A DEBATE over the velocity of balls being hit by batsmen at a village cricket club could delay a major housing development.

In 2021, a planning application to turn Aire Valley House, a vacant office building in Crossflatts, into 139 flats was approved by Bradford Council.

However, the location of the building – next to Crossflatts Cricket Club – led to concerns that future residents of the flats, and their cars, would be at risk of being hit by balls.

Because of this concern, planners imposed a condition that before the development began a 'cricket ball risk assessment' would have to be submitted and approved by the council.

This summer, developer Aire Valley House Ltd submitted its cricket ball assessment.

But Sport England has argued the document is not good enough – and underestimates the power of some of the players’ shots.

The assessment's calculations suggest that a 3m tall fence along a stretch of the club boundary, together with an existing tree line, would be enough to stop balls from landing in the new development.

However Sport England has objected to the report, saying: “The ball strike assessment doesn’t appear to have been undertaken via a specialist qualified consultant.

“It also contains flaws in that cricket shots can be played 360 degrees of the crease, with only shots from the furthest crease being measured in this report.

"The document does quote professional and recreational shot speed, but for clarity only the professional level should be measured, as Crossflatts Cricket Club plays in an ECB Premier League which allows tier 5 professionals.

"The report should be produced via a specialist qualified consultant and be done on the basis of professional cricket."

The developer’s report uses a red line drawn on an aerial photo of the site to show where the proposed fence would be.

But the Sport England response says there is too little information about the planned fence, saying: "Sport England notes that the red edge appears to have been free hand drawn as it contains slight wobbles.

“Sport England does not consider that the information submitted in respect of condition 3 is adequate to discharge the condition.

“As such, residents, visitors and property at the application site could be at risk of both injury and damage from cricket balls.

“This results in a serious health and safety issue if cricket ball strike is not adequately addressed and mitigated.”