Georgian farm to be pulled down for housing in Brighouse

Back Brade Farm, passed a bat inspection, and is about to be torn down – https://portal.calderdale.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=R5WJW3DW0CF00&activeTab=summary

Hopefully the two aerial images above show what has happened in this green belt area between Brighouse and Elland in the highly sought after M62 lands of West Yorkshire.

A farmhouse remains as an island in the midst of ground preparation for the arrival of 267 houses. The open countryside that has been sacrificed (along with a number of farm buildings already) can be seen to the aerial image on the right.

Plans for this volume housing estate excluded the farmhouse, and it looked as though the developer could see value in retaining Back Brade Farm from which I imagine the avenues, closes, drives, crescents, that emerge will all derive their quaint names. Alas no, they were just waiting for the bats to bugger off before tearing it down via permitted development. I’m sure they can squeeze in a couple more ‘products’ there you see.

Everything that is wrong with modern planning and housing delivery can be witnessed here. Indeed, there is no planning at all. This is delivery in full of exactly what the market would provide regardless. Cheap crass housing types perfect for brochures, each one a palatial statement of your individuality, each house isolated with no regard for context or history. The local planning authority may as well not exist.

Yes I understand we need housing, and that some of our green pastures must be sacrificed, but there are better ways. You can start by retaining some of what was previously there – the boundaries, the paths, the farm buildings, the topography, even perhaps some of the trees. Write a new chapter, not a new book.