A housing blueprint proposing thousands of new properties for Wharfedale was today described as mind-blowing.

The report - published by outside consultants Baker Associates - will be used to draw up regional planning guidance. It has been commissioned by the Regional Planning Conference for Yorkshire and Humberside.

And a shock proposal for 7,500 new houses across the district - including Menston, Baildon, Greengates and Esholt - sparked heavy criticism from councillors today.

But a planning chief stressed it would be updated and may well be unrealistic.

Fine details of the allocation of sites in the district for new housing will be decided through negotiations with local authorities on the review of the Unitary Development Plan, which goes past the Millennium.

Councillor Anne Hawksworth, Conservative spokesman on planning for Bradford Council, said: "It's nothing short of mind-blowing. It suggests that 7,500 houses should be sought in the Wharfe Valley, near Menston, producing a settlement - perhaps in lower Menston. There is also the requirement for a new 20,000-dwellings conurbation, possibly to be sited between Bierley and Birkenshaw."

Bradford Council's Liberal Democrat Group has also strongly condemned the plans as "irresponsible".

The group is demanding that the Council takes a tough line on negotiations where new houses are proposed. They also claim that Bradford Northern suburbs may become dormitories for Leeds, effecting the regeneration of the district.

The group regeneration spokesman, John Cole, said: "The suggestion that thousands of homes be built in the suburbs between Bradford and Leeds will harm our environment and will not help regenerate Bradford."

But head of Bradford Council's transport and planning division Alan Mainwaring says there could be some doubt on the realism of the report.

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