More than 100 jobs to be created as construction work starts after 16 year wait

The land on Barkerend Road, next to Lidl, had been targeted as a residential and business development in the early noughties.

It would have been part of the Regen2000 scheme, a £28m project to regenerate areas of Leeds Road and Barkerend.

An access road to the development was built, but the project was one of many Bradford regeneration schemes that fell by the wayside – leaving the road leading only to a large, derelict site.

But now the site is finally being developed, with work well underway on a scheme that will include a large restaurant and multiple industrial units.

The project, by Fraz Developments, is expected to create more than 100 jobs, and the developers say the site will help “put Bradford back on the map”.

The site is in the shadow of Barkerend Mills, a derelict, listed Victorian mill building that is part of a separate scheme to develop hundreds of apartments.

The area once part of the wider mill complex, but a large section of the site was cleared over 30 years ago.

Since then it has remained empty, used mainly by fly tippers and attracting, according to the developers “the less desirable elements of society”.

The situation had got so bad that the site had to be fenced off to prevent further fly tipping.

Fraz Developments say the 30,000 square foot development will include “Bradford’s most innovative restaurant,” and the scheme also includes two blocks of industrial units, one block of storage/distribution units, as well as parking for 74 cars, 10 motorbikes and 10 bicycles.

Approving the plans last May, Council officers said: “The development will deliver a scheme as originally envisaged during the Regen2000 period.

“The development will improve the appearance of the site, reduce the incidences of fly-tipping and provide much needed small business units in an area where modern premises are in very short supply, thereby providing employment opportunities for local residents.”

The site is currently one of several building sites in and around the city centre, with construction equipment erecting the frames of the industrial units.

As part of the approval, the developer agreed to pay £26,250 to fund habitat improvements at Boars Well Local Wildlife Site – a condition applied to the scheme due to the potential loss of biodiversity on the Barkerend Road site.