The Church Commissioners (land owners) will make a huge-profit on the land if it is sold with Planning Permission; Kirklees Council have released the land from the Greenbelt and have put the land into their Local Development Plan.  Both the Church Commissioners and Kirklees Council have a vested interest in approving the development.

A development of this scale requires in-depth, technical, Impact Assessments and Consultation with the relevant Authorities.  The Church Commissioners have provided some of the surveys and Ecological Impact Assessments; Kirklees Council facilitate the objection and consultation process with the necessary bodies and experts.

Specifically relating to the Ancient Woodlands, here are some key points around Objections and Consultee Responses:

• The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has  responded with a detailed objection which includes reference to the impact on the Ancient Woodland – this objection is in the public domain on the Kirklees Council Planning Portal
• CPRE (Campaign for Protection of Rural England) has submitted an objection.  This objection was redacted by Kirklees Council to remove details of the organisation objecting.
• The Woodland Trust has submitted an objection which was also redacted by Kirklees Council to remove details of the organisation objecting.
• The Forestry Commission responded with their standing advice which includes in the first paragraph: “It is Government Policy to refuse development that will result in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats including ancient woodland”.
• Natural England (NE) were consulted and replied with ‘No objection’.  This position of ‘No objection’ is due to the Government imposed restrictions on when and where NE is able to object.  NE’s standing advice is exactly as The Forestry Commission above: “It is Government Policy to refuse development that will result in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats including ancient woodland”.
• Kirklees Council’s Ecology Officer has officially responded to support the objection of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust on 2 occasions.

The only response to date, shown on the Planning Portal, is an Ecological Design Strategy document which details suggestions or ‘demonstrations’ for enhancing the biodiversity on the proposed development.  No firm commitments – just an eye-catching, colourful, document suggesting wood piles, bird-houses and hedgehog boxes etc.  It certainly doesn’t address the concerns raised in the significant objections above.

The Species and Habitat Surveys conducted on behalf of the Church Commissioners are over 3 years old, considerably out-of-date and not in accordance with industry standard (CIEMM, 2016).  All surveys need to be updated prior to determination of each phase of the development. The YWT objection identifies a lack of clear data, inaccuracies, missing data and errors in the 2018-19 Ecological Survey, in particular relating to the required 10% net biodiversity gain. The development is clearly in conflict with Kirklees’ Local Plan Policy LP30 (Biodiversity and Geodiversity).

The most recent Ecological Design Strategy document submitted by the Church Commissioners claimed it was based on an extensive suite of surveys conducted in 2020. When these surveys were requested, the Kirklees Council Planning Officer advised this was another error – there had been no extensive survey suites in 2020.

How could a claim of new surveys be submitted in error on an official document and uploaded to the Planning Portal?   This really isn’t good enough!