A CONTROVERSIAL 270 home development at Cote Farm, Thackley, has been recommended for approval by Bradford planners to the dismay of objectors.

And in an unusual move they have now been urged by a senior councillor to send their own report on why they believe it should be refused to each of the councillors on the regulatory and appeals committee who meet next week to make their decision.

Liberal Democrat group leader, Councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Idle and Thackley) last night branded the official planning report as "inaccurate and an embarrassment".

And she has urged campaigners in the Cote Farm Action Group to post copies of its own 39-page report on the Persimmon Homes development to committee members.

"In 20 years as a councillor I've never seen such a poor and badly written report as this one - I'm astounded," Cllr Sunderland said.

"I am embarrassed by it. It's a collection of cut and pasted documents which fails to deal with the concerns of so many residents.

"It pays lip service to some areas of concern, yet totally ignore major issues."

Referring to the omission of any worries over increased traffic or lack of school places for any new families, Cllr Sunderland said:

"People who might buy one of these houses might rightly expect to have school places for their children - they won't have.

"And they might expect to be able to drive normally to work - they won't, they'll sit in Leeds Road traffic for 40 minutes.

"This report is an absolute insult to council members and hand on heart I cannot allow them to make any decision based on this shocking piece of work.

"So in an unprecedented step I have asked Cote Farm Action Group to send a copy of its own report to individual committee members so they can read it and then make an unbiased decision.

"Planning decisions should be made after a fair argument and this is development on land which the council has already protected as major urban green space and I hope it will be rejected."

Cote Farm Action Group campaigner Isobel Burgess gave its reaction to the report.

"This is a huge decision and this report is not thorough and has not been thought through," she said.

"It's full of contradictions with the majority of opinions in it actually being against the proposal.

"Objections from more than 1,000 people are reduced to single bullet points - with not one mention of the lack of local school places.

"Are we supposed to believe not one person has raised that? I know for a fact that's not true."

The action group is urging all opponents to meet with banners and placards outside City Hall, Bradford at 9.30am on Thursday, September 4, prior to attending the Regulatory and Appeals Committee meeting at 10am.

Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire’s planning manager, Paul Thornton, said: “We welcome the officer’s decision to recommend the Cote Farm development proposals for planning approval, although we recognise that the matter has yet to heard by the planning committee.

“Over the last year, alongside the Council’s officers, we have worked hard to address responses from statutory bodies and feedback from the local community and adapted our application accordingly, which has resulted in the positive recommendation.”

A Miller Homes development at Simpson's Green, Apperley Bridge is also up for decision at the meeting and officers have also recommended it be approved.

Cllr Sunderland said that while also objecting to that proposal, in her opinion the officers' report was contrastingly well compiled.