Campaigners are calling for tougher new rules to give councils more power to control housing development, in the wake of a report into the problems of sewage flooding in the Aire Valley.

Lawyers have advised Bradford Council that it does not have the legal backing to prevent further development in the Silsden area, despite a report which reveals the sewage system is inadequate.

Keighley area planning panel, which meets on Thursday, has been recommended to call for higher standards and levels of service from Yorkshire Water.

And councillors are being urged to voice their concern at Westminster, with Keighley MP Ann Cryer, OFWAT, the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water.

In a report to the panel, officers said: "The imposition of an embargo on all housing development in the catchment area of the Keighley high and low level sewers, would not, in counsel's opinion, be reasonable and could be open to challenge. Each planning application must be considered on its individual merits."

Environmental campaigners in the Silsden area, where there are plans for 1,500 new homes, have called for all development to be cancelled until the sewage system is improved.

Residents claim their homes regularly suffer flooding by raw sewage and they fear more development will make it worse.

Bradford Council commissioned an independent report from a drainage consultant who agreed both systems can cope at present.

But he advised that improvements needed to be considered in Silsden, although some limited development could be acceptable without any improvement work.

Councillor John Cope (Lab/Worth Valley) wants a radical overhaul of the planning regulations to give local authorities more power over planning.

"I feel government action is needed to give local authorities greater power to have regard to the needs of the community and not have the rules skewed towards the developer."

A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said any change in the rules would have to be made by the regulators.

A spokesman for OFWAT said Yorkshire Water had identified problems, many connected with combined sewage overflows. When those problems were dealt with, it would improve the sewer's ability to cope with the flow.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.