Homes set to go ahead despite environmental fears

Plans to build over 150 canalside homes have been recommended for approval, despite concerns over their potential impact on the environment.

The proposals for the scheme next to the Aire and Calder Navigation form part of Wakefield's wider City Fields development.

The application is the fourth in a series for new housing on land currently owned by Wakefield Council.

Five objections have been made to the development over the loss of wildlife habitats and the impact on nearby nature reserves, but a planning officer's report said the development was "considered to be acceptable in principle" subject to the imposition of certain conditions.

Objectors also said they feared the scheme would add pressure to local road networks and that there was a lack of essential infrastructure and services in the area to accommodate more homes.

Wakefield Council owns about 60 acres (24 hectares) of 375 acres (152 hectares) of land which have been earmarked for the City Fields development - a new suburb of approximately 2,500 homes when the major expansion is completed.

As part of the scheme, a range of one to four-bedroom homes have been proposed, with four vehicle access routes to the 17 acre (seven hectare) site.

If the scheme is approved, the council would sell the site to a developer to complete the project.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, car parking, garages, drainage infrastructure, pedestrian and cycles access, a new public open space and landscaping were all planned to serve future residents.

Wakefield East councillor Mohammed Ayub-Yubi said residents had "repeatedly raised concerns about the increasing loss of green space, the continued absence of promised local facilities and the growing pressure on roads and other infrastructure".

He added that an independent ecologist had concluded the development "could cause ecological harm at a county level".

No comments in support of the application have been submitted.

A report to councillors stated that any developer must make a Biodiversity Net Gain financial contribution of £956,500 to compensate for the loss of habitat units.

Further payments would be required to provide more primary and secondary education places in the area and to support sustainable transport.

A planning officer's report said the proposed development was "considered to be acceptable in principle", with no technical reasons to withhold permission subject to planning conditions.

The application is due to be voted on at the council's planning and highways committee meeting on 15 October.

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