Call to fight for green belt land

Chisdwell Action Group is against the idea of building 200 homes and developing up to 35 hectares for business use to the east of the A653 in Dewsbury.

The principle of developing the land, and a second site off nearby Grange Road, could be agreed if Kirklees adopts the Local Development Framework (LDF).

In a flyer promoting its first public meeting, the action group calls on local people to lobby Kirklees councillors before a full council vote in November.

It says: “The council must see the depth of ill feeling towards the destruction of the only green belt sites left between the boundaries of Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield.”

The LDF is a council plan setting out which areas could be used to create 26,000 homes and 35,000 jobs in Kirklees until 2028.

It does not include detailed plans for the sites and each site would be subject to the usual planning processes.

But the action group’s flyer includes a map of a previous landowner’s suggestions for the Chidswell site, now owned by the Church Commissioners.

The action group said the new owners may have different ideas, but the map gave a taste of what could be to come.

The public meeting is at the Tetley Stadium on Thursday October 27, 7pm.