Bradford: Major developer reveals plans to demolish car dealership
A major developer has revealed plans to demolish a vacant car dealership to allow for a two-phase redevelopment of the prominent site.
A notice seeking permission to demolish the former Mercedes Benz dealership on Thornton Road has recently been submitted to Bradford Council.
The applicants are EG on the Move – a company that operates filling stations, convenience stores and fast food businesses across the country.
The application says the cleared site will be re-developed in two phases, with detailed planning applications to follow in the coming weeks.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has asked the company for details of their plans for the site, which is near Whetley Mills – but has yet to receive a response.
The site has been vacant since late 2024, when the car dealership closed. It is on one of the main routes into and out of Bradford city centre.
The application says the building will be “demolished to facilitate redevelopment of the site that will be subject to further applications for planning permission.
“The site will be split into Phase 1 and Phase 2.
“Phase 1 will take access from Brownroyd Street and will be subject to an application in the near future.
“Phase 2 will be brought forward when development is agreed.”
Elaborating on the two-stage development, the application adds: “Phase 2 is not yet confirmed however as we cannot demolish half of the building we propose to have the land levelled, made safe and fenced off in secure fencing and a further application will be submitted for the second phase once agreed.”
If the demolition works are approved, the works would start in June and be completed by early July.
A decision on the demolition application is expected early next month.
The dealership closed in 2024 having served Bradford for over 70 years.
When it first opened it was the first dealer and distributor for all Mercedes in the North of England and was the oldest in the UK before it shut.
The original site, which operated as Charles Sidney was opened on Westgate, Bradford, in 1953, and stood for 10 years before it was destroyed by fire.
The site then moved to where it is today on Thornton Road, but in 1963 it was a mill site.
Raymond Scatchard converted the mill section of Bradford Dyers Association Mills into a large workshop.
This was opened by the famous Mercedes race manager Alfred Neubauer, noted as one of the key figures in the success of Mercedes-Benz.