BRADFORD Council has been urged to block any plans for homes in an area of Keighley until traffic issues at a notorious bridge are resolved.

At a recent meeting of the Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee members were discussing plans to build 41 new homes in the Long Lee area.

Among the concerns raised by objectors and local Councillors were traffic congestion at the Coney Lane bridge, the main route between Long Lee and Keighley town centre.

They argued that numerous new developments in Long Lee would add more traffic to this route, which is already regularly congested throughout the day and has been the site of numerous accidents, often involving HGVs or large vehicles.

Local Councillors said there should be a pause on any house building until the issue is resolved.

The committee were discussing two applications to build homes on the same field between Long Lee Lane and Redwood Close.

Plans to build 45 homes on the site were approved in outline form in 2018.

One of the applications being discussed by the Committee on Thursday was a more detailed application to build 32 homes on this site. The other was a new application to demolish farm buildings at High Fold Farm, just south of the site, and build another nine houses.

Both applications had been submitted by Accent Housing and Urban Construction Interiors, and planning officers had recommended both be approved.

A development of 61 affordable homes in Long Lee, Keighley has been approved

At the online meeting on Thursday officers pointed out that the plans for the site were for fewer homes than had previously been approved. Together the new applications amounted to 41 homes.

Councillor Caroline Firth (Lab, Keighley East) spoke out against the plans at the meeting. She said: "Any development in Long Lee must be considered alongside the suitability of the road and rail bridge at the bottom of Park Lane."

She said when a development of 61 homes on another site off Long Lee Lane was approved by the Committee in 2019, members suggested future housing developments be put on hold until the traffic problems caused by the bridge be fixed.

Planning officer Stewart Currie again pointed out that that these two developments would bring fewer homes, and thus less traffic, than what had already been approved for this site.

But he did say: "There is another application we are currently looking at that includes a scheme that may involve works to address concerns over the bridge at Coney Lane, however, that is for another day."

Local residents also spoke at the meeting to raise concerns over the plans. These included that a report into the housing plans said only one bat had been seen in the old farm buildings when one neighbour to the site said there were in fact multiple bats.

Highways officers had said the local road network would be able to cope with the extra traffic generated by the new homes, and pointed out that not every household in the new estate would be passing under the bridge on a regular basis.

Dealing with the application to build nine homes on the farm site, Councillor Kamran Hussain suggested the plans be refused. He repeated the concerns raised by the residents, especially that there were still traffic issues at the Coney Lane Bridge.

He had backing from other members of the Committee.

But when members were asked to give a reason for the application, they struggled to find one that could be backed up.

Councillor Paul Godwin (Lab, Keighley West) said: "The application is to put in less housing than had originally been approved.

"If we were to refuse this and the applicant were to appeal I can't see how they wouldn't win.

"It would be very nice for residents if we refused this, but we have no planning grounds to do so."

Councillor Alan Wainwright (Lab, Tong) said if the applicant did win an appeal it could cost the taxpayer "an absolute fortune."

Three members voted to approve the application and three voted to refuse it. The deciding vote went to chair David Warburton (Lab, Wyke) who voted to approve the plans.

When it came to the second application - for 32 houses off Redwood Close, members said it would be difficult to refuse a scheme that was of a smaller scale to one that had already been approved.

Members voted to approve the application.