Safety fears over plan for Harden parking site (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Residents launch petition against Bradford Council plan

8:30am Saturday 14th January 2012 in Harden

Controversial plans to develop a Council-owned area of village land, which has been used as a car park for more than two decades, have been labelled “ridiculous”.

Angry residents in Valley View, Harden, say they will have to park on pavements and emergency services vehicles will be unable to get down their narrow cul-de-sac if they lose the land, which has room for about ten car parking spaces.

They also fear there will be a huge knock-on effect on surrounding streets, with even more people parking in Long Lane and Cliffe Avenue – blocking those streets and causing a hazard to pedestrians and motorists.

Bradford Council has submitted its second planning application since April 2010 to build on the land.

Chris Slack, who has lived in Valley View for more than 25 years, has been rallying support against the application, which will be heard by Shipley Area Planning Panel next week.

He said: “Parking is a real issue everywhere in Bradford district and for the Council to add further to the problems in a small village like Harden is just ridiculous.”

Garages used to stand on the land in Valley View and were rented by residents of the former Council homes.

Since the garages were demolished in the mid-1980s, the residents have planted shrubs and maintained the area as a car park, said Mr Slack.

Some residents have even provided passing places on their land after firefighters were unable to get to a car blaze in Valley View, because of cars parked in the street.

Mr Slack said: “The residents have quite a number of family and friends who come to visit, particularly on a weekend, and some of them are disabled. They will have nowhere to park.”

Mr Slack has collected a petition from objectors and their campaign has been backed by Harden Parish Council and Bingley Rural Councillor Baroness Margaret Eaton.

In a report to the planning panel, the Council’s highways officers said the plan to build a detached home on the land would not cause major road safety problems. The Council has said it will keep three parking spaces and extend an area to turn in the road before anyone moves into the house.

Officers have recommended the application is approved at the panel’s meeting at Shipley Town Hall at 10am on Wednesday.

The report reads: “It is considered that the proposal represents appropriate development that – with appropriate conditions – would adequately protect the residential, visual and general amenities of the site and the surrounding area.”