BUSINESS and residents have reacted with dismay after being left with just nine days to have their say over plans to build industrial units in Gomersal.

Public notices went up in the California Lane area on Friday alerting those living nearby to the planning application for six starter units on land adjacent to the California Inn on Oxford Road.

But the closing date for comments to be submitted to Kirklees Council was listed as November 20, giving residents much less than the three to four week period it would ordinarily allow.

Nearby resident Sue Payne said that people were shocked when they spotted the planning notice on a telegraph pole near the pub - particularly when they saw the consultation date actually began more than a fortnight earlier.

Mrs Payne, who lives on nearby Mannerly Grove, said she had been canvassing local residents to inform them of the plans and had also contacted the council in a bid to extend the deadline for comments.

She said: “I can’t believe that the local community hasn’t been consulted.

“The notice only appeared on the 11th, and we only have nine days to object.

“Plans are supposed to have a 28 day consultation period, but this appears to have sat on someone at Kirklees Councils’s desk since the 25th October.

“Even adjacent businesses, the pub and the houses on Bookers Field, which overlook the planned development, were unaware until we saw the notice on the telegraph pole.

“I fully support the use of brownfield sites, but houses should be built on this land, not industrial units. Oxford Road is becoming a car park, and it’s only a matter of time before there is a serious accident.”

She explained how Chapel Garage business owner, Dave Rhodes, had been the first to spot the notice and alerted local residents via a Facebook group.

It appears that none of the local businesses had been informed directly about the proposals, she added, despite access to the land being via a single lane private road between Union Mills and the California Inn. As a result they have concerns regarding the vehicular access to the proposed development and fear that delivery wagons would be forced to park on the already congested Oxford Road.

The application has been submitted by J Oates and includes a proposed 20 parking spaces for the six workshops, which each include a small office and toilet facilities.

Ward councillor Lisa Holmes (Con, Liversedge and Gomersal) said that she had approached the planning department on residents’ behalf after hearing of their concerns.

She said: “The council has agreed to extend the period for comments into December so residents will have the full 21 days to have their say.”

“It does still say November 20 online at the moment, but this will be updated,” she added.

Kirklees Council did not respond to requests for a comment.

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