Pressure group says it is considering an appeal after Council gives Baildon park go-ahead

A Baildon pressure group has criticised the Council’s decision to allow Baildon Digital Park to be built on its own 14-acre site off Otley Road.

At a meeting this week, members of Shipley planning panel said they were unable to prevent the development – despite vehement public opposition – because the land had been earmarked for economic development in Council planning policy. Committee members told the meeting their “hands were tied” because they had to follow the Unitary Development Plan (UDP), a planning policy which had been legally agreed in 2005 and reviewed in 2008.

Tim Yeardley, chairman of Baildon Residents Against Inappropriate Development (BRAID), said the economy had changed “significantly” since the policy was introduced and urged for it to be changed following another review next year.

He claimed Council officers had failed to properly investigate contamination of the area, and had not told residents about the full impact of traffic and the effect the development will have on wildlife.

He said: “We are considering our options, including contacting the ombudsman because we are not happy about being told this was an open, honest and democratic process.

“This was signed, sealed and delivered long ago and everybody who has opposed this was completely wasting their time.”

The Council did not publish the results of the most recent wildlife survey in August this year, he said.

The planning meeting was also told there was no contamination on the site, despite independent studies which discovered trapped gas at its northern boundary.

The planning committee was also told the amount of traffic generated down Otley Road, near Baildon junction was “not a material planning consideration”. Mr Yeardley said: “There is a lot of anger about the consultation process. Many people were not aware of the implications because the Council had not told them the implications.”

Bradford Council declined to comment.