PLANS FOR 175 new homes in Silsden have prompted renewed calls for a town masterplan.

District councillor Andrew Mallinson wants planning experts to look at the wide-ranging effects of Silsden’s expected housing boom.

He has asked Bradford Council to conduct a joined-up investigation into issues such as the need for a new primary school and potential routes for a long-awaited by-pass.

He says the latest housing proposal – for fields on the south-east border of Silsden – is just the tip of an iceberg that risks sinking the town’s infrastructure.

Silsden has been earmarked for 1,200 new homes over the next 15 years as part of Bradford’s Local Development Plan, with most developments expected along the Keighley Road and Bolton Road corridors.

The proposed by-pass route would connect these two roads on the outskirts of the town, possibly running along Belton Road, across the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, and skirting Waterside, the cemetery and Daisy Hill.

Cllr Mallinson spoke after he and other local councillors, including town and district councillor Adrian Naylor, were invited to meet with a major national housing developer.

The company has not yet revealed the specific location or details of its proposed houses, but revealed the development would be south of Silsden and east of Keighley Road.

In 2006 a planning application was submitted – and later withdrawn – to create a ‘business village’ and hotel in the same area alongside Belton Road.

Cllr Mallinson said: “There is a push by developers to bring forward planning applications ahead of the completion of the Local Development Plan.

“Because of the density of existing local housing, new housing will be forced out to the extremities on all sides.

“We need a masterplan for Silsden. The town will eventually grind to a halt unless the likes of a by-pass can be brought forward.

“There was an indicative line of where the by-pass might go but this urgently needs further research to see if it’s achievable and feasible.”

Cllr Naylor said the Countryside Properties land was one of the better sites for housing in Silsden, providing easy access to the Aire Valley trunk road.

He said: “A lot of people won’t have to travel through Silsden, and there’s pre-existing access on Belton Road.”

But Cllr Naylor warned that new housing could lead to traffic signals at the Keighley Road junction, causing traffic to back up to the roundabout.