A GOVERNMENT planning inspector has begun to examine a blueprint for housebuilding across the district over the next 15 years.

Bradford Council’s emerging Local Plan sets out roughly where 42,100 homes should be built across the district by 2030, on a mixture of green fields and previously-developed land. It sets out plans for industry and infrastructure.

The plan’s ‘core strategy’ is being put under the microscope by Government inspector Stephen Pratt, who will decide if it is sound. His public examination began yesterday at Victoria Hall, Saltaire, and will run to March 20, with pressure groups, politicians and developers to argue their case.

Tomorrow, the inquiry will look at the thorny issue of developing green belt land, and locations of planned development. Later sessions will look at new housing. Open to the public.