Detailed documents will ensure planners, councillors and developers know what is expected from applications which could see thousands of new homes built.

When senior councillors consider consultation responses and changes made to masterplanning Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) for garden communities likely to be built near Brighouse, they will also be seeing how these will shape housebuilding across Calderdale.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet members are on Monday being asked to recommend the full council adopts the documents, which have used consultation responses to make some changes, relating to proposed garden communities at Thornhills and Woodhouse, both near Brighouse.

If developed – in phases, over a period of around a decade – these could see 1,937 homes built at the former and 1,037 at the latter.

But the masterplanning and SPDs which will be in place in tandem with the Local Plan, which was adopted by councillors last spring, will tell developers what sort of homes the council wants to see in the borough, says Leader of the Council, Coun Jane Scullion.

Coun Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said housing was one of the biggest issues facing Calderdale and even at a time of financial struggles, it was important to the ambition of what councillors want the borough to look like.

Office of National Statistics data shows the borough as an ageing population and there was need to encourage people to invest in Calderdale, bringing their families here.

Calderdale had thousands of people on housing waiting lists.

The Local Plan and policy documents like this were aimed at addressing those issues, said Coun Scullion.

The Brighouse garden community documents were an example setting out detail on matters from the width of a footpath to the look and type of homes, showing how building closed to existing communities could work she said.

“This document is very much about things like what’s going to happen in terms of water management, drainage, sewage, what we are going to do about heritage assets including original trees – very much thinking about the community not just for housing but what makes it a good place to live,” she said.

Each of the two garden communities will have a local centre, a community school, playgrounds with picnic areas, and a mobility hub taking in things like e-bike charging points, bus stops with real time information and boxes for internet shopping, with easy access to Brighouse bringing benefits to the town, said Coun Scullion.

In terms of build standard the emphasis would be on quality and the mix had to be right.

“Developers want to have maximum profits – that often means having executive homes.

“We want very much in these developments to see developers looking at a mix of homes,” she said.

What will be required is set out in a 1,000 page document, said Coun Scullion: “So it’s clear to everyone what kind of place this is.”