chairman of the development control panel West and a member of the council's UDP panel, said changes had recently been made to the plan to reflect government policy PPG3.

PPG3 requires brown field, or previously developed, sites must be used before green field land.

He said: "We limited the changes to comply with the equally important

government requirement to put a UDP in place as quickly as possible.

"We have now received a representation to the modifications from the government office. It indicates that the changes do not go far enough to reflect the guidelines - but there is no clear advice on the alternative action they would like us to take. Therefore, our UDP team will be meeting with the government office later this month to clarify the issues.

"It is certainly unclear how this may or may not affect the PAS proposals in the plan - so it is somewhat premature of to suggest that this implies the restoration of the land to the green belt."

But Coun Clive Fox (Con, Otley and Wharfedale) said the plan was in tatters.

"The council wanted to take around 1250 acres of land out of the green belt including land off Canada Road at Rawdon, land off Breary Lane East at Bramhope, land west and east of Pool and the area east of Otley bounded by a new by-pass onto Pool road.

"We argued that this was contrary to PPG3 and that the planning minister would be bound to intervene .

"However the Labour controlled council arrogantly decided to press ahead regardless and they are now going to have to face the consequences."

Coun Fox added that the council would now either have to start again with the plan - which has already taken seven years - or it would have to table further modifications which fully reflected PPG3.

"Either way, I consider a second public inquiry is virtually inevitable which will further delay the adoption of the UDP for two or three years."

Coun Bedford added: "All representations to the UDP modifications are

available for inspection by any member of the public.

"These government office comments, along with all the other representations, will be reported to the UDP panel - which has cross-party membership - before recommendations are made to the executive board."