Uproar over housing plans for 'Dales gateway'

Residents of a village on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales have described plans for a new housing development as a "land grab" that would hinder its heritage and natural beauty.

Developer Chartford Homes has submitted a planning application to Bradford Council for 55 homes on a 3.12-hectare green-belt site in Addingham.

District councillors, parish councillors and residents opposing the development say the plans would encourage "urban sprawl", with more than 160 attending an extraordinary parish council meeting about the proposals on Monday.

Bradford councillor Jane Sellers says residents are "very shocked" and there has been no formal consultation.

"This is a beautiful vista. It's the green gateway into a village, a village that's much loved by its residents," she says.

"It's essential that development should work with a village in consultation and then the result is more agreeable, whereas this is a land grab, as I see it."

The view is a large green field between Main Street and the A65 bypass, which runs between Skipton and Ilkley.

It is part of the village's conservation area and is rumoured to contain remnants of Anglo-Saxon farms.

"That view has been unchanged for hundreds of years and these houses here, there will be impact on the enjoyment of the cricket club, nearby neighbours, the noise, the dust," says Sellers.

Gill Battarbee, chair of Addingham Civic Society, says she is "100% against" the proposals and "ample sites around the village" have already been identified as suitable for new homes.

"Addingham is one of the gateways to the Dales and, that view as you come through, I know it sounds really wishy-washy but it is crucial," she says.

"We have sites that will accommodate them without taking one of those heritage sites."

The site is designated green-belt land but Chartford Homes argues it could be classed as grey belt - a form of low-quality green belt that was introduced under Angela Rayner in 2024.

Simon and Susie Skeggs, who have only lived in Addingham for a year, relocated from a village close to an HS2 construction site in Northamptonshire. They say the rules allow developers to get around protections.

"It's a real shame that there's a need by developers to use the grey-belt/green-belt new rules to try to force things through when obviously that's a really precious asset to the village," says Susie.

"What's important to the village is its setting within Wharfedale and the beauty of the village and if we keep doing this to all of our villages it will all just become like Burley in Wharfedale, that's just become a massive commuter belt for somewhere else."

At the meeting of Addingham Parish Council on Monday evening, many residents raised concerns about traffic infrastructure, impact on the village's character and potential flood risks.

Resident Jim Bird says the village is "already busy enough in terms of traffic and amenities".

"It'll certainly increase the amount of traffic that uses this small street as a rat run and the schools, the local GP services aren't really developed to such an extent to take what I'm assuming will be maybe another 200-300 people, maybe 120 cars," he says.

"It's not a NIMBY approach but we've done a lot of new developments and we like the place the way it is."

Chartford Homes says the site would provide a "robust buffer between the site and the open countryside".

"New residential development on this land would reflect and complement the existing housing opposite the site, forming a logical and well-integrated extension to the established settlement pattern.

"It would create a distinctive gateway into Addingham, strengthening the village's sense of place and reinforcing its overall character and identity."

The proposed development includes a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes, of which 50% would be "affordable housing", according to the application.

But resident Sylvia Westcott, 94, says she is concerned about how "affordable" the homes would be.

"Nobody says how affordable they are. If they were definitely for low-income people, I'd be more in support of them. But nobody has stated any prices yet," she says.

"It's an expensive area. And the last new development they built were five and six-bedroom houses. I have to say, they look nice, but if there were cheaper houses for people in difficulty, I'd be more in agreement."

Local historian Chris Cobbly, who has lived in the village for four years, supports the plans because he says they are well located near amenities, and will partially fulfil Bradford Council's requirement for new homes in the district.

"We've got to find houses for people to live in and these are 55 towards our allocation from Bradford of something like 170," he says.

"I think it's well placed and to some extent it fills out the shape of the village which in years gone by has been known as Long Addingham for good reason because it was so stretched out.

"This development is right in the heart of the village and fills it out, fills a gap in a sense."

Walking along North Street are Joanne and Richard Curry, holidaymakers from Faversham in Kent.

They are trekking the Dales Way from Ilkley to Windermere.

Richard says the problem with housing developments in rural communities is UK-wide.

"I can't speak for Yorkshire but there's far too many houses being built in Kent," he says.

"And the infrastructure simply can't cope - the schools, the sewers, the water supply, the roads and it's all getting completely overwhelmed by the number of new houses.

"And my guess is it's the same up here."

But Joanne points out that around their town have been proposals for up to 4,000 homes.

"Actually 55 houses is a very small number compared to some they're planning around us. So in some ways I can understand," she says.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.