Yes to homes, as firms refuse £2m school aid

The development they want to create on the Westwood Hospital site at Clayton Heights will bring scores more youngsters into local schools.

But Wimpey, Persimmon, and Beazer Homes have refused to pick up the tab for the extra education costs.

Bradford Council's planning committee yesterday approved the outstanding matters of an outline planning application. But they could not legally enforce the contribution they wanted towards education.

After the meeting Councillor Jack Womersley (Lab, Queensbury) said the flood of youngsters would bring major problems to local schools and he felt the developers had a social obligation to contribute.

He said: "I think it is very bad that schools will now have to construct even more portable buildings."

He said nearby Mandale Middle School was already heavily over subscribed. "We hope the Government will soon pass legislation which will mean we can force developers to make this provision," he added.

The planning application for the Westwood Hospital site has been on the table since last May. It was deferred again in December by the planning committee which wanted to talk about aspects including provision for education.

The developers have already lodged an appeal with the Department of Environment against the Council's failure to determine their application. They said after the meeting the appeal would not be withdrawn until all conditions related to the development were sorted out.

Persimmon managing director Chris Johnson said: "The only way we have got this decision out is to use the appeal process as a threat.

"We have lost a very large amount of money in professional advice and so on because of the considerable length of time it has taken to determine it." He said the Council's demand was illegal.

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