A government adviser on housing has warned that developers will continue to push for land along the A65 corridor – threatening community identity and local infrastructure.

Professor Ian Cole gave his warning at a meeting of the campaign group WARD (Wharfedale and Airedale Review Development).

Prof Cole, from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University, was guest speaker at the meeting where he described the current trends in the housing market to a packed audience of community representatives, councillors and MPs.

The professor stressed the need for caution over household projections such as those imposed by central government on local authorities.

He claimed developers would continue to push for land in North East Leeds and along the A65 corridor as their favourite sites, and this would result in a loss of community identity and would also result in transport and other infrastructure being subject to unsustainable pressures.

Pudsey MP Stuart Andrew said the Government should not try to determine what goes on locally, and it was short-sighted and inappropriate to build housing in locations where there was no employment Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland said: “Local MPs and councillors must challenge flaws and weaknesses in the planning system, which do not give enough weight to the feelings of communities or the need for genuinely sustainable development.   “We will also continue to challenge the unreasonable figures imposed on councils in terms of the five-year supply of land for housing, this is being abused by some developers who are trying to build on greenfield sites.”