10:10am Thursday 3rd February 2011
By Marc Meneaud
Controversial plans to convert a Georgian mill owner’s house and build new homes in its garden have been thrown out by planners following a campaign which attracted support from across the globe.
Campaigners have claimed victory in the battle to preserve Woodfield House, which stands in picturesque grounds next to the converted former mill on the banks of Ellar Carr Beck, Cullingworth. Bingley-based developer Gordon Halton Homes had applied to extend the house, which is believed to date back to the 1800s, and build four more homes in its gardens.
More than 60 objectors, including retired US Colonel Joan Muddy and people from Australia and Sweden who had visited the landmark building, backed the campaign against the plans.
The Reverend Graeme Hancock, who spearheaded the campaign, said: “We are all really pleased. This has been going on for a long time. I’m sure the developer will be back with a new application but we are ready for the next round.”
Bradford Council’s planners threw out the application because the area surrounding Woodfield House was green-field land under Council planning policies, which state brown-field land should be developed first.
There is also a large bat roost in the eaves of Woodfield House. The proposed extension would have been near where the bats fly from the building and could “potentially inhibit their access to this roost”, the Council said in its decision to refuse planning permission. The area is also a flood risk, a report to Bradford Council said.
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