A LOCAL Councillor has described plans for a huge warehouse and distribution centre on farmland near Chain Bar as “absolutely monstrous.”

The “wholly inappropriate” building, described by critics as equivalent in height to an eight-storey tower block and the length of three full-size football pitches side-by-side, has been linked to the online retail giant Amazon.

It comes before planners on Kirklees Council this week.

However with it being a pre-application discussion for the site, between Whitehall Road, Whitechapel Road and the M62, rather than a full planning decision, the public will not be allowed to speak.

The 59-acre site is close to housing, a horticultural nursery, a golf course and a cemetery, as well as the Chain Bar roundabout.

The plans say that the completed development could employ around 1,500 people.

Those jobs might include engineering, IT professionals, robotics, general management, human resources and team members to manage customer orders.

Amazon linked to storage and distribution warehouse plans at Chain Bar, Cleckheaton

And 800 jobs would be created during the construction period.

But with space earmarked for nearly 200 HGVs as well as 900 cars and vans there are concerns that local routes will become clogged.

There are fears that between six and ten HGVs could go in or out of the site every minute.

A report to the council’s Strategic Planning Committee on June 3 describes a proposal “of significant scale” with a total floorspace of 265,600sqm.

It would be a third of a kilometre long, 178m wide and 23m high.

What’s more, “extensive earthworks” would be required to level up the sloping site.

The site forms part of the council’s controversial Local Plan. And even though its scope “exceeds the development capacity” outlined in the Local Plan’s allocation document, it would contribute towards the council’s target of delivering 23,000 jobs by 2031.

On that basis officers say the introduction of an employment facility on the site “is acceptable in principle”.

It adds: “It would contribute towards the Council’s growth aspirations to achieve an increased employment rate within the District. It would also represent an opportunity for the District to provide a range of high and low skilled jobs.

“For these reasons, it is concluded that the introduction of an employment facility on this site is acceptable in principle.”

The Council will suggest that the full application should include reports on how the development would impact local roads. It adds: “Highways England would also be consulted on any planning application to consider the impact of the proposal on the Chain Bar Interchange and the M62.”

The application would also need to include a report on how the development would impact the area’s air quality.

Among those opposed to the warehouse is Cleckheaton councillor and Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Kath Pinnock.

She described it as “a huge intrusion” on the local landscape and that the implications for traffic were “unbelievably awful”.

She added: “It is a vast site, absolutely monstrous.

“It will totally dominate the landscape and will be seen for miles.

“It is wholly inappropriate and I am opposing it completely.

“We can’t just allow big corporations with plenty of money to bulldoze our green space, covering fields with giant sheds.

“You can do it in the States but you cannot do it in Cleckheaton and the Spen Valley.

“We want our landscape to be respected.”