A top London barrister and a highways engineering consultant are being hired to fight developers' plans to build a housing estate in Mirfield.

Mirfield Town Council has set aside £10,000 to pay their fees at a planning appeal next month.

Developers Bellway Homes want to build 130 houses on 20 acres of land at Balderstone Hall and on the site of the former Gilder Hall Youth Club in Greenside Road.

The development also hinges on an access road being built through the Gilder Hall land which was left in trust to the people of Mirfield.

But residents are strongly opposed to the houses because of fears about severe traffic congestion and loss of green fields. They want the Gilder Hall site retained for recreation.

They have already sent a 700-name petition and 300 letters of objection to Kirklees Council which is also against the development.

Bellway Homes has appealed to the Department of the Environment for the Council's non-determination of its outline planning application.

The public inquiry is to be heard on February 9 and 10 at Dewsbury Town Hall and the town council is to put the residents' case before the inspector.

Town councillor Ian Harrison, who is also Deputy Mayor of Mirfield, said: "It will be a catastrophe if these houses are built. The roads around the site can't cope with more traffic.

"If we lose any more green fields, Mirfield will become merged with Dewsbury and lose its identity."

Coun Martyn Bolt (Con, Mirfield) is also against the development, as are the town's Civic Society and road safety committee.

Kevin Scott, regional planning manager for Bellway Homes, said: "The inspector who carried out the public inquiry into Kirklees Unitary Development Plan recommended housing for the land and we submitted our application in light of this.''

But Council planning officer Edward Wills said: "We are opposed to the houses because of traffic congestion, highway dangers, pressure on local amenities and insufficient information regarding replacement for loss of recreational facilities.''

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