Government set to inspect Leeds housing plots

Leeds City Council has submitted a revised Site Allocations Plan to the government which will guide all future housing in the city.
CONSTRUCTION: New numbers have been submitted for house-building. PIC: PACONSTRUCTION: New numbers have been submitted for house-building. PIC: PA
CONSTRUCTION: New numbers have been submitted for house-building. PIC: PA

The plan sets out locations for future housing up to 2028, as well as policies related to employment land, green space, shopping centres and gypsies and travellers.

All aspects of the plan, apart from housing, have already been examined by independent government inspectors at public hearings.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The housing element is now ready to be considered after a delay to allow for further public consultation, generating 8,000 responses, in light of a review of green belt housing allocations and new government methods of calculating housing targets.

There had been objections to using green belt land to build on but, with housing targets lowered, it meant 33 green belt sites earmarked for 6,450 houses will now be offered extra protection.

The 33 green belt sites will formally remain in the Site Allocations Plan, but won’t be released for development until the council has a revised housing requirement following its own Core Strategy Selective Review – then it will decide whether release of further green belt land is necessary. Leeds City Council’s chair of the development plan panel Coun Peter Gruen said: “This revised plan is a prudent and positive step to set out a housing strategy and resist speculative development.” He added that the review of the Core Strategy will continue to progress separately to the Site Allocations Plan process as legally they can’t be considered together.