A further 700 new homes are being planned for the 170-acre Skelton Gate site within the Leeds Aire Valley, taking the total number of homes being built to 1,800. Templegate Developments Limited, the joint venture partnership of Evans Property Group and Keyland Developments, has submitted this planning application to Leeds City Council.

The project first received permission in November 2017 for the creation of a new mixed-use sustainable community that included up to 1,100 new homes, a primary and secondary school, public open space, a local centre and a convenience store, as well as associated infrastructure.

Following Leeds City Council’s Full Council approving the adoption of the Aire Valley Leeds Area Action Plan (AVLAAP), land at Skelton Gate was allocated for a further 700 dwellings. “The provision of 1,801 dwellings, rather than 1,100 dwellings, on the site would make a real difference to securing the long-term provision of the necessary physical and social infrastructure to support the development of the site,” said the AVLAAP Final Inspector’s Report.

For example, the more homes in the area, the more people would live there; therefore the provision of a viable bus link to the city centre becomes far more likely to be sustainable in the long run. Additional people living on the site also means the support of education facilities, including a through-school, and a local centre incorporating a retail element, as well as other types of social and green infrastructure.

Moreover, Templegate Developments Limited will be transferring its interests in those parts of Skelton Lake within the site to Leeds City Council, in order for the Council to create a new nature reserve.

“The recent allocations under the AAP and this subsequent application for additional homes at Skelton Gate is the culmination of this collaborative working and will further the major investment proposals by Templegate Developments in this significant regeneration scheme,” concluded James Pitt, development director at Evans Property Group.