Seven new homes can be built on a former Calderdale scrapyard site, planners have agreed.

Five four-bedroom detached houses and two three-bedroom semi-detached houses, all using natural stone, can now be built on the land opposite Dam Top Cottage at Dam Top in Ripponden.

The site is accessed from Mill Fold Way and was formerly a recycling and scrap metal yard, said planning officers.

It had operated as one for more than 80 years, but this has ceased, with associated buildings and infrastructure removed and the site cleared.

“It is understood that the site had been largely unused since its acquisition in 2018, having been considered unsuitable for modern operational requirements and too remote to function viably as a feeder site,” said officers.

The site was subsequently marketed for sale on a freehold basis with vacant possession from March 2023, they noted.

Whilst falling within a designated primary employment area, the surrounding area is distinctly residential and recreational in character, not far from the River Ryburn and Mill Fold Recreation Ground, for example.

The application received one response from a member of the public, in support of the application.

While raising some concerns about access via Mill Fold Way, associated congestion and lack of street lighting, the responder nonetheless considered the old scrap yard as a good site for housing.

Ripponden Parish Council did not object to the application.

But repair and improvement works to the pedestrian and vehicular infrastructure which also serves the recreation area and bowling green, in line with requests from the parish council, are to be secured by condition, planners agreed.

Issues over flood risk can be dealt with by planning conditions, said officers, with the local lead flood authority – the council – withdrawing an objection on drainage grounds.

Given its modest scale, the type of housing is acceptable and in numbers it is below the threshold which would require some affordable housing, planners said.

Although the land is designated as an employment area the residential nature of the area means the proposal is compatible, said the officers, giving the go-ahead.