Housing developer wants twice as many lorries to be allowed in and out of site in Calderdale town

In 2021, more than 100 objections – and a 140-signature petition opposing the plans – were lodged to Hard York Ltd’s application to carry out engineering works for quarry recovery and outline consent for up to 75 homes at the old Pond Quarry at Lightcliffe Road in Brighouse.

Calderdale Council granted approval but with conditions, including the number of vehicle movements to and from the site.

Among objectors’ concerns were noise, dust, disturbance and highway issues which they feared would result from work at the site.

Now Gleeson Homes wants to increase the number of wagon movements there from 20 in-and-out per working day to 40.

The application seeks to vary the condition, which said: “During infill operations, the maximum number of heavy goods and tractor trailer units vehicle movements to and from the site shall not exceed 20 inward and 20 outward in any working day.”

Gleeson is seeking permission for this to be increased to 40 loads inwards and outwards in any working day, with the following wording: “During infill operations, the maximum number of heavy goods and tractor trailer units vehicle movements to and from the site shall not exceed 40 inward and 40 outward in any working day.”

The company argues it is in a position to deliver much-needed “affordable” homes at the site but for this to be feasible it needs more vehicle movements to speed up infilling, enabling it to build.

A supporting document by construction company G Morley Ltd estimates under the existing planning condition, work on the site will take two years and six months to infill on a best case scenario, and likely a year longer than that when issues including bad weather are factored in.

It argues the extra lorry loads, if allowed, will enable this to be reduced by 18 months to a likely two years.

Gleeson claims in a covering document with the application this would allow housebuilding to begin sooner and thus minimise disruption to surrounding residents.