From Julie C

Friday, 3 April 2015

Had a look at the site/location plan on the Calderdale planning portal, it doesn't even show the new McCarthy & Stone apartments, it just shows the old factories on the plans.

I can't see quite how they are going to squeeze in the 8 flats (with it appears 6 parking bays). It looks as though the access is via Waterside Fold and the old bridge over the river, how dodgy is that.

From Pedro de Wit

Tuesday, 7 April 2015

There was an attempt a couple of years ago to build apartments on this site. Luckily Calderdale refused planning. Main arguments against the proposal were that the development did not fit in with the surrounding buildings (this is a conservation area) and that it breached privacy of children and local residents. These newly proposed plans don't address any of these objections.

I also like to mention that access to these new apartments will be via a private road and that the flood defence wall along Waterside Fold will be partially demolished to give residenst access to the car park! The flood report states that there is only a small risk of flooding, less than 1%…

However I have seen the water go over the current bridge deck at least twice over the last 15 years. I have also seen complete trees going downstream over the bridge deck! Without the current flood defence wall the water would have gone down onto Waterside Fold and Valley Road.

Anyone with a sound mind and no direct financial interest in this development can see that this site is totally unsuitable for any sort of building. Unfortunately developers only see pound signs when they look at open spaces in Hebden Bridge.

From Kez Armitage

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

There have been some barmy planning applications in Hebden Bridge - tower blocks on the site of the former gas works at the railway station, the 'wonky homes' in Garden Street, the 5 storey 'tall building' at the entrance to Colden Clough (still pending, that one), the development in the dam at Windsor View, the supermarket and hotel at Mytholm works (three years on since approval, and what do we have? Nothing!)

Nothing, however compares to this barking mad proposal. A tiny plot of land at risk of flooding, approached by a bridge over the River Hebden, which will almost certainly have to be replaced, at a cost probably in the late hundreds of thousands of pounds. Access is by a private road, the residents/owners of which are unanimously opposed to the development as it utterly encroaches on their privacy, and they are highly unlikely to give permission to the developers to use it. The whole thing is so utterly ridiculous that I had to check the date of the application to make sure it wasn't April 1st!

It surely must be a case of someone trying to increase the value of the land by obtaining planning permission, and then attempting to sell it on to some unsuspecting party. But unless circumstances change drastically, there can be no way that this development gets off the ground. It does however show the lengths to which developers will go to try and exploit our town. They need watching closely.

From Steve Sweeney

Wednesday, 8 April 2015

They can use the increased value of the land to borrow money if they get planning permission. It doesn't matter that they can't physically build on it. Strange world. Planning permission is often sought by developers purely to increase the book value of their assets and there are no real plans to invest or funds to do so.

From Alex Rudkin

Thursday, 9 April 2015

Maybe we should dig a temporary Pollination Street on the land like they did in Todmorden or free fruit and vegetable garden. That way locals can have the benefit of free food for the few years till it is developed. A bit like the temporary car park on Valley Road. Could do another one on the site of the Mytholmroyd Swimming pool that has been planned for 100 years.

From Jill Robinson

Thursday, 9 April 2015

A third party once made a planning application in respect of my house at Luddendenfoot, even though I owned it outright. When I asked the council what was going on, they said that anyone can make a planning application for any site, whether they own it or not. The applicants, who owned the adjacent property, had apparently thought they would buy my house, even though it was not for sale at the time, without consulting me first. All very odd. This was years ago, the regulations may well have changed in the meantime.

From Graham Barker

Friday, 10 April 2015

I hope the application gets the short shrift it deserves but it highlights the need for someone (Calderdale?) to bite the bullet and dismantle the deck across the river. It serves no useful purpose, hasn't had any upkeep for decades and must be increasingly unsafe. At least one of the support beams is visibly sagging, so it needs taking down before it falls down. If there was a road running underneath, it would be long gone by now.

And as Pedro points out, the deck also has the potential to flood Waterside Fold and Valley Road by disrupting the flow of the river; it can only be a matter of time before some extreme weather event puts the deck right into its path. All ends up, it needs to go.