City Village, Bradford: 'Flagship regeneration project' will mainly be apartments not houses, councillors told

On Tuesday (Oct 27), Bradford Council’s regeneration and environment scrutiny committee were given an update on the 1,000-home development scheme that will see homes built on sites across the city centre.

Work on the project is now well underway, with buildings off Westgate being demolished to make way for the first phase of 97 homes.

Internal strip out works of the Kirkgate Centre and Oastler Centre have also begun ahead of these buildings being flattened to make way for hundreds more homes, parks and business space.

The scheme is a partnership between numerous bodies, with Bradford Council providing the land and the English Cities Fund acting as the main developer.

The first stage, which will include shared ownership, social rented and affordable homes provided by Incommunities, has been part funded by the Government and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Tuesday’s meeting of the scrutiny committee was the first time councillors have been able to grill officers since the works started.

Adam Brannen, assistant director for regeneration and economy, described City Village as a “flagship regeneration project” for Bradford.

Full planning for the first phase was approved earlier this year, but future phases were only approved in principle – meaning there has been no detail of design or layout.

Asked about when there might be more detail of how the wider scheme might look, Stephanie Hiscott, head of major projects, said: “English Cities Fund is working with potential funders to develop the design for phase two ahead of the submission of a planning application next year.”

Councillor Anna Watson asked if the 97 homes being built at the top Oastler site would be the only affordable housing included in the scheme.

Mrs Hiscott said: “The scheme is already challenging in terms of viability, but the developer is still trying to bring forward affordable housing. But we don’t know what percentage that will be.

“Planning policy says it should be 15 per cent, so the 97 houses would mean we’re not quite there – but we will still push for more affordable housing.”

Coun Debbie Davies referred to the £300m cost of the total scheme, and asked if any more Council funding would be required.

Mr Brannen said the Council was providing the land to the developer, but beyond that the authority was no longer liable for any of the costs or risks.

He said: “All those future costs will be for them to bring together. There might be more grants required, but that won’t come from the Council.”

Coun Davies said: “It is called City Village – I’d think that means houses rather than flats. But looking at the plans, there are 175 flats planned for Kirkgate, the Oastler site looks very high density. What proportion of the development is houses?”

Mrs Hiscott said: “The majority of the remaining 903 houses are intended to be apartments.”

Pointing out that the City Village will be based over three distinct sites, Coun Davies asked what was planned for the spaces between these sites.

Mr Brannen pointed out that the spaces between the sites will remain the city centre, adding: “We hope it stimulates other developers. We’re not trying to re-brand Bradford city centre, but this will bring more attention to the city centre. It will put it out into the wider market and out to investors that are not even looking at Bradford at the moment.”

The ground floor of the apartment buildings will be used as shops, food and drink businesses and other services.

Coun Davies asked if there were any plans for new GP surgeries or schools as part of the City Village.

Mr Brannen said: “The scheme will create space on the ground floor, but developers will have no direct control over bringing in community facilities.

“We are working with partners across the health care sectors, but it is one of the frustrations with regeneration, you don’t always have control of the levers that need pulling.”

He said there were no plans for a new school as part of the City Village, but pointed out that there were numerous schools on the edge of the city centre.

Coun Ibrar Ali questioned whether there was a danger that future schemes might not go ahead.

Mr Brannen said: “The English Cities Fund is probably the foremost developer on this kind of space. They have a strong track record, so we think we’ve got the right partner. But we’re not blindingly optimistic – there will be some challenges along the way.”

Mrs Hiscott said: “ECF are aware of issues we’ve suffered in this city.”