Planning

All decisions on planning matters are made by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) Wakefield MDC.

If you wish to make a comment about any current application, please do so online at www.wakefield.gov.uk/planning or write to Planning Services, Wakefield One, PO Box 700, Burton Street, Wakefield, WF1 2EB.

As a statutory consultee Ackworth Parish Council works to reflect the priorities and values shared by the community in influencing planning decisions to benefit the community. Ackworth Parish Council has no direct power to approve or refuse planning applications. The Parish Council are able to object to applications and ask questions of the LPA.

All planning matters are presented to the Parish Council at its monthly meeting and disclosed to the public, and any agreed action will be followed up.

Government planning regulations required Local Authorities to identify Local Service Centres. The Regional Spatial Strategy defines Local Service Centres as "towns and villages that provide services that meet the needs of, and are accessible to people living in surrounding rural areas." Ackworth Moor Top matched this description and so was designated a Local Service Centre in the 2007 Local Development Framework. This designation is to meet the requirement of government planning guidelines. Ackworth is still a village.

At its meeting in February 2023, the Parish Council approved the following proposal:

"Ackworth Parish Council is opposed to any plans to build houses on greenbelt land and to any plans to build a road that encroaches on Hessle and on Brackenhill Common. We are opposed to any local development that will result in a significant increase in traffic movement through Ackworth"

Tree Felling

Ackworth Parish Council will object to tree felling in the parish unless the tree is dead, dying or in a dangerous condition and will resist any inappropriate development in green belt.

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment, or SHLAA, was introduced as part of the National Planning Policy Framework and each Local Planning Authority is required to create one, it is a study which provides an overview of the potential residential or employment-related development sites within each authority boundary.

A SHLAA is a study of sites which have the potential of accommodating residential development. The SHLAA informs plan-making by the local authority (Wakefield Council in our content) by doing three things:

It identifies sites that have the potential for new housing
It assesses how many homes they may accommodate
It estimates when these sites, if suitable, are likely to be developed

‍Important - the assessment does not in itself determine if a site should be allocated for development, but it does provide information on the range of sites which are available to meet the local authority’s requirements.

Details of the Wakefield SHLAA are available here - https://www.wakefield.gov.uk/planning/planning-policy/information-and-monitoring/strategic-housing-land-availability-assessment

The SHLAA map centred on Ackworth can be seen here - https://map.wakefield.gov.uk/connect/analyst/mobile/#/main?mapcfg=SHLAA&x=444837&y=417042 – you may need to zoom out to see the whole of the village on one screen. Clicking within the boundary of each area indicated by the blue or pink outlines will show details of that potential development site.

Details of planning applications for Ackworth can be found month by month on this link - https://planning.wakefield.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=monthlyList – just select “Ackworth” from the drop down list of options for the Parish box, and the month you are interested in.

Planning Consultation 2020

Click here for more details.