Around three quarters of new homes developed recently in Calderdale have been built on brownfield sites, councillors heard.

Raising several housing issues at a recent council meeting, Coun Regan Dickenson (Con, Rastrick) said it was good to see in reports that the proportion of recent new homes was “knocking on the door of 75 per cent” on brownfield sites, as opposed to green space.

“We’d love to see that being a priority across the course of the Local Plan,” he said.

The issue of loss of green belt land was raised by campaigners against the Local Plan – which will shape where new homes and businesses might be built into the 2030s.

Deputy Leader and cabinet member for Climate Action and Housing, Coun Scott Patient said the council needed to make sure brownfield sites were focused on the most.

“We do prioritise them,” he said. “It is a priority already and I hope that’s a number we can get up as we continue to develop.”