Amazon warehouse plan for Cleckheaton rejected

Plans to build a huge Amazon warehouse in West Yorkshire have been refused after a public backlash.

The shopping giant wanted to build a distribution site on agricultural land West of the M62 in Scholes, Cleckheaton, creating up to 1,700 jobs.

But a campaign led by the group Save Our Spen raised concerns about the increase in traffic, as well as the impact of light and noise from the warehouse.

Hundreds of people submitted objections to Kirklees Council.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the strategic planning committee heard the planned warehouse described as a "blot on the landscape".

Cleckheaton councillor John Lawson said: "We must have the right application on such a site and this isn't it."

Scholes resident Alison Abbott gave an emotional speech at the meeting and shared fears for the impact pollution created by the site would have on the area. She said: "My home will no longer be my sanctuary due to 24/7 noise and I won't be able to open windows knowing that all that pollution is there."

MP Kim Leadbeater, who joined the meeting online, said she could list "more than 100 reasons" why the proposal was wrong for the people of Batley and Spen, Scholes and for Kirklees.

The plans were rejected after four of the committee's members voted against them.

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