Hundreds attend town meeting on ‘Wetherby Urban Extension’

A panel of the three Wetherby Leeds City Councillors, the Mayor and a North Yorkshire councillor spoke at the meeting hosted by the community group Better Wetherby.

The meeting at Wetherby Methodist Church was attended by around 200 people, who heard that whilst Wetherby has confirmed housing needs met until 2042, the North Yorkshire side of town is vulnerable to massive development.

This is because the sections to the north of Wetherby are affected by North Yorkshire’s target of 4,300 homes a year and that county is not set to adopt a new Local Plan until 2029.

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Green Party Councillor Penny Stables, one of three councillors who spoke at the event, said:“We are in a situation where Westminster is imposing huge housing targets, while at the same time there are already large numbers of approved developments being held as land banks by developers seeking to maximise profit.

A roundtable discussion on the issue (Image: Pic supplied)

“It was a really positive meeting convened by Better Wetherby, and encouraging to see different political parties working together on such an important issue for our area. Greens, Conservatives and Labour are all in agreement on this. We now need the support  of the Mayors of both the West and North Yorkshire Combined Authorities.”

Cllr Allan Lamb (Conservative), who organised the meeting, presented a developer map which he said suggested that up to 5,000 homes could potentially be built through a patchwork of smaller developments around the area in what they’re calling the “Wetherby Urban Expansion”. 

Cllr Lamb told the Press afterwards that the housing proposals stem from central government trebling North Yorkshire’s housing targets.

The Wetherby Urban Expansion (Image: Pic supplied)

North Yorkshire also hasn’t been given enough time by central government to develop and adopt its Local Plan.

Cllr Lamb continued: “They (developers) are using this as a way to get housing sites in places they would not otherwise get them. It won’t mean homes being built faster, they will just be built on more sites.

“Democracy is also being taken away as sites over 150 homes that are going to be refused will go to the Secretary of State for determination.”

Cllr Lamb added he was encouraging people to write to the Mayors of West and North Yorkshire and the leader of Leeds City Council on the issue.

He added: “Wetherby is doing it’s bit already.”

Thursday’s meeting also saw Wetherby Mayor Connor Mulhall highlight concerns that, if all proposed developments were approved, the area could face an additional 30,000–40,000 car journeys per day.

He warned that Wetherby’s historic infrastructure and narrow road network were not designed to cope with that level of traffic.

Better Wetherby also announced that it is commissioning a highways report to examine the transport infrastructure improvements needed to support both current and future demand in the area.

How do you feel about this and other housing plans in the area? Do we need this number of homes. Have your say and continue the conversation in the comments below.