Plans for eight five-bedroom detached houses and a two-storey block building have been approved.
The new homes site will be opposite the Grade II-listed Rishworth School(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Twelve new homes will be built opposite a Calderdale school despite residents’ fears.
Plans for eight five-bedroom detached houses and a two-storey block building submitted by Sam Moore have been green-lit for land facing historic Grade-II listed Rishworth School on Oldham Road in Rishworth. Calderdale planning councillors were told the new development will not directly face the principal listed school building itself but instead will overlook some meadow, meaning conditions to reduce harm had been satisfied.
The new development will be positioned away from the road, its height is restricted and trees are being preserved along the roadside, they said.
Councillors remained troubled about the effect on a historic milestone, which while not within the application site is immediately adjacent to where the access will be located. Calderdale Planning Committee members only voted to approve the proposal after modifying a planning condition suggested by Coun Chris Wadsworth (Lib Dem, Warley) concerning the compound for the construction period, which will afford the milestone some protection.
The developer will be required to pay the council almost £300,000 via a legal agreement to cover certain aspects connected to the application. Officers calculated this as a £21,794 contribution towards open space enhancements within 1,200 metres of the site, £43,947.66 for public education provision – Rishworth sits opposite, though it is a private school – and £218,604 as a “commuted” sum owing to the restricted number of “affordable” housing units the scheme will deliver.
Just one such property will be included where four would typically be mandated for a development of this magnitude in this location, according to the council’s planning guidelines.
Those opposing the plans had highlighted various issues including potential damage to the school’s character, a concern echoed by Ripponden Parish Council, the scale of the proposed dwellings, road safety, including apprehension about motorists speeding along the route, which sits near the M62, parking and access arrangements, and concerns the application could pave the way for additional housing in the vicinity.
However, officers stated that as the proposal had evolved, on a site which was designated for residential use in Calderdale’s Local Plan, the homes’ design has “rhythm and form” and maximised the challenging sloping landscape.
Coun Jamie Furlong (Green, Todmorden West) questioned the diminished number of affordable properties.
Officers explained it was a viability matter which had been independently evaluated by a valuer and that, combined with the legal agreement sum in lieu, had been weighed in the planning balance. The modest site, assessed as having capacity for 11 dwellings, saw the developer propose one additional home – although small, it would support the needed provision of homes in the area, they explained in response to a question from Coun Katie Kimber (Lab, Luddenden Foot).
Highways officers assured Coun Furlong that no significant concerns were anticipated regarding the increase in traffic, while planning officers told Coun Kimber that the site’s topography had dictated the design, making it unfeasible to improve accessibility to M4(2) standard – something the developer had sufficiently demonstrated to their satisfaction.
Addressing Coun Furlong’s queries regarding public transport provision, planning officers acknowledged that local services may not be exceptional, but noted that the new properties would be situated within easy reach of bus stops.
The applicant’s agent stated that the development would make “a positive and meaningful contribution to meeting housing needs in the borough.”
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