Drawing up the battle lines again

But those who previously lost their fight to save the district's idyllic countryside have been warned their new campaigns may be doomed.

Much of the land previously designated available for development will remain so under the new plans and hopes of changing the council's mind seem unlikely - unless there are cast iron planning grounds.

Nevertheless some people are preparing for a second "land war" as the council draws up its Unitary Development Plan.

But council regeneration chief Anne Hawkesworth warned people not to get their hopes up that previous UDP decisions can be overturned - particularly as they have already gone through a public inquiry.

The good news about the new massive planning blueprint, which is of vital importance to the district, is that it will be far more flexible than the old.

And, sensibly, the land use will be based on the council's own policies and priorities for housing, jobs, regeneration, leisure and education.

But there are still likely to be protests, which will rumble on as planning applications begin to roll in from developers once the UDP is eventually adopted.

The plan which will last until 2006 will also be based on a recent vacant land survey by the Council as well as the sites which once contained schools prior to reorganisation.

Core employment areas will be protected and there will be a portfolio of sites for investment in Airedale particularly aimed at the electronics industry.

Officers planning a draft - which will go out for consultation across the district - will look for the first time at support for employees, including creches, nurseries and training schemes. Countryside will be protected for its own sake, but the plan will also protect the economic and social needs of people living there.

The planning blueprint covers millions of acres of land across Bradford which will be earmarked for housing, open space, recreation, employment and industry.

Proposals for the last UDP drawn up in 1994 sparked unprecedented fury and led to one of the region's biggest public inquiries which cost more than £500,000 and lasted nine months.

The Department of Environment brought in five inspectors to deal with 20,000 objections.

It saw dozens of major demonstrations as people marched with placards to save their fields or stop plans for industry near tranquil streets.

Even riders with horses turned up at City Hall to protest about allocations which would hit their riding school.

Residents protested that it was wrong that developers should line their pockets using land in the more affluent villages where prices were higher.

They said sewers, roads and schools were unable to accommodate new families.

And they fought for derelict industrial sites, particularly around the city centre to be cleared and used for homes.

But the result brought winners and losers.

The inspectors ruled there must be a balance between housing, open space and industry on the vast tracts of land

Six years ago Coun Hawkesworth - now the council's executive member for the environment - was among the campaigners fighting hard to save the green fields with people in her Ilkley ward.

Now the tables have turned and she is the council's lead member on planning and land use.

She said: "When the current UDP was eventually adopted in 1998, it was seen by many, quite rightly in my view, as destructive and unnecessarily invasive into the green belt.

"The plan was based on housing needs which have subsequently been discredited. It allocated great swathes of green field land for residential use rather than looking at alternatives.

"Many of these sites are undeveloped and we must hold them back for as long as possible. We can do this for many years.

"Instead of the building industry always choosing the plum sites we need them to make better use of the lands and buildings in our towns and cities."

But she stressed the losers in last year's plan had little hope of victory this time. "There have to be substantial planning reasons. It is highly unlikely these allocations will be changed as they have already gone through a public inquiry. I don't want to raise fresh hopes."

But that hasn't deterred people living in Silsden and Baildon, who heavily lost out last time and want cast-iron certainty for future years by getting the designations for housing and employment changed.

They are already drawing up battle lines and believe they will be joined by many other people across Bradford who will see the new UDP as a "last chance saloon."

Baildon families, with just one choked up road leading out of the village, still want to halt its expansion.

They were bitterly disappointed about the loss of their open spaces - and worse still did not know of the threat to Jenny Lane until after the mammoth public inquiry.

They have strongly attacked consultation procedure and are currently trying to stop the march of development at diocesan-owned land in Jenny Lane.

Their latest bid is to get it officially designated as an open space to save the playing fields.

Campaigner Michael Slater said: "We didn't know there was any question of Jenny Lane being taken and we subsequently got 4,210 objections. We do not accept the inspector's report. And I am sure we will be trying to topple it."

Members of Silsden Town Action were devastated when the inspector ruled in favour of releasing huge tracts of land to housing and employment - but their will to succeed is as strong as ever.

Group chairman Janet Burgoyne said they had lost 160 acres of green belt, some of it designated as special landscape value, but there was still time to fight it before the sites were developed.

She said: "We have said all along that the land should not be found from green field sites."

Labour planning spokesman Councillor Phil Thornton said: "It is vital that no more green fields are taken. The brown field sites must be used."

Liberal Democrat spokesman for the environment Ann Ozolins warned the council should be careful of going down the brown field route.

She said a number of areas, including scenic Idle Moor were designated brown field because they had previously had some industry.

Ilkley Design Trust, set up to protect the town from harmful development, has already told the council it wants the UDP to contain an extended conservation area.

But Leeds Council's revised UDP - which includes Wharfedale - is already well ahead and recommends that a route from Old Pool Road to Pool Road should be taken out of the green belt to be protected for a future by pass.

And a battle has already started against proposals to remove land at the former dyeworks at Haw Lane, Yeadon, out of the green belt.