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Developer considers challenge after Jenrick throws out 500-home green belt scheme
A developer has said it is “considering its next steps” after the housing secretary threw out controversial plans for a 500-home development on green belt land in West Yorkshire.
Robert Jenrick overturned an approval last week from a planning inspector and local authority, ruling that the scheme on a 25-hectare piece of land near Ilkley, west Yorkshire, is “inappropriate development in the green belt”.
The letter outlining the decision was sent the day before parliament was dissolved for the general election.
The development, in the village of Burley in Wharfedale, had been called in by Mr Jenrick’s predecessor James Brokenshire.
The scheme, which included plans for 30% affordable housing and a new primary school, was the subject of a public inquiry in May this year but was approved by the planning inspector.
Bradford Council had also previously recommended the project, despite around 200 objections from locals.
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But the letter authorised by Mr Jenrick said he disagreed with the planning inspector’s decision and was refusing planning permission. “The proposal is inappropriate development in the green belt, and this harm carries substantial weight against the proposal,” the letter said.
He said the plan would lead to “encroachment into the countryside and would result in the sprawl of the Burley in Wharfedale built up area, both of which would conflict with green belt purposes”.
However, he acknowledged the development would “deliver a substantial number of new market and affordable homes” in an area of “historic under-delivery of housing” and there would be net benefits for biodiversity.
CEG, the developer behind the scheme, told Inside Housing it will consider its next move following the decision.
Steve McBurney, head of planning – north at CEG, said: “We are naturally disappointed with the secretary of state’s decision.
"We do, however, welcome the inspector’s strong recommendation for approval, it is very clear from his thorough interrogation and comprehensive report that he has fully understood the technical planning case and we are now considering our next steps.”
CEG can challenge the decision but has to make an application to the High Court within six weeks.
A spokesperson for Bradford Council noted that the refusal was “against the advice of the planning inspector who carried out a two-week public inquiry”.
The spokesperson added: “It will now be up to the applicant to decide if they wish to challenge the decision.”
Prior to parliament’s dissolution, the government had been stepping up efforts to prevent building on the green belt.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has reportedly backed a campaign opposing plans for 1,300 new homes on green belt land in Wolverhampton. Last month, housing minister Esther McVey wrote to a council in Nottinghamshire urging it not to build on the green belt and instead prioritise brownfield land for development.
Labour is yet to release its manifesto so its position on the green belt is not clear. However, in a tweet in 2015, Jeremy Corbyn said: “The green belt was and is an excellent concept. Destroy the green belt and we have mega cities and even worse biodiversity.”
