A CONTROVERSIAL residential development for up to 250 houses on greenbelt at Mapplewell / Staincross has been approved, despite being refused two months ago.
Pipestone Limited resubmitted proposals last month for a site to the west of Wakefield Road at Staincross which borders Mapplewell.
The original application was refused because of concerns over access from Wakefield Road. An appeal was subsequently lodged by the developer and is still active.
However, at Tuesday's planning meeting outline consent was given by officials, which decides on whether the scale and nature of the proposed development is acceptable in principle.
Planning officer Joe Jenkinson said it would go some way to addressing the shortfall of 2,000 homes as part of the council's five year supply plan.
"From a social perspective there is housing need," he said.
He also said officers were satisfied a suitable access junction to the site can be achieved.
A more detailed application will now be made.
The go ahead follows 32 letters of objection, not including more than 60 to the original application and a 500 signature petition.
Before the decision was made, David Hilton, chairman of the Mapplewell and Staincross Greenspace Action Group appealed to planning officials to reject the proposals.
He said: "The only major change to this application is the developers have specified this is 'outline only - all matters reserved', which cleverly takes out all the concerns raised by members previously and in effect removes the previous concerns from the application."
