Time for your say on 30,000 homes plan

Construction of new homes on the former site of Soothill cricket ground.

Cabinet unanimously agreed to the consultation - which starts in November – after the council’s Local Plan draft for housing and industry was published on its website.

The plan could mean 71 sites across North Kirklees being earmarked for development.

Across Kirklees, 20,000 homes over 15 years would be built at an average of 1,600 per year. Ten thousand have already been built or permitted.

Coun Peter McBride, portfolio holder for Transportation, Skills, Jobs and Regional Affairs, said: “We need addional land for housing and industry. The future of Kirklees’ economy depends on it. Whilst houses are not being built the scarcity adds to demand and the price of both purchasing houses and rentals inflates.”

Planners aim to make space for around 1,704 homes in Spen and 302 in Birkenshaw. This includes the provisional allocation of 318 homes at Merchant Fields, Hunsworth, and the 49,000sqm former North Bierley Treatment Works in Cleckheaton.Upgrades to Chain Bar Roundabout to relieve congestion are also are also on the cards.

In Batley and Birstall, 1,138 homes could be developed at 16 different sites. This includes plans for 458 homes off Soothill Lane and 224 homes at Mill Street in Birstall.

In Dewsbury, there is a scheme to build upto 4,000 homes, make railway station improvements and create a new school in the Ravensthorpe area and a further 1,500 homes in Chidswell.

In Mirfield, the site of the former Cooper Bridge Waste Water Treatment Works and land to the west and north of the Three Nuns pub in Leeds Road (161,185sqm) has been earmarked for employment.