COUNCIL bosses have agreed that most of a playing field can be retained as green space.

But part of the site, in Silsden, will still be sold to build up to half a dozen homes.

Originally it was intended that the whole area of land, a former school field off Elliott Street, should be sold to developers to help fund the new Silsden Primary School which opened earlier this year.

However the plan led to a huge number of objections – with over 1,600 people signing a petition calling for the field to be kept as a public leisure site.

Until recently, Bradford Council had remained adamant that the site needed to be sold – but last month the authority revealed a change of heart.

A report which went before the council’s executive last week said a study had found that Silsden was lacking public green space.

It added that since Silsden's two former school buildings had been put on the market, offers received were higher than expected – meaning the sale of the entire field was no longer necessary to fund the new school.

The executive voted to keep much of the field, behind The Hive, and sell only a section for housing.

Craven-ward Green councillor Caroline Whitaker said the council should listen to petitioners and keep the entire site as a public space, adding that the amount of housing planned for the town meant protected green areas were more important than ever.

Jill Cook, from The Hive, said: “We’re working with the council to bring more recreation activities to The Hive, and this will have a major benefit for the community.”

Conservative Craven-ward councillor Peter Clarke said he was “baffled” by council claims that selling part of the site would provide “much needed” housing for Silsden.

He said: “Overdevelopment is turning this once-lovely town into something resembling a small city.”

Cllr Clarke also called for any building on the field to be scrapped, saying the report was not clear about how much of the field would be sold for housing.

Alistair Russell, investment acquisitions and disposals manager with Bradford Council, said the entire site could accommodate 25 houses. The council was planning to sell space for around five.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw – executive member for regeneration, planning and transport – said: "Despite Cllr Clarke’s description of Silsden as a ‘once lovely’ town, I’d say it is still lovely."