A plan to build 37 new houses on the site of a former Burley-in-Wharfedale mental health unit is recommended for approval, subject to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government deciding he does not want to call in the application.

Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee will today study the scheme for the former Moor Lane Centre. The application is a departure from the current Revised Unitary Development Plan for the Bradford District, as the site is within the green belt.

Dozens of residents objected to the scheme, and Burley Parish Council recommended refusal. Objections ranged from concerns about parking and road safety, to the loss privacy for neighbours, design of the homes, access route, pressure on schools and local infrastructure.

But planners have recommended the committee gives delegated authority to the Council’s assistant director of planning, transportation and highways to grant planning permission, if the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, does not wish to determine the application himself.

A report to the committee said there were very special circumstances to justify the development.

The committee will meet at City Hall, Bradford, at 10am.