Campaigning residents worried about the possibility of homes being built on the site of a disused reservoir are bombarding Yorkshire Water with letters in a bid to highlight their concerns.

The letter-writing campaign has been launched by the West Lane Action Group - formerly the Baildon Bank Reservoir Action Group - as part of their fight to minimise the effects of any development.

So far more than 425 letters - signed by over 550 people - have been sent to Yorkshire Water, which owns the former Baildon Bank Reservoir site off West Lane.

The letters call on the company to honour a pledge to consult residents before developing the site for housing.

The site has been earmarked for housing in Bradford's Unitary Development Plan and although no planning application has been submitted residents fear between 50 and 70 homes could be built there.

When the site's allocation was discussed at a public inquiry, action group members said development would damage people's quality of life, destroy the balance between developed land and the Green Belt and increase traffic congestion.

Action group member Trevor Hallett, whose Foxhill home overlooks the site, said he was delighted with the response from residents and was now hoping Yorkshire Water would send representatives to discuss the issue at October's neighbourhood forum.

Mr Hallett said ideally they would like to see the land remain undeveloped but, if it had to be, wanted to be consulted about any development.

He said: "We're hoping they might also consider only developing part of the land, leaving the rest as a pleasant amenity area."

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: "We fully intend to honour our commitment to the residents to consult with them and to keep Bradford Council's Shipley constituency area panel fully updated.

"But we don't envisage any significant change in the situation until after the summer and have no immediate plans to sell the land."

Action group members are planning to raise the issue at the next Upper Baildon/Tong Park neighbourhood forum, due to be held at the Ian Clough Hall from 7.30pm on Wednesday, May 20.

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