BRAMHOPE residents and parish councillors are angry over the "unacceptable" handling of a planning application for 25 houses on green belt land at The Sycamores.

A meeting of Bramhope Parish Council heard that private residents are examining the possibility of taking a case to the Ombudsman, the local government watchdog.

And the parish council has written to the director of Leeds City Council's Department of Highways asking for assurances on the way the plan is progressed.

The protests have arisen after residents of The Sycamores and Sycamore Close received a letter originating from the Highways Department, which gave the impression that work on the road for the housing plan could start last month, before planning permission for the houses has even been given.

The parish council vice chairman, Coun Clive Fox said that he had made efforts for the Highways Department to clarify the situation with residents through another letter, but his appeals had fallen on deaf ears.

He said: "I managed to elucidate that nothing can happen without people having the chance to comment.

"There is the one subject of our concern about this whole proposal and the quite different subject of how the parish council has been treated in this

matter."

Chairman Coun John Mordy said: "I think the way the Highways Department have behaved with this is disgraceful.

"The attitude on this is totally and wholly unacceptable.

"It shows a complete and total lack of care for the interests of the people involved.

"It is quite clear that the Highways Department think they are totally above the law."

The parish council has now protested to the director of the Highways Department, asking for assurances that no work will take place unless planning permission for the housing

development is granted and that letters will be sent to residents clarifying the position.

A spokeswoman for Leeds City Council said that the director of Highways would consider the letter from the parish council and would respond.

Following the meeting, Stephen Weatherley, a nearby resident to The Sycamores, said that concerned residents were looking to put a case together for the consideration of the local

government Ombudsman.

He said that residents opposed to the plan were concerned by its handling by Leeds City Council's Highways and Planning Departments.

He said: "We are just putting the case together.

"Whether we have a valid case is not absolutely certain."

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