THE PROPOSED development of Horsforth Campus is being strongly opposed by the Liberal Democrats as the issue is discussed at a meeting of the Leeds City Plans panel today.

Town Councillor Simon Dowling has expressed his concerns about the application to build 152 homes on the site.

He said: "As Lib Dems we welcome the development of affordable housing to the area, as long as it is not to the detriment of greenbelt land. Sadly, it's clear that this development will impact our greenbelt in a pretty substantial way.

"Local roads cannot support the additional traffic from this development. There are already difficulties for cars joining New Road Side at the Newlay Lane, Victoria Mount and Calverley Lane junctions at peak times. This development will only make the congestion on Horsforth and Rodley Roundabouts worse.

"Additionally, our infrastructure is creaking under the weight of the hundreds of extra houses that have being built recently. It's becoming increasingly difficult for local schools to manage to accommodate all of Horsforth's children. I'm also concerned about the impact on our doctors surgeries.

"A high court judge has recently ruled that all former greenbelt sites, of which this is one, should be removed from the Council’s Site Allocations Plan and remitted back to the Secretary of State for further consideration. The council seem to be ignoring this fact and trying to go ahead with it anyway.

"This is a major development and local Horsforth residents should be given time to reflect on the plans and comment on them properly.

"I'm afraid that this type of development will become more commonplace if the Tory Government's proposed new planning laws are passed. Developments like this one will happen time and time again, often against the wishes of local residents."

The proposed 152 home development has already been criticised by the the town's three ward councillors Conservatives Dawn Collins, Jackie Shemilt and Jonathon Taylor.

In a joint statement they said: “The decision to take this application to panel now is completely unacceptable. A high court judge has recently ruled that all former greenbelt sites, of which this is one, should be removed from the Council’s Site Allocations Plan and remitted back to the Secretary of State for further consideration. How then can the Council appear to ignore this and bring it forward anyway, with a recommendation for it to be approved?”

They add:"This is a major development of 152 new dwellings and residents in Horsforth should be given enough time to comment on the proposals. That is particularly the case when building homes in this location will add more traffic to the already busy Horsforth roundabout and will clearly create more congestion for local residents to contend with. There are also major concerns around availability of school places in this area and we are very worried about the possible impact this development will have on wildlife and biodiversity in this part of Horsforth.”

A report to the panel recommends approval of the affordable homes scheme from social housing provider Stonewater.

It says: “The proposed development will make a weighty contribution to meeting the identified affordable housing need. Unusually, the development is 100% affordable housing and will, therefore, contribute a very significant 152 affordable dwellings to the supply.”

It adds: “The site is not considered to fulfill an important Green Belt function - it is surrounded by major roads on two sides and on the third side the site abuts the cemetery and built up parts of Horsforth.”

The report says the site met the exceptions test for development in part of the green belt and that special circumstances existed for part of the site.