An application for a major housing development was described as “very woolly” by councillors, who deferred making a decision on the proposals.

Yesterday, Keighley Area Planning Panel debated the plans to build 220 houses on fields to the east of Thornhill Road, in Steeton.

Councillors asked the applicant to come back with more definite assurances on vehicle access, sewage provision and the ability of local schools to cope with more demand.

Panel chairman Councillor Doreen Lee (Lab, Keighley East) said: “I’m not against these new houses in principle, but this is something which needs to be looked at a lot more.”

The plan submitted by developer Redrow Homes was a revised version of a previous application by Skipton Properties, which gained permission in October 2009 to build 229 homes on the same site.

That permission is still valid, though Skipton Properties later sold the land to Redrow.

Planning panel members were told that the latest application included some changes – including slightly fewer homes and larger communal green spaces within the development.

Council planning officers have recommended the proposal be approved subject to conditions.

Planning officer Fiona Tiplady said the plans, which were already subject to dozens of objections from residents, have recently attracted another 17 letters of objection.

She stressed that neither Yorkshire Water nor the Environment Agency were opposing the proposals.

Highways officers have recommended that the Thornhill-Skipton Road junction – which would be the access to the site – should be widened, which would lead to the loss of a row of trees.

Councillor Rizwan Malik (Lab, Heaton) said he was concerned about the plans’ impact on nearby schools. He asked how the £358,758 to be paid by the developer to support education would be spent.

Nina Mewse, of Bradford Children’s Services, said a development of this scale would accommodate about 31 additional children but panel members said they feared how schools which were already full or close to capacity could find that many more spaces.

Councillor Andrew Mallinson (Con, Craven) noted that 150 people had signed a petition calling for the trees along Skipton Road to be retained and said the Aire Valley’s sewer system already overflowed during rainy periods.

Councillor Adrian Naylor (Con, Craven) said the sewers could be overstretched even further if another 200 homes are built in Sykes Lane, in nearby Silsden. He said: “Before we have further development we need proper investment in infrastructure.”

  • Read more in Friday’s T&A