The Mayor of Kirklees has pledged to back six families who could be ordered to tear up gardens which have no planning permission.

Mayor Councillor Harry Fox has promised the home-owners from East Bierley will get a "fair hearing" after he was approached by one of the group.

The families each bought land from former Conservative Councillor Robert Light, of Moorhouse Lane, Birkenshaw, to extend their gardens in Soureby Cross Way.

But they claim neither beef farmer Mr Light, who served on a Kirklees planning committee for five years, or their respective solicitors told them they needed planning permission to change the Green Belt land's status from agricultural use.

Coun Fox said: "I sympathise with these people. They have been ill-advised. Their solicitors should have known planning permission was needed for a change of use.

"Green Belt land is very jealously guarded and the worst thing that could happen is they could be left owning land which they can't garden."

Coun Fox, a Labour councillor for the Spen ward in Liversedge, said he would ask for the matter to be referred to a planning committee if planning officers decided to demand the gardens were reinstated as farm land.

The families, who bought the land three-and-a-half years ago, have applied for retrospective planning permission to keep their gardens which now feature flower beds, patios and lawns. Their error was revealed to Kirklees Council when an anonymous member of the public tipped them off about the gardens.

T&A Opinion

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