A BUILDER in Addingham wants a massive area of pasture land in the village removed from the green belt and earmarked for future development.

And a public inquiry has been told that the area could be used to meet future housing needs. But City Hall planners are battling to keep the land as open fields for the next 15 years and beyond.

Under Bradford Council's Unitary Development Plan (UDP) the land, between Main Street and the A65 bypass, will remain in the green belt and safe from housing developers.

In his evidence to the UDP inquiry at Victoria Hall, Saltaire, Bradford planner Andy Haigh says there are no exceptional circumstances which would justify taking the land out the green belt.

This view is supported by many villagers, Addingham Parish Council and Addingham Civic Society.

But local building company Clays Construction has objected to the UDP, suggesting the land should be set aside for unspecified development in the later phases of this UDP or in the next one.

Acting for Clays Construction, planning consultant Clive Brook told the hearing that the green belt boundary should be moved from just behind Main Street to the bypass. This would remove 11 fields, measuring around 40 acres between Big Meadow Drive and Southfield Terrace, from the green belt.

According to Mr Brook, if the land was removed from the green belt, there would be less pressure to provide other development land in other areas of the village.

In his evidence, he says: "The site does not perform a green belt function to a significant degree, that special circumstances exist which warrant a significant green belt review, that the existing bypass would form a suitable, logical and defensible long-term boundary for the green belt in this location."

Although Mr Brook was not suggesting that the land should be used for housing straight away, his evidence declares that if the Department of the Environment inspector came to that conclusion, he would support it.

Mr Haigh's evidence to the inquiry states that there is no need to remove the land from the green belt.

He says: "The objector has failed to demonstrate any exceptional circumstances for removing the land from the green belt.

The council is satisfied that adequate provision has been made for housing and should the inspector decide otherwise, this site is poorly located and should not be considered for development."

Inspector Philip Asquith told the hearing that he had already made a site visit to the area. The inquiry is due to finish at the end of June and a report of the inspector's findings will be published next year.