You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
‘Strong concerns’ over Yorkshire local authority’s local plan
A planning inspector has warned of “strong concerns” over the housing numbers used in a Yorkshire local authority’s draft local plan.
In a report, Katie Child said she was not convinced that Kirklees Council could demonstrate its ability to meet its requirement for 31,140 new homes over the plan period.
The draft plan was submitted to the government in April for inspection.
“I have strong concerns at this stage about the deliverability of the phasing rates, and whether the council is able to demonstrate that the housing requirement over the plan period and a five-year supply of housing land can be met,” wrote Ms Child in her report.
READ MORE
“Based on the evidence currently before me it appears that the lead-in times for some sites are optimistic, and it is unclear whether sufficient flexibility has been allowed in the programmes to deal with aspects such as the appointment of development partners/house builders, environmental impact assessment work where relevant, legal contract work, negotiation of Section 106 agreements and infrastructure delivery on large sites, and the preparation of reserved matters applications.”
The inspector allowed the plan to progress to further hearings but said she had “a number of outstanding concerns”.
Councillor Peter McBride said the local authority was confident it had reached agreement on many of the legal and technical requirements of the plan.
“We have been impressed by the level of representations from individuals and groups who have attended, and feel that the complex and probing questions and discussions our proposals have been subject to should reassure all concerned of the robustness of the inspector’s examination,” he said.
“There is further work to do now to provide responses to the matters raised, but this is entirely normal and we are pleased she has given us the green light to prepare for the later stages.”
