Plans to create hundreds of homes in Mirfield, Batley and Gomersal set to be decided

The developments will be heard at 2019’s final meeting of Kirklees Council’s Strategic Planning Committee.

All but one are recommended for approval.

A contentious proposal to build 71 homes in Batley is set for refusal.

Planning officers say there is insufficient information around infrastructure and flood mitigation to be able to approve building on the site at Lady Ann Road in Soothill.

The other developments set for approval as part of the council’s Local Plan are:

Cumberworth Road, Skelmanthorpe (190 homes)

Cliffe Road, Gomersal (98 homes)

Granny Lane, Mirfield (67 homes)

Thornpark House, Station Road, Batley (25 apartments)

Former Newsome Mills, Ruth Street, Newsome (76 apartments)

Hundreds of people living near fields off Cumberworth Road in Skelmanthorpe have objected to a scheme by Persimmon Homes to build 190 houses.

They formed Cumberworth Road Action Group (CRAG) to raise concerns that drainage issues on the land will only add to existing flooding problems that already affect nearby properties.

There are also fears that the land could be contaminated by chemicals such as arsenic.

Residents in Mirfield living near meadowland earmarked for a housing estate say it will lead to increased flooding in the area.

Locals living in Hopton Bottom, close to the River Calder, say an ancient water meadow bordering narrow Granny Lane has acted as a natural floodplain for more than a millennium.

But they fear a plan to build 67 houses on the land will only exacerbate periodic flooding, which, they say, is becoming more frequent.

Residents have formed Granny Lane Area Action Group (GLAAG) to protest against construction work and to raise their concerns with planning and highways chiefs.

An order from the Government, the Local Plan will see tens of thousands of new homes built in the borough by 2031.

It was adopted in February.

Many homes will have to be built within the green belt, as there is insufficient non-green belt land in Kirklees.