The Labour Party in Westminster see no problem building on greenbelt in Shipley and have criticised government for halting Bradford’s housing plans claiming it was a “mate’s favour”.
This week Housing Minister Gavin Barwell ordered Bradford Council to halt its development plans until Government looked at them after Shipley MP Philip Davies raised concerns the Green Belt was being built on and brownfield sites left undeveloped.
But Shadow Housing Minister John Healey has written to Communities Secretary Sajid Javid complaining about the decision claiming it “smack’s of a political mate’s favour.”
Mr Healey said the plans had gone to consultation with local people and were subject to a Planning Inspection and should not be halted at the demand of an MP.
In a letter he wrote: “According to the Housing Minister this decision was taken merely because a fellow Conservative MP wrote in complaint. There is no attempt by the Minister to defend the substance of the complaint. Without justification, his decision to intervene smacks of a political ‘mate’s favour’.
“Given this lack of justification for your Department stopping a plan which has been nine years in the making, and involved extensive consultation with local people, I am writing to ask you to account for this decision.”
Mr Davies urged government to look at the plans given so much greenbelt in his constituency was to be developed which would do nothing to alleviate the housing problem in the city centre.
Mr Davies added: “This complaint from the Labour Party shows they have no concern for my constituents and the Green Belt around the constituency. There is a significant amount of brownfield sites that Bradford Council seems to want to ignore and not build on, instead giving the go-ahead to massive developments in my constituency.
“My constituents now know that the Labour Party locally and the Labour Party nationally do not care about their interests and are happy to see huge swathes of Greenbelt concreted over against the wishes of local residents.
“I hope people in the Shipley constituency remember the contempt the Labour Party holds for them at future elections.”