Three years ago, on 8 June 2020, we learnt that we had won our case against Leeds City Council’s allocation for housing of four Green Belt (GB) sites in Aireborough. The Leeds Site Allocating Plan (SAP) had not adequately justified the required exceptional circumstances for Green Belt changes due to Errors of Law; this judgement resulted in all allocated GB housing sites across Leeds being returned to the GB . The SAP was re-evaluated in Autumn 2020 by LCC who decided they did have enough land for their housing target without GB releases and a SAP Remittal hearing before a Planning Inspector was held in September 2021 to consider this and approve relevant SAP 2019 modifications – as expected there was strong oppostion from Developers.

However, the Planning Inspectorate has still not completed the SAP Remittal Final Report. Two weeks ago the Inspector sought further comments on the release of just one Green Belt employment site in East Leeds. The issue is HS2.

Barrowby Lane, East Leeds

The site in question is at Barrowby Lane, just off junction 46 of the M1 between Thorpe Park and Garforth. Originally it was a GB Belt site required for both housing and employment, but due to its housing allocation had to be returned to the GB. Late in the day, LCC decided that as the SAP 2019 did not have quite enough employment land allocations for its target that it would seek to make a case for exceptional circumstances in the SAP Remittal to release just this one site for employment use only. The complicating factor for LCC was that allocated SAP GB employment land in South East Leeds but had been put aside as ‘safeguarded’ land for HS2.

In November 2021, the Government announced the scrapping of the eastern leg of the HS2 track to Leeds, but said they would look at getting HS2 trains to Leeds through the Integrated Rail Plan. All ‘safeguarded’ land for a potential route was to remain ‘safeguarded’ and an investigation would be conducted, said the Minister at the time.

Another SAP Remittal hearing was held by the Inspector in 2022 on this specific issue to decided if the Barrowby Lane site could be released from the GB due to exceptional circumstances. The Inspector then advised LCC that in her judgement the safeguarded land would likely be released for development and thus there was no exceptional circumstances to release Barrowby Lane. More modifications to SAP 2019 were made to this effect at the end of 2022.

SAP Remittal Final Report

We were thus all expecting the final SAP Remittal Report confirming that ALL SAP Green Belt sites were now back in the Green Belt (at least for the time being until a new Local Plan). But, instead, on 26 May 2023 we received a letter from the Inspector asking for further comment on Barrowby Lane. A Minister’s statement in the House of Commons in April, pointed out to her by LCC, had led her to believe that the HS2 safeguarded land may not be released in the Local Plan period up to 2028. (At issue here is a very late report by the Government on how HS2 trains will access Leeds and the subsequent discussions between Ministers and the Transport Select Committee.)

We have responded to the Inspectors request, as we are now concerned that the SAP Remittal process is not what the Judge had in mind when she made her Judgement Order in August 2020. In fact, she specifically said in the Order how mixed sites such as Barrowby Lane should be considered, and also how circumstances changed by the passage of time, eg HS2, should be backed with new evidence on land requirements. Much has changed since 2020 in employment land needs, and Leeds City Council is now working on a new Employment Land Review, as well as a new Local Plan.

We understand the complications behind this one site, as it links to Thorpe Park, and the Developers have made investments in the surrounding road networks. Indeed, there is now a planning application in for the Barrowby Lane site (22/08491/OT) , and this could quite easily be evaluated now under the normal development control process, with up-to-date evidence. There is provision in the NPPF to release land from the GB outside the local plan process is there is very special circumstances.

We fully understand the Inspector’s need to make the right decision, but we do not feel it is in the remit of the SAP Remittal process to do this complicated evaluation, there are alternative methods; the Inspector should now issue her Final Report. (And, maybe the Government ought to do the same for the Integrated Rail Plan ‘s report on getting HS2 to Leeds.)

 All relevant documentation and correspondence on the SAP Remittal can be found here on the Inspector’s Programme Website – open the link to Examination News.