Plans for housing at old quarry waste site a step closer?

D Noble Ltd is seeking permission to remediate the old industrial waste tip at Jackson’s Quarry in Knottingley and prepare the land for the construction of 165 new homes.It comes 12 years after proposals for the houses were first drafted.

A spokesman for the company said: "We hope to develop the site to improve from its current vacant look, with a modern range of properties to meet the local demand for new build homes for all ages groups. It may be a long process but we will endeavour to keep the local residents updated to the process once we proceed to a full planning application."

The Womersley Road quarry, which used to be an industrial tip for construction waste, limeworks and glassworks, was abandoned in 1993-1994.

It has been identified as a potential housing site in Wakefield Council’s Local Development Plan.

In 2006, the Woodford Group Ltd submitted plans for remediation work and 165 houses there.

Despite attracting more than 20 objections, including traffic and congestion concerns, the proposals were approved in 2009 and were later renewed in 2013.

A planning report from 2013 said the old quarry was land-filled with domestic, commercial and industrial waste in the 1960s and 1970s.

The quarry, described in D Noble Ltd’s planning documents as a “bare parcel of scrubland” with patches of exposed waste and broken glass, still sits undeveloped.

Last July, The Express reported that Noble Homes was carrying out investigation works at the site.

But the company was told to cease digging up the land over fears of a potential health risk.

Wakefield Council confirmed it had taken ‘precautionary’ action after receiving complaints and that the company had agreed to cover the area it had disturbed with uncontaminated soil.