Plan to build flats in Yorkshire city approved 16 years ago could finally go ahead

In 2007 Bradford Council granted planning permission for the major redevelopment of the former Butterfield Industrial Estate off Otley Road in Baildon. The plans would see a six-storey building containing 120 flats built next to the River Aire, along with a commercial development and convenience store.

The convenience store was built – a Tesco Express, followed by a BMW garage and then housing in 2015. After little movement on the site for years, an application has now been submitted to Bradford Council to revive the apartments plan.

Submitted by Baila Developments Ltd, the application is for slight amendments to the flats side of the development – amendments the developer says will allow the work to finally progress. The application says the flats will be the “final piece of the jigsaw” for the site’s development.

Many of the changes to the plans approved in 2007 are minor, and the application says they are to improve the viability of the project as well as meeting building standards that have changed in the 16 years since the work was first approved.

The original scheme was submitted by Newmason Properties, the developer behind the regeneration of Victoria Mills in Shipley. It was touted as a major investment in the Baildon area, and a way to make the most of a brownfield site. The 120-flat apartment building included a car park for 134 vehicles.

The new application says the changes “meet the objective of creating a residential building which meets the strict criteria of design standards and ensures financial viability, with the added advantage of developing a brown field site”.

It adds: “These revisions are driven by the overall viability of the project and the important requirement to meet current regulations. The revisions will not unduly affect the visual appearance, or massing and articulation of the project as a whole.”

A decision on the new application is expected later this month.

When the plans were approved in 2007, a time when Bradford Council was Conservative run, with Kris Hopkins as its leader, officers said the development would “contribute to the regeneration of the area and bring significant environmental improvements”. Officers did not raise any flooding concerns about the riverside development – pointing out that the new developments had a smaller footprint than the industrial estate it was replacing.