Date 19/04/2022 
Report of the LCC South and West Plans Panel Meeting 14th April 2022 to consider Reserved Matters Planning Application 21/07156/RM for the erection of 289 dwellings on land bordering Haigh Wood.
Dear West Ardsley Residents,
WAAG was obviously pleased that last Thursday’s Plans Panel chose to defer the Redrow application (as WAAG requested) rather than to approve it during the 3 hour debate. They deferred so that more information could be supplied about the following:
Housing
- Affordable housing split – providing affordable housing in the 4 and 5 bedroom range.
- Provision of bungalows as part of the development.
- Clarity on the criteria for affordable housing and on the scope of the Housing Needs Assessment.
- Request for a member of the planning policy team to attend the next meeting to explain Policy H4 of the Core Strategy and its implications.
- Opportunities to install photovoltaic panels on roofs for new residents.
Design and Placemaking
- How does the layout comply with the LCC Street Design Guide?
- Allowing for the typical Redrow housing design types – how is a sense of community being considered through the design rather than it just being another housing estate?
- Detail/separate identity of the areas (NB. presumed to mean the housing Parcels).
- The layout includes long primary roads etc. How is the layout helping to separate motorists and pedestrians/cyclists and provide safe places?
- Connectivity of footpaths and cycle routes through the site and also with the surrounding area. Could the footpaths through the site be used by both pedestrians and cyclists?
- Parcel A and the mature trees near the vehicular entrance point which are due to be removed to facilitate access. Could the layout be looked at to save any trees? This may require individual housing plots to be amended.
Ecology
A full tree survey from LCC Tree Officers with special reference to any that are to be lost during the course of the development. What is the quality of trees? Plus carbon capture estimates. What will be planted and provide carbon capture enhancement?
Consultation With Ward Members
Panel members were critical that neither Redrow nor the planners had consulted Ward members at all. They have requested proper Ward member consultation before the application returns to Panel.
This was the last Panel meeting of the current municipal year, and it appears that future meeting dates may not be fixed until Annual Council after the May elections.
WAAG intends to keep a close eye on what goes on in the next few weeks and will continue to try to obtain as good a scheme as possible from the developers. It was encouraging that Panel members seemed to identify with issues that WAAG raised.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our WAAG colleagues and associates who have given their expertise and valuable time, which has resulted, in this deferment. I believe the community owes them a big thank you.
Yours Sincerely
Peter Cowling Chair West Ardsley Action Group.
www.westardsley.co.uk
email: westardsleyactiongroup@gmail.com
