| Background |
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The Greenhill Action Group was originally formed in 1992 by a group of local residents opposed to a proposal to build a 'Dales Village' on the open green fields bounded by Sty Lane, Micklethwaite Lane, the canal, Oakwood estate, Fairfax and Falcon Road areas of Bingley. This was defeated. Bradford Council subsequently drew up a land use plan (Unitary Development Plan - UDP) for the whole of the Bradford area, which allocated this land to housing. This was again fought by the Greenhill Action Group, who succeeded in getting the land withdrawn by the Council. this was overturned at the Public Enquiry by the Inspector, who said that development could go ahead once the Bingley Relief Road was built. Bradford Council are now doing a review of the UDP (a legal requirement). The first revision was issued in mid-2001, with the Greenhill site again zoned for housing although it was scheduled for release in 2008 because the Government now requires previously developed land to be used first. The site is described as having 'access constraints' - to access the lower part of the site a permanent bridge will be built over the canal, which will mean a canal diversion. To see the entry in Bradford's UDP click on 'Greenhill'. This 40 acre site could accommodate up to 800 houses, and the impact on local roads, especially Micklethwaite Lane, Oakwood Drive, Falcon & Fairfax Roads and Beck Lane, and on services such as schools & health services, is all too painfully obvious. The proposal attracted 600 objections, the largest number for any site in the UDP, but the Council have issued a second revised plan with the site still allocated to housing. The next and final stage is the Public Enquiry - see Status GAG is non-political and is solely opposed to development on a green field site which is the only green lung for residents in the Bingley / Crossflatts area. To ‘fight the fight’ we need to raise £15,000 from everyone who wants stop the Aire Valley being turned into more of a concrete wasteland. |