Amazon revealed as company behind warehouse plan near Cleckheaton

Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater wrote to the developers within days of her election last July asking for their client to be named in the interests of complete transparency over the application.

She has argued throughout that the proposal is “too big, too polluting, too damaging to the local environment and would impose intolerable pressure on an already overburdened road network”.

Ms Leadbeater has today (Monday) received a letter from the applicant, ISG, saying "Amazon will be the operator of what will be a fulfilment centre".

She said: “Today I got confirmation of what we always suspected, that the proposed development off the Whitehall Road would be a massive Amazon warehouse.

"I can’t for the life of me understand why they refused to be open about this from the start.

"If they had, National Highways and others could have taken into account the company’s previous track record with buildings on this scale.

“Before any decision is made there needs to be a fresh public consultation based on what we now know, along with a reappraisal of the impact on the roads network and the local environment.

"This must take into account not only the fact that the proposed development is much bigger than the one outlined in the council’s own Local Plan for the area, but also the combined implications of this and other developments around Chain Bar roundabout and the M62 in particular.

“The Amazon proposal would be damaging enough by itself, but when combined with the new ‘garden village’ planned for just across the border in Calderdale and other developments nearby, it would place an intolerable strain on the local area.

“Residents have been at a disadvantage from the outset thanks to the ‘presumption in favour’ of development imposed on councils through the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework.

"I strongly believe, however, that a decision like this that will affect the lives of people across a wide area for many years to come must be taken on the basis of all the facts.

"After today’s revelation I am more convinced than ever that the Amazon warehouse should not go ahead.”