‘Simply wrong for the community’: Wakefield business park and housing scheme rejected over ‘severe’ traffic concerns

Wakefield Council’s planning and highways committee said the major development would have a “severe” impact on the local road network at Calder Grove.

More than 2,500 residents signed a petition and 616 lodged formal objections to the scheme at a 22-hectare site at Broad Cut Farm.

Opponents said approving it would lead to the loss of the city’s ‘green lungs’.

Others claimed local roads would not be able to cope with more traffic and said it would lead to an increase in noise and air pollution.

Applicant AAA Property Group said the development would help the council achieve its housing targets, create more than 700 “high quality” jobs and be worth around £40m a year to the local economy.

Jonathan Power, chair of the Broad Cut Against Development (BAD) action group, told a meeting at Wakefield Town Hall: “The vast majority of local residents are vehemently opposed to this application.

“There are no benefits to the local community.

“It certainly doesn’t bring the highly skilled jobs promised in the original plan.

“It will, however, increase traffic and bring congestion to an already saturated road network.

“The potential for chaos is absolutely obvious, and all within yards of junction 39 of the motorway.

“Residents are extremely concerned about the implications for road safety.

“Indeed, they see it to be a serious risk to life.”

Mr Power also raised residents’ concerns about increased pollution in the area.

He said: “The council has a duty of care to look after the health of its residents.

“This development would lead to the loss of one of the few remaining green spaces in our community.

“You, as a planning committee, have a grave responsibility here.

“Are you really going to irrevocably destroy a green space which is a habitat for a vast array of wildlife?

“I don’t know anybody who wants to walk around huge warehouses to improve their mental health and well-being.”

Local councillors and Jade Botterill, MP for Ossett and Denby Dale also objected to the plans, as well as Crigglestone Parish Council and Wakefield Civic Society.

Speaking in favour of the project, Amar Chima, director of AAA Property Group, said the council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority had identified the site as a “future growth location.”

He told councillors: “Wakefield has long been recognised as a strategically important location for development, benefiting from excellent connectivity and a strong labour market.

“This proposal responds directly to that demand and will deliver an advanced manufacturing hub to support Wakefield’s economic strategy and the wider West Yorkshire economy.

Mr Chima described his company as a “local family business”, adding: “We have chosen to reinvest in the district that raised us, rather than choosing to take that investment elsewhere.

“We are fully committed to delivering the best possible scheme at Broad Cut Farm to maximise the benefits for the local area.”

Council planning officers had recommended that the plans be approved, saying there were are “no technical reasons” to withhold permission.

Councillors voted in favour of refusing the scheme on highways grounds by a majority of seven votes to two.

After the meeting, Samantha Harvey, councillor for Wakefield Rural ward, said: “This is a great victory for our local community and a testament to the power of our local voices when we stand against damaging developments.

“The committee reached the correct conclusion that this proposal was simply wrong for the community.”