Some people in Morley could lose their TV reception if a new industrial estate is built, it’s been claimed.
Councillors have stalled again on deciding whether plans to build several new warehouses near Junction 28 of the M62 should go ahead. It follows criticism of the proposed height of some of the units, combined with their proximity to residential homes.
The scheme would be a huge expansion of the Capitol Park business estate, off Dewsbury Road, onto neighbouring vacant farmland to the north.
Developers say the estate would run 24 hours a day and create 2,000 jobs as well as 75 apprenticeships for the local area. They’ve also pledged millions to improve the local transport network, and in particular the busy motorway junction.
Council officers had backed the application, describing it as a “key employment scheme which will be strategically important to Leeds.”
But addressing planning chiefs on Thursday, Councillor Oliver Newton, Morley’s new mayor, said people living downhill from the site already struggle with their TV reception.
Coun Newton said: “Some of the residents can’t even get a good TV signal without a signal booster because of the hill. It could get worse and worse and worse (if the units are built). I know this is a private matter, but with more and more residents potentially being affected, this will become an issue of wellbeing.”
Repeating his opposition to the plans, Coun Newton added: “It’s unlikely that residents in a settled community will not feel the impact of noise and light nuisance caused by 24 hour operations. For the purposes of Leeds and Morley, this application has to be disregarded and ignored.”
But Paul Bennett, head of development at Sterling Capitol, which runs Capitol Park, said the scheme will “deliver a positive legacy for Morley and the city.” He added: “We’ve already developed a similar scheme in Goole which has delivered ecological and social benefits to the area.
Sterling has promised to set aside a 30 acre area of the site for a public woodland, complete with 7,500 trees and footpaths. But some elected members were alarmed by the proposed height of the units, which would be used by manufacturing and warehouse firms.
Under the proposals debated on Thursday, some would have been up to 22.4m (73.5ft). These would potentially be within the length of a rugby pitch away from the nearest residential home.
The council’s plans panel, which first delayed making a decision on the scheme last November, remained divided in their views.
Conservative councillor Dan Cohen described some of the units as “blooming high”. “There is no possibility for me that I’m going to approve anything of this height,” he said.
“I know the noise, the pollution and the light pollution that this type of site will throw out and throw up. So putting this in this area seems to be grossly inappropriate.”
But Liberal Democrat councillor Colin Campbell said he’d “very reluctantly come to the view that I have to support this”, because the land itself had been allocated for employment.
Coun Campbell said: “I think we have to be realistic. To prevent development is not possible in my opinion. I know some people don’t want to lose the field, but we are where we are.”
After a vote to approve the plans failed, councillors eventually decided to defer the application again and asked for the developer to make further changes to the plans.
READ NEXT:
