Local Development Framework

The future of Wilsden: The Local Development Framework and you!

There are a number of developments that are currently taking place with regard to regional planning and the way in which the planning approval framework is likely to change.

In line with government direction Bradford has started to prepare a new plan called the Local Development Framework. This replaces the current plan, the “Replacement Unitary Development Plan” and will set out the way in which Bradford will approach development and planning until the year 2028. Currently it has the most important  document out for consultation: the Core Strategy Development Plan Document.

As its title suggests it is a strategic document, to be fleshed out with more detail in the forthcoming months. Four geographic areas have been identified, the City (including Shipley and Lower Baildon, Airedale, Wharfedale and South Pennine Towns and Villages, mainly to the west. Wilsden is positioned in the last group. Each area is looked at from the point of view of Housing, Environment, Economy and Transport.

 It is estimated that Bradford will need 45,000 additional homes during the period covered by the LDF. For this purpose a hierarchy of settlements has been established: Regional City of Bradford (including Shipley, Principal Towns (Bingley, Ilkley and Keighley) Local Growth Centres and Local Service Centres. Wilsden is envisaged as a Local Service Centre. It is proposed that the larger number of the houses required will be located in existing urban centres but all sub-areas have been allocated a target: Wilsden is required to take an additional 300 houses.

The Core Strategy does not indicate in detail where these houses should be built. Under changes to the planning approval process brought in by the Localism Act (2011) Parish Councils are advised to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan which, whilst it cannot challenge the number of houses that is eventually decided upon by Bradford, can influence where they are built and what they might look like.

The Core Strategy is currently a draft which is out for consultation, It will then be submitted to Bradford Council for approval. If it is approved it will have to be independently assessed and tested after which it will return to the Council for final approval and adoption.

The Core Strategy plus MUCH supporting documentation can be found at http://www.bradford.gov.uk/bmdc/the_environment/planning_service/local_development_framework/.

Two documents of particular interest are the Landscape Character Supplementary Planning Document, Volume 9, Wilsden, and the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment .

The Landscape Character Assessment provides a detailed description and analysis of the landscape of Wilsden along with a succinct set of policy guidelines for each landscape type.  It makes a number of observations  about the lack of capacity to accommodate vasts amount of new development and cautions against suburban style housing detracting from the landscape character. It also warns against settlements joining up, particularly Wilsden and Harden by further development along the road between them.

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment is a register that Bradford is required by law to maintain and records a list of potential housing sites across the district that might become available within a five-year period. It is not a policy document and does not say which sites should go forward and allocated for development but does provide information and choices. Appendix 8 to the Main Report lists individual sites.