HOUSEBUILDING requirements for the Bradford District have been overestimated by more than 10,000 homes, claim opponents as they prepare go before a Government planning inspector over the district’s Local Plan.

Consultants hired by Bradford Council to conduct research underpinning the Core Strategy of its proposed new 15-year development policy have overestimated housing requirements, say local planning campaigners.

And they argue that a study of the amount of land required to sustain each new job predicted to be created has also been overestimated by more than 50 per cent.

Ilkley Parish Council has written to the inspector ahead of hearings examining the Local Plan, getting underway in Saltaire this week, after hearing a presentation by Jackie Thompson, a member of Wharfedale Alliance for Sound Plans (Wasp).

Ms Thompson studied evidence behind the draft plan in depth, including justifications for building 42,100 new homes across the district. Of this total, 1,600 would be required in Wharfedale, and about 11,000 across the district could be on green belt land.

Ms Thompson says a report by consultant Edge Analytics calculated extra allowances for unexplained population change, adding this figure to Office for National Statistics (ONS) projections of population growth – but she says the ONS had already taken this factor into account.

She said: “It is noteworthy that Bradford Council is proposing to put 11,000 houses in the greenbelt. If the ONS figures for housing requirement were used this would not be necessary.”

She believes allowing large amounts of high-profit development on the green belt, along with over-estimation of employment land required, could prevent previously developed brownfield across the district being used to provide housing where it is required most.

“This should be of concern to everyone in Bradford District, houses will not be built where they are needed,” she added.

The latest ONS population projections, published last week, put the average increase in numbers of households across the district at 2,000. Ms Thompson said this would give a housing requirement of about 30,000 between now and 2030.

Meanwhile, the Employment Land Review published by Bradford estimated that each new office job in the district would require 16.2 square metres of internal space and each new industrial job 67 square metres, with the average ground area required to sustain each job in the district set at 61.2 square metres.

“This is excessive,” said Ms Thompson. “It ties enormous quantities of brownfield land up that will not be needed for employment and prevents it from being used for houses. Our estimate is that the requirement for employment land is being over-estimated by circa 56 per cent.”

The issue is not thought to be limited to Bradford. National Alliance Community Voice on Planning intends to hold a national day of action on April 12, calling on authorities to listen to local people over planning. Wasp and other bodies aim to take part in a rally in West Yorkshire, venue to be confirmed.