Bradford snubs call to extend development plan until 2016

The report said the local authority’s unitary development plan (UDP) should run for an extra two years: until 2016, rather than 2014.

However the council’s revised version of the plan, presented to its executive on Tuesday, does not include that recommendation.

Under the UDP, Bradford must make provision for 1390 extra homes a year. Extending the plan by two years would oblige the council to find sites on which to build another 2780 units – but the report has not identified potential plots.

The revised UDP states: “The inspector has been unable to find sufficient housing land to cover that period.”

A council statement released this week added: “There is a clear disadvantage to the 2016 end date. It will quite probably require a further inquiry to agree the selection of housing sites.”

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford’s executive member for the environment, said the revised UDP was “a good compromise between the council’s original plan and the inspector’s recommended changes”.

She added: “We cannot pick and choose from the inspector’s recommendations and have only rejected them where there is a strong legal basis to do so.”

A statement on the council’s website concedes that “failure to accept a recommendation could lead to a legal challenge”. However, it is considered unlikely that developers or residents would appeal on these grounds.

Bradford also rejected the suggestion that sites at Beechcliffe and Royd Ings be designated for development. Both areas lie within a flood plain.

In addition, the inspection said sites around Silsden should be added to the green belt.

But Hawkesworth said: “We believe the recommendation for Silsden is not consistent with the law. If we accepted it, we could be liable to a High Court challenge.”

Instead the sites will be given “safeguarded” status to prevent any development while the UDP is in effect.

Hawkesworth added: “Hopefully a final version of the UDP can be adopted as soon as possible to allow us to move forward confidently with regeneration and development.”

The ODPM-funded inspection was published in July.