Cllr Bernard McGuin - Lepton & Fenay Bridge Housing Update

Thank You to 782 Local Residents who have signed the Petition and thank you to my son, Robert McGuin for helping set up this petition. Please sign and share if you have not already done so, www.change.org/p/save-lepton-fenay-bridge-from-development

LEPTON AND FENAY BRIDGE HOUSING: A statement.
In 2019 the Local Development was passed by the council. This allocated building land for the next 15 years. Included in this was the fields owned by the Dartmouth Estates (HS3) and the Farnley Estates (HS2) between Lepton Great Woods and Penistone Road.
In order to complete the building there had to be a masterplan to get traffic from the 600 plus houses down to what was proposed to be a roundabout.
Two years ago an application for a 75 housing development was submitted to the council. This was on the Farnley estate below the railway line.
At 315 a consultation on the Dartmouth estate for 80 houses. Highways said that 80 houses maximum was acceptable if only the Hermitage Park entrance was available.
What they are trying to prove now is that they have a joint plan for taking traffic and they want two initial applications to be accepted by Kirklees: though the one for Hermitage Park has not yet gone in to the council.
Highways say that the need for a roundabout would not kick in until 200 houses were built or underway. So all the extra traffic would be on Rowley Lane and work to widen that would be in the conditions for building these two separate developments.
Sorry for the long winded explanation of where we are but as of today only one application for 75 houses exists. Johnson-Mowatt said the application for 80 houses will be made soon.
The whole site may take 10 years to develop.
I write this as someone opposed to development and I trying to set out what the immediate future is for the area and, because the land is designated for building in the local plan, the presumption taken by the council is that building will take place unless sound planning reasons prevent it.
Examples of planning reasons are: highways; drainage; flood; ecology; geology; public rights of way issues and effects on listed buildings.

Thank You
Cllr Bernard McGuin - Almondbury Ward Councillor
Facebook: facebook.com/bernard.mcguin Email: b.mcguin@ntlworld.com Website:bernardmcguin.wordpress.com Twitter:twitter.com/terrierfree