Developer let off path promised a decade ago

Kirklees Council said it could not force Harron Homes to build a path on a Lindley housing estate

A housing developer has been told it does not have to complete a footpath promised in plans for an estate built in Huddersfield 10 years ago.

Harron Homes built 42 homes on land off Cowrakes Road in Lindley, but failed to construct a pathway which was part of the original application, linking Dryden Way and Wadsworth Fold.

In February this year the developer submitted an application to vary conditions, allowing them to scrap the footpath and plant the site with wildflowers instead.

Kirklees Council planners said the wording of the original application made it impossible for them to enforce the building of the footpath and would instead accept the floral landscaping plan.

More than 40 objections to the flower bed scheme were lodged with the council, with residents saying the cost of maintenance of the landscaped area would fall on homeowners via estate management fees.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, one person commented: "Expecting residents to bear the cost of maintaining an area that serves them no practical purpose is entirely unreasonable.

"This appears to be a deliberate attempt to evade responsibilities laid out in the original agreement."

The Lindley footpath which has not been constructed (circled in red)

However, West Yorkshire Police agreed that the path should be omitted from plans as it would be "narrow and unlit" and would "increase opportunities for anti-social behaviour".

Jon Beeson, planning manager at Harron Homes, said it was "perhaps regrettable" that the path was not built originally, with the company now wanting to resolve the "legacy issue".

He said the path on the estate, which saw building work begin in 2011 and houses built and occupied over the last decade, would have been of "very modest" benefit to a small number of residents.

Planning officer Liz Chippendale, said: "There was no dedicated condition explicitly requiring the provision of the footpath imposed at the time of the original decision.

"The local planning authority are therefore unable to enforce the construction of the footpath and refusing to accept the variation of condition would be unreasonable."

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