Nor that West Yorkshire, with its spiralling population, needs to increase considerably its housing stock.

In the Leeds City Region, of which Calderdale forms a part, more than 10,000 new homes are forecast over the next 18 years. In a series of consultations, the Government wishes to know where they can be built.

Developers have earmarked as many as 300 potential sites, but their ideas are bound to meet opposition because those spots are currently protected by green belt status.

This land adds up to a plot somewhere between the size of Todmorden and Brighouse. Much of it is apparently on the outskirts of towns, on poor quality land or extremely small.

While nobody would wish to stand in the way of progress, it would not be unreasonable to be cautious, even at such an early juncture.

Green belt status exists for a reason.

It protects our magnificent countryside and the wildlife that inhabits it. And it acts as a buffer against urban sprawl, helping to define where towns and villages start and finish.

It is good then to hear the chairman of Calderdale Council Planning Committee sounding a note of concern.

"The Government is making us go through this exercise, but I don't think we can afford to lose any of our precious green belt land. It is what helps to make Calderdale the attractive place it is," he says.

Few people who live here would disagree with him. Except perhaps the developers who, of course, have a vested interest.