Councillor objects to 19-home development planned for Eastburn (From Craven Herald)

Councillor objects to 19-home development planned for Eastburn

8:00am Friday 8th February 2013 in News By Daryl Ames, Reporter

A councillor has spoken out against a housing development in Eastburn because of problems with a “dangerous” road.

Jack Thompson, of Hill Top Farm, is seeking permission to build a total of 19 two and three-bedroom houses on Sycamore Grove, off Sutton Lane.

But Sutton councillor Stephen Place is strongly opposed to the plan because, he says, it could lead to an increase in traffic on Sutton Lane, which is narrow and has no footpath.

“That road is so dangerous,” said Coun Place (Ind). “People have had to dive into the fields to escape oncoming traffic because it’s so narrow.”

Coun Place has campaigned for years to build a footpath along the road, but joint owners Bradford Council and North Yorkshire County Council won’t fund it.

“We have to wait until half a dozen kiddies are mowed down before we can get funding for this road,” he said. “But that’s not going to happen because this is a no-go area for most local people.”

He said that two large employers in Eastburn – Airedale Hospital and engineering firm Landis Lund – employed a quarter of Sutton-in-Craven’s population.

And although the distance to work is walkable for most people, he said the workers usually chose to drive because of the dangers of the road.

“This can’t go on,” added Coun Place. “This road is so dangerous that we need to include a footpath down at least one side.

“These two councils need to sit down and meet to put forward some kind of scheme to cost this project out.”

Coun Place said that Sutton Lane was 11 metres at its widest, but he noted that there were two “pinchpoints” where the lane narrowed to nine metres, meaning that two large vehicles, such as buses or HGVs, could not pass without colliding into each other.

“I’m not asking for the road to be widened,” said Coun Place. “I’m not worried about wing mirrors being knocked off. But this development could increase traffic flow by up to 50 cars a day. And that will mean these new residents will be going to Sutton’s two primary schools, South Craven School and using other facilities in the village.

“It will cause congestion and result in a considerable increase in traffic through Sutton.”

Coun Place also said that the Sycamore Grove junction with Sutton Lane was renowned as an accident blackspot and he noted that the twisting, poorly-lit road was heavily used by buses and HGVs.