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Horsforth: Inquiry call over land being lost to new housing
An inquiry into the amount of land in Horsforth being lost to housing developments is being demanded by a councillor
New proposal to build 550 homes at the Riverside Mills and Clariant site in Calverley Lane, Horsforth, are the latest in a string of plans for housing to be built on land designated for in west and north-west Leeds.
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Coun Brian Cleasby (Lib Dem, Horsforth) fears that if the trend continues people will have to travel across the city to access jobs, adding to traffic congestion and pollution.
He said while it was planning policy that, in normal circumstances, industrial sites were preserved for employment uses, they continued to be given over to housing.
Coun Cleasby listed 25 employment sites along the A65 where housing had taken place or was proposed and urged the council's city development scrutiny board to carry out an inquiry into the issue.
He said: "How far are the residents around the A65 going to have to travel to be employed? As we strive to reach green targets, what is the plan for our city?"
Paul Gough, the council's strategy and policy team leader, said councillors and officers working on the city's Local Development Framework were looking at the provision of housing land and employment land.
He said while there was a sufficient supply of employment land across th Leeds district, he understood the issue Coun Cleasby was raising.
Mr Gough added that developers wanting to build housing on former factory sites were made to "jump through hoops" to demonstrate there was no alternative employment use for the land.
The board agreed to hold a joint meeting with the council's development plan panel to discuss the points raised by Coun Cleasby.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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