A council is being urged to abandon plans for more than 2,000 new homes in Aireborough – amid fears it could be turned into a suburban ghetto of Leeds.

The City Council is being told the area is full and cannot cope with any more housing.

It is being urged instead to build on sites in other parts of the city which are more suitable for development.

Calls to stop building in the area have come from the Aireborough Neighbourhood Forum and the three ward councillors in separate responses to the council’s site allocation consultation.

The forum has surveyed 700 people across Yeadon, Guiseley, Hawksworth and High Royds – and they stress the area is full. They say Aireborough has been overdeveloped, with little regard to infrastructure and has now reached crisis point – meaning it can take no more housing until the infrastructure is addressed.

The forum acting programme manager Jennifer Kirkby said: “What land is left to us has to be used for what is really necessary – schools, doctors, medical care, transport improvements, community facilities and employment – and yes there are some housing requirements for the retired, elderly, single people, and those on low incomes who are local, but these are not what developers want to build. For we do not want to become a suburban ghetto of Leeds.”

In a separate representation to Leeds City Council the three Guiseley and Rawdon councillors are stressing that “Aireborough has had enough”.

They say the area has already been badly damaged and that the latest proposals leave no area safe.

Graham Latty, Pat Latty and Paul Wadsworth say the city needs to continue growing but there are huge potential development sites in South and South Central Leeds where it would be possible to create a new infrastructure.

They say they have seen the gradual destruction of Aireborough’s industrial character over the last 15 to 20 years – with factories being knocked down like ninepins.

With a number of housing developments already in the pipeline they say they are expected to condone a further 1,600 houses on green field sites – with a subsequent impact on already over-burdened infrastructure.

The councillors say the essential character of Aireborough has been badly damaged but not completely lost.

“We still have some open space in and around the townships but the proposals before us leave no area safe. Historic buildings in historic settings could be surrounded by new build, long distance views will disappear. Boundaries will get blurred and local pride will suffer a dreadful blow. Little London Conservation Area could be joined to Nether Yeadon, joined to Westfield Estate. You would probably be able to walk from Horsforth to Menston without seeing a field.”

They urge the council: “Finally we say ‘think again’, Leeds is a big place, you can find space for 2,300 houses without laying a finger on Aireborough. Please do it.”

A Leeds City Council spokesman said: “To help us plan for anticipated population changes and the homes, jobs, education and investment needed across the city, alongside our ambitions for regeneration growth and infrastructure, we had to identify potential sites across the city which could provide development opportunities.

“It is key that we make clear that the site allocation consultation had a number of proposals explored within it, none of which are set in stone. We do of course want to use brownfield sites as and where we can, but there are simply not enough sites to deliver the housing that the city needs, and therefore we need to look for suitable alternatives across the whole city.

“The site allocation consultation ran for eight weeks throughout June and July and was advertised across the city in a number of different ways including adverts on the sides of buses, on our website and via the radio.

“Documents were available to look at and comment on throughout our network of one-stop centres and libraries in all areas of the city and we encouraged ward members to start conversations in their local areas and encourage people to give us their feedback.

“The core strategy allows us to identify suitable and sustainable sites for housing development. If we do not implement a core strategy then developers may seek to build on unsuitable sites across Leeds, with the council unable to successfully defend planning decisions.

“We have had a good response to the consultation with many varied views, but are still at the early stages of work on this project.”

The site allocation consultation closed on July 29. A publication draft consultation is expected next summer with submission to the Secretary of State anticipated later in the year.

CAMPAIGN GROUP'S VIEW

A campaign group is urging Leeds City Council to remove all green belt sites from its plans for future development.

WARD (Wharfedale and Airedale Review Development) says it “strongly objects” to the inclusion of so much green belt land in the council’s proposed Site Allocations Plan.

The group is calling on the authority to use brownfield sites, to concentrate on the renovation of properties and to persuade house builders to develop areas of land which already have planning permission but where work has not begun.

WARD chairman David Ingham said they were also particularly concerned about the potential loss of the green spaces in Nether Yeadon and Rawdon around the Warm Lane area.