Councils fall out over developing green space into £500m eco park

Lateral Eco Park Hull Ltd was set up last year to develop the 213-acre former Hedon Aerodrome which Hull Council owns, on land between the city and Hedon.

The project would also involve building a biomass power station, as well as a data centre, fish farming and the growing of salad, vegetables and herbs, with the waste carbon dioxide and excess heat from the power station speeding up the growing process.

But East Riding Council wants to preserve it as a “key open area” and are refusing to allocate it for development in the draft local plan, along with a site south of Cottingham, on which Hull Council wants to build around 200 houses.

A public inquiry this summer will decide whether the sites can be developed.

East Riding councillor John Dennis, who represents Hedon, said Hull Council was acting “like Genghis Khan”.

He said: “Local residents don’t want the gap between the city of Hull and the community spoiled with any industry. They will come up against strong opposition if this goes any further.”

However Hull councillors say the project could create 750 much-needed jobs.

Coun Phil Webster said the company, a subsidiary of Lateral Power, which wants to develop five eco parks in the UK and Ireland, would be starting public consultation immediatley an option on the land had been granted.

He said: “People like Coun Dennis are putting the cart before the horse. They need to get away from objecting to everything and anything.

“We are looking at a minimum of 750 jobs which is going to help people in Hedon.”

Former Hull Council leader Colin Inglis who is pushing for a commission to be set up to look at extending the city’s boundaries said East Riding Council had “designated all their own land for development and land we own has to be kept for open space.”

He added: “It is stymying the development of the city.”

Developing land off Priory Road in the green belt between Cottingham and Hull has proved controversial in the past, with the city council having to go to appeal over the building of a cemetery in recent years.

But Coun Inglis said the “sanctity of the green space had already been breached on two occasions, by the cemetery and the police station.”

In a report, East Riding 
Council said they were protecting “strategic gaps” like Hedon to 
preserve the character of 
individual towns and villages, support biodiversity and help reduce the risk of flooding in built-up areas.

A spokesman said: “As part of the process to produce our emerging Local Plan, all potential development sites across the area have been assessed to see if they would be suitable for development and meet our development needs. As a result of this process, no development is proposed on land owned by Hull Council at Cottingham and at Hedon.

“All proposed allocations of land for development will in any case be tested at an Examination in Public in due course. As with any other landowner, Hull City Council would be able to make representations at that stage.”