Plans to build up to 1,150 homes on the outskirts of Leeds are to be presented to councillors on Thursday. (Sept 27)
The council’s newly-established city plans panel, set up to deal with major schemes, is to receive a presentation on the proposals for which a planning application is yet to be submitted.
The proposals for sites at the Thorp Arch industrial estate, near Wetherby, include up to 1,150 homes, a new primary school, landscaping and public open space.
Just over one-third of the properties, which would range between two-bedrooms and five-bedrooms, would be affordable housing.
While a planning application has yet to be submitted, a report to the panel said the prospective applicant – Rockspring Hanover Property Unit Trust – had already met with Walton and Thorp Arch parish councils and held a community consultation event.
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The sites earmarked for development include grassland, scrub woodland and former industrial areas.
The council is currently drawing up a new Core Strategy – a planning blueprint that will help guide development across the city for the next 15-20 years.
It suggests 5,000 new homes should be provided in the city’s outer north-east sector, which includes Thorp Arch.
The report to the panel says: “The area of Thorp Arch has been identified as an opportunity for regeneration and brownfield land/residential development within the draft Core Strategy.
“It is arguable that the location of significant new residential development at Thorp Arch Estate will ease the pressure of development on greenfield and green belt sites.
“There are about 4,000 people employed in the local area – the trading estate and British Library – where there is a general absence of a choice of residential accommodation.”
It adds that the scheme is likely to generate a demand for school places and the proposals include a new primary school.
The report says: “Consideration will have to be given to whether it is appropriate to provide a new school or extend existing ones.”
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