Ilkley residents press for action is digger is parked near their homes

10:00am Saturday 12th July 2008

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PLANNERS are to ask a building company to move a digger from an empty plot of land after complaints from nearby residents.

People living on Cranford Gardens complained Spellman Developments had left the fenced-off land at the end of their street looking like a builder's yard'.

It is believed the developer, which also built the houses on Cranford Gardens, owns the plot of land. Spellman unsuccessfully applied to build another house there several years ago.

One resident said that machinery and building waste was left on the site after the developer's appeal against the refusal of the house plan was dismissed in 2004.

Martin Fojt, of Cranford Gardens, said some of this was removed, but the developer drove a digger on to the land and left it there several weeks ago, close to the front door of one house.

"This is bad enough on its own, but it was particularly galling to our neighbours as their house had just been placed on the market," said Mr Fojt.

He said the presence of the digger would suggest to potential buyers of the house that building work was about to start on the neighbouring land, although there is no current planning application for the plot.

Bradford Council planning officer, Martyn Burke, said: "We are going to write to the builder and ask him to move the JCB. We have had a look at it and we are aware of the complaints of local residents."

Mr Burke said using the land as a builder's yard would require planning permission for a change of use - however, he said the land merely appeared overgrown, and the council was unlikely to order that the developer tidies up the plot.

The Gazette has attempted to contact Spellman Developments through a planning agent, but the company has yet to reply.