CONTROVERSIAL plans to build nearly 130 homes on a Keighley field may finally be approved next week – over six years after the development was first proposed.

An outline application to build up to 135 houses in Shann Lane was first submitted in 2012, and approved by Bradford Council in November 2013.

Last year much more detailed plans for the site, 128 homes, were submitted by the landowners, the trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement.

Councillors will vote on whether these plans are acceptable at a meeting on Thursday.

If the plans are approved, the developers would contribute hundreds of thousands of pounds to local schools and sports facilities, and install electric vehicle charging points at the new properties.

The council's regulatory and appeals committee has been recommended by officers to give the scheme the green light.

The development would be built on a 4.8-hectare field. The site is next to the greenbelt, although the plot itself is not classed as greenbelt.

A report to the committee lists some of the conditions that would be placed on the application if the development was approved.

These include 15 per cent of the properties being affordable homes, a contribution of £133,628 "to be used for the improvement of the existing playing pitches/play areas within Keighley", an injection of £235,702 to local schools to create extra places and highway improvement works around the site.

An area of public open space would be created on the east of the site, and maintained by the developers.

The report says electric charging points would be added to the homes as a way to make the scheme more environmentally friendly.

Although there is already permission for housing at the site, there are still eight objections to the newer application.

It is claimed the construction traffic would put children in danger, that local schools and doctors' surgeries were full to capacity and that there were insufficient parking spaces for visitors to the new homes.

One said the land shouldn't be developed until brownfield sites have been built on.

On the claim that construction traffic would put children in danger, officers said: "Construction traffic is required to abide by road safety laws. Failure to do so should be reported to the police."

One objector said there would be no maintenance of the public open space and that it would "deteriorate into a bog". Officers replied saying maintaining the site was a condition of the approval, adding: "It is

considered that appropriate measures are in place to ensure the long-term management and maintenance. Failure to adhere to such a condition could result in enforcement action."

The report says: "The proposed development would deliver 128 dwellings, with a mix of three, four and five-bedroom units. The development is therefore considered to make a significant contribution towards delivering much-needed family housing."