BRADFORD Council this week opens public consultation on updated housing targets which could bring more than 2,000 new homes to Wharfedale.

Changes made to the initial draft Core Strategy of Bradford's Local Plan include an increase of 900 proposed new houses in total on previous housebuilding figures for Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale and Menston.

The Local Plan will eventually guide where houses, businesses and leisure and retail developments are built for the next ten to 20 years and be used by the local authority when deciding on planning applications. 


The Core Strategy of the Local Plan was submitted to the Government almost a year ago and hearings followed in March resulting in the current changes.

The overall number of homes needed in Bradford district by 2030 remains the same at 42,100 under the latest draft, but some areas will have more homes, while others will have fewer.

Andrew Marshall, Bradford Council's planning and transport strategy manager, said some areas needed to be reviewed which resulted in a "slight redistribution" of where houses could be built.
He said Heritage England raised issues around Haworth and the World Heritage Site in Saltaire, leading to fewer homes being planned there.

But areas in Wharfedale and Airedale, due to debate about the effect on the protected habitat of the South Pennine Moors, have more housing under the revised plans.


Burley in Wharfedale's allocation has jumped from 200 to 700 and in Menston, the number of houses changes from 400 to 600.

The number of houses needed to be built in Ilkley has changed from 800 to 1,000 and in Silsden the new figure is 1,200, up by 200 from the initial draft.

Consultation on the changes runs for eight weeks and is required before the Core Strategy can be formally adopted.

The Core Strategy is the key document which makes up the Local Plan, which also involves two area action plans - one for Bradford city centre and one for Shipley and the Canal Road corridor - and a waste management development plan document.

It is expected that these sections of the blueprint will reach the next stage in the process shortly. 
Initial consultation on the final part of the Local Plan, the allocations development plan document where sites are earmarked for different types of development, will begin in the next couple of months.

Documents highlighting the proposed changes together with the reasons for the changes will be available at main council offices and main libraries from tomorrow. They will also be available online at bradford.gov.uk/ldf.


Comments will be submitted to the independent government inspector Stephen Pratt, who held the hearings in March, for his consideration.