A GOVERNMENT Planning Minister has pressed pause on Bradford Council's Core Strategy Plan after an MP argued against it on the grounds of the damage it will do to the green belt, particularly in Wharfedale.

Last month a Government planning inspector ratified Bradford Council's Core Strategy Development Plan, accepting that 42,100 new homes are needed in the district - six per cent of them in Wharfedale - and that parts of the green belt will need to be released to accommodate about a quarter of them.

But after being lobbied by Burley-in-Wharfedale and Menston MP Philip Davies the Minister of State for Housing and Planning Gavin Barwell MP has written to the leader of Bradford Council, Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe directing the Council not to take any step in connection with the adoption of the Plan, while issues raised by Mr Davies are considered further.

Mr Davies raised a number of issues, including the proposed release of the green belt, particularly in Wharfedale, development of green belt before brownfield land is exhausted and the appropriate location for development to alleviate housing need and contribute to the regeneration of Bradford city centre.

Members of Bradford Council's Executive had been due to discuss the strategy this morning but a spokesman for Bradford Council said: “Neither Bradford Council’s Executive nor Full Council, can, as planned, consider and adopt the Local Plan Core Strategy at this time.

“The Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Gavin Barwell, has issued a temporary Holding Direction following representations by the MP for Shipley, Phillip Davies.

“Mr Davies has raised several concerns about the Core Strategy which have already been considered by the Government’s Planning Inspector.

“After considering Mr Davies’s concerns and Bradford Council’s response, the Inspector agreed with the Council's analysis that over 42,100 houses would be needed over the next fifteen years and that brownfield land should be prioritised for the delivery of this.

“The Inspector also agreed that such is the scale of building land required, the release of green field and green belt land will be necessary.

“The result of this Holding Direction is that Bradford Council cannot adopt the Core Strategy until the Minister has looked at the issues raised by Mr Davies and determined whether any formal intervention is required.

“This process could take many months, leading to uncertainty which developers wanting to build on the green belt can try to take advantage of because of the lack of a robust and adopted Local Plan.”

Mr Davies said: “I believe the work of the Council and that of the Inspector to be fundamentally flawed, particularly in relation to the Green Belt. The Plan includes building houses on a large amount of land designated as Green Belt land – most notably in the Wharfedale ward of my constituency. The Government clearly states that Green Belt land should only be used in exceptional circumstances and surely the building of so many houses on Green Belt land in a village should need particularly exceptional circumstances which I do not believe have been met.

“There will still be large numbers of empty properties across the district not being used, swathes of brownfield land which clearly should be developed before any residential development on the Green Belt and building in Wharfedale does not alleviate the housing problems and the growing population in the city centre.”

Only the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government can give the council the green light to proceed.

Communities Minister Gavin Barwell said: “I have taken the decision to issue a holding direction to the City of Metropolitan District Council which will prevent the Council taking any further step in connection with adoption of the Bradford Core Strategy Development Plan and will allow the Secretary of State further time to consider the matter before deciding whether to intervene.”

Opposition spokesman for Housing, Transport, planning and Regeneration, Councillor Martin Smith (Con, Ilkley) said: “It is good that we can see that our communities concerns about the core strategy outcome have reached our MPs who have responded. We would appreciate a review of the sites in Wharfedale on a practical basis not engendered from developers and not by statistical analysis but by community needs with appropriate infrastructure.”

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Ind, Ilkley) said: “Thank goodness Philip Davies did something and hopefully this means that sense may prevail. I presume because the minister has put it on hold that it means there is no danger of invoking the five year rule. It would be nonsensical if that wasn't the case. We now need to put as much pressure on the other MPs as possible.

“This is not the time for inertia and watching things happen.”

The Tory leader of Leeds City Council also welcomed the move. Councillor Andrew Carter (Calverley and Farsley Ward) said: “I am delighted that Gavin Barwell MP, Minister for Housing and Planning, has agreed to Philip Davies MP’s request to put a pause on Bradford’s Core Strategy. I hope as part of what will now be investigated will be the hugely unnecessary loss of Green Belt proposed by Bradford along the length of its boundary with Leeds.

“Also I continue to believe that there was a lack of proper engagement between Bradford and Leeds councils as regards the impact on infrastructure and environmental damage on the border between the two cities and that this will now be properly re-examined

“Well done Philip Davies."

“Now we want the same minister to call on Leeds to urgently re-examine its Core Strategy.”