FUTURE house-building projects in the Bradford district should be concentrated on brownfield sites to protect green spaces, a prominent councillor warned last night.

Cllr Martin Smith, planning spokesman for the opposition Conservative group on Bradford Council, was speaking after the Government set a national target of building one million new homes by 2020, in a bid to tackle the UK’s housing crisis.

Locally, Cllr Smith believes Bradford can do its bit by ensuring the required new housing developments are focussed on previously-developed sites, including abandoned factories.

He said: “We have lots of brownfield sites and redundant space above shops that can be developed for housing.

“I do not believe we should be building on green spaces with room for just five or six houses.

“People need houses in the city where the work is, not in the countryside where they have miles to commute.”

But Cllr Val Slater, deputy leader and executive member for housing for the Labour-led Council, said the local authority had a number of preferred sites for future housing, but had experienced difficulties persuading developers to build on them.

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She said: “We have got some money from the Government over the next three years to build affordable housing in the area.

“The issue in Bradford is that some of the private developers do not want to build new houses where the council wants them to.

“They would like to build on greenfield areas in Airedale and Wharfedale instead.”

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Lib Dem group, said: "The issue for Bradford is that we need to build the homes that people actually need, rather than four-bed, semi-detached houses that are cheaper than living in Leeds."

Between 2011 and 2014 around 974,000 needed to be built, according to the National Housing Federation, but figures reveal only 457,490 were built.

With the new national targets, one concern is that more new houses could swallow up green spaces used by children for play.

Yesterday, the Telegraph & Argus reported how police had to step into a dispute in Tong over whether children playing football in the street was classed as anti-social behaviour. Many readers who commented on the story online suggested that providing more attractive recreation grounds and green spaces for children to play in could prevent such disputes.

Cllr Slater said: “We work with developers to provide green spaces within new developments, but sometimes the developers have some viability about that."

Meanwhile, Cllr Smith emphasised the need for designated local areas for children to play.

“If you analyse Bradford next to Sheffield and Leeds, we have got the largest amount of open space in the city,” he said.

“What we need to do is encourage the children to go to local play areas to keep the community together, but they are just not there.”

Cllr Sunderland said: "New housing developments reduce the green spaces. Kids just want more big open spaces to play in, not just parks."

Housing minister Brandon Lewis said he wants to make it easier for people to develop on brownfield sites, and said that further changes to planning rules will help councils reach a decision quicker on brownfield planning applications.

“We do not need to build on open spaces if we build on brownfield sites, but usually they are seen to be too steep, or are contaminated with waste, which would cost money to clear,” said Cllr Smith.