Amazon abandons Yorkshire warehouse plans

By Liza Helps Property Editor Logistics Matters

THE HIGHLY controversial scheme, which saw questions asked in Parliament referring to the veracity of the quality and number of jobs the retailer expected to  provide, has now been abandoned. Amazon will not be appealing decision made by Kirklees Council to refuse planning permission.

Amazon sent an email to the council which said: “At the Kirklees Council Strategic Planning Committee meeting on 15th March 2023, a decision was made by committee members to refuse planning consent to application number 2021/92603.

"The application was for the erection of a storage and distribution unit (use class B8) located at land west of M62, south of Whitehall Road.

“The applicant has decided not to appeal the committee’s decision. As such, Amazon is no longer considering this site as a potential future location.”

The fulfilment centre which was to have been built on farmland in Cleckheaton, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire would have comprised a ground floor plus four mezzanine levels and would have been operational 24/7. An initial 1,5000 jobs were t have been made available rising to 2,400 once fully operational.

Save Our Spen campaigners fought for two years to stop the development and were supported by local MP Kim Leadbeater as well a cross section of local councillors. Councillors went against planning officers recommendations to approve the scheme which had been described as a ‘blot on the landscape’. There were more than 2,000 objections to the development.

The scheme was rejected due to concerns around highways, biodiversity, impact on local amenities and masterplanning.

The site is southwest of Junction 26 of the M62 motorway, about 1.5km northwest of the centre of Cleckheaton.