HOUSING targets for Leeds should be cut to protect the greenbelt, according to Horsforth and Rawdon councillors.

Dawn Collins and Jonathon Taylor spoke out against development on the greenbelt, including sites in the areas they represent, at a full council meeting earlier this month.

The two councillors criticised Leeds City Council’s housing target, which they say should be cut from more than 70,000 to 42,000.

Councillor Collins accused the Labour administration of ignoring the outcome of the consultation and stressed: “You have not listened to anything anyone opposing your ideas has said so why would we believe that you have included any of the feedback you have received into the changes?”

In his maiden speech, Cllr Taylor accused the administration of not being serious about protecting the greenbelt, by moving sites such as the Strawberry Fields on Rawdon Road, to broad location status.

He said: “Genuinely affordable housing will be built by converting old office buildings and abandoned mills, not by concreting over greenbelt in our towns. The four and five bedroomed executive properties built on greenbelt sites will not make Horsforth and Rawdon more affordable for aspiring homeowners like me, and others like me in my community.”

He added: “A lower, more achievable target of 42,000 would remove greenbelt and crucially greenfield sites from the plan, preserving the integrity of our towns and villages and prevent the irreversible change to our area that has no support in the community.”

The proposed locations of future new housing across Leeds is being discussed at public hearings which began this week at Leeds Civic Hall

The Site Allocations Plan sets out locations identified for possible future housing, as set down by the Core Strategy implemented in 2014 which recommended up to 66,000 new homes between 2012 and 2028.

Leeds City Council asked for the housing element of the plan to be put on hold for further public consultation following a technical review of green belt housing allocations after a new proposed government methodology for calculating future housing figures was announced in September.

In light of potentially lower overall housing targets for Leeds, the public consultation concerned a council recommendation to revise the Site Allocations Plan by offering enhanced protection from housing development for 33 sites in green belt areas of the city. These sites had been identified as being the locations for 6,450 future homes, but the council says they will be retained as greenbelt under its revised recommendations. The 33 green belt sites will not be released for development until the council determines it is necessary.

The Civic Hall hearings will last for about three weeks.

Leeds City Council chair of the development plan panel Councillor Peter Gruen said:”These hearings are an important step in the process of Leeds having a set future housing allocations plan in place and in terms of transparency they are ideal as they are open to all to attend and give everyone the chance to tell the inspectors what they think.”