A DEVELOPMENT of 50 affordable homes could get the green light next week, even though part of the site had been earmarked for playing fields.

Fifty people have signed a petition against the development, off Douglas Road, East Bowling, Bradford, and five people have written to planners to object.

Part of the land falls in a larger site earmarked for a new playing field, meaning that development there would usually be turned down.

But this scheme has been recommended for approval, as planners have pointed out that this larger site had once been a landfill, and as such might not be suitable for a playing field.

The officers' report says: "The larger site does suffer from contamination issues associated with the fact that the site was a former landfill site and as such its suitability for playing pitch provision could be questioned."

The report also points out that a new school, Bradford Forster Academy, is being built at nearby Fenby Avenue, which will have sports facilities available for public use.

Although the new school is being built on the playing fields of Lower Fields Primary School, the primary school is getting a replacement sports pitch.

The report says: "It is therefore considered that with the new developments that are currently under construction, there will be a significant increase in the level of sports pitch provision to serve the local community and therefore the loss of this section of the wider allocation is not objected to."

Residents objecting to the scheme have highlighted concerns over the loss of green space where children play, as well as extra traffic in the area.

The Newcastle-based Home Group wants to build the homes to rent out to people on low incomes.

In 2013, the group was given a Government grant of more than £8.5m to help it build more than 350 homes throughout Yorkshire and the north east, and this development forms part of their plans.

Then, the Home Group’s head of development, Teresa Snaith, said: "For us, it’s important that we are delivering homes in a city that has a need for affordable housing and has a big social housing waiting list. It’s about what we can bring to the city – it’s not just new homes, it’s employment, it’s everything that comes with home-building."

The application will be decided on by Bradford Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee on Thursday.