This newspaper’s ongoing Battle For The Green Belt campaign has highlighted the threat to green-field sites for a number of years.
While such places are attractive to developers for a variety of reasons, the primary one is frequently their location.
Existing residents, though, often fear building on such sites would destroy what makes their areas so attractive in the first place, and that the existing infrastructure would not be able to cope with the influx of people new houses would bring.
Developers behind plans for hundreds of new homes in Menston have tried to allay some of these concerns by stressing the investment they would make into community facilities while highlighting the need for new homes.
On the former, the residents would no doubt argue they do not want the planning gain, they just want to keep what they already have.
On the latter, the need for new homes is generally not in question, only their location.
It is worth reflecting that none of this wrangling would be happening if it was one of the district’s many brownfield sites under discussion.
And it is hard not to believe that more could be done to ensure developments on such spaces are more likely, and those on our limited green space less so.
Perhaps the Government should look at improving its proposed payment-for-new-houses incentive scheme by doubling the amount it will give Councils for every house built on brownfield land.
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