The decision of the Government planning inspector to overturn a decision by Bradford Council to refuse permission for a housing scheme on green land is a worrying and unwelcome turn of events.

The local authority had decided that the proposals to build 70 homes on land at Idle Moor should be thrown out because the land has been designated as urban greenspace.

This was entirely the right decision to make.

However, that refusal of permission has been overturned by Government planning inspector, and it is hard to disagree with Cllr Jeanette Sunderland when she says that "every blade of grass" in the district is now at risk.

Green spaces are attractive to developers because they can build on them top-flight homes commanding rural or semi-rural outlooks. Which is all well and good for the people with top-flight budgets, but it is not the sort of building that the Bradford district requires.

Good quality, affordable homes are needed to help people get on the property ladder or move up a rung, and those are better built utilising existing brownfield or post-industrial sites which are sited near existing transport links and social infrastructure such as schools and shops.

That has long been the contention of the T&A and its "Save Our Green Spaces" campaign, and this ruling which overturns Bradford Council's decision is a sad blow to the long-term vision of providing affordable homes and protecting our district's glorious green spaces.

It is to be hoped this does not open the floodgates for other developers to claw at green spaces in other parts of the district, or Cllr Sunderland's dire prediction may well come true.