Residents in Steeton are steeling themselves for a battle to stop a proposed housing development on marshy land beside the Aire Valley trunk road.

An outline planning application has been submitted to build just two houses on land near Currer Walk, but after seeing the plans at Keighley Town Hall residents fear the applicant has bigger plans.

Last Thursday residents living near the site met with prospective Worth Valley candidate and Silsden parish councillor Benita Smith and Keighley MP Ann Cryer to discuss the proposals.

Christine McLevy, spokesman for the residents, says: "The field is totally inappropriate and unacceptable for development for a whole range of reasons."

She says leaflets have been delivered throughout the neighbouring streets informing people of the plans in an effort to co-ordinate as much public opposition to the plan as possible.

Mrs McLevy says she fears a large number of houses are to be built by a professional developer and not the land owner, as the land owner has previously tried to sell the land.

Cllr Mrs Smith says a great deal of work would be needed to make the severely waterlogged site stable and is doubtful whether a developer would go to those lengths for just two houses.

She says: "When the residents went to see the plans at Keighley Town Hall it looked like there were plans to build about 40 more houses further back. This looks like the thin end of the wedge. They wouldn't go to all that trouble of doing all that work and building a road for two houses.

"In the short term, the action group need to look at why five years ago that land was turned down and ask what's different now."

A spokesman from Keighley planning office says representations for or against the plan are invited until May 5. If objections are received the proposal will go before the planning committee.

Landowner Paul Dew, who lives in Manchester, says the land is assigned for residential use in the UDP and he is simply following these guidelines.

Mr Dew previously submitted a planning application for a larger number of houses in 1997 but was refused permission. He says he is confident the new plan will be passed as a result of the UDP.

He says the application is purely speculative and has no specific developers in mind, although there is a possibility Airedale hospital could purchase the site if it proceeded with plans to build new accommodation facilities.

"This first application is going in with that in mind" he says.

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