Retailer awaits decision on plan to create larger store

Debenhams wants additional floorspace in the city centre’s proposed Westfield shopping development at Forster Square.

Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee will consider an application from Westfield Shoppingtowns Ltd to vary planning permission by increasing the height of part of the building so the retailer can have more floor space.

A report to be considered by the committee on Thursday says: “The additional floorspace results in the plant area being relocated, with screening, and a number of relatively minor changes to the elevations.

“The alterations to the proposed building would reflect the design of the previously approved development and would have no adverse effect on the surrounding conservation areas or listed buildings.”

Councillors will be advised to approve the application subject to a number of conditions, including one which states that the phase one development, which is covered by the planning permission, must be started not later than the expiration of three years from the date of the original permission, 20 October 2011.

The additional retail area extends over an area that was allocated for car parking and supporting infrastructure for tenants.

If councillors back the revisions to the original plans, the floorspace would be increased by 1,643 sq m and the scheme would lose approximately 40 car parking spaces.

The report notes that it would retain around 1,300 spaces over five levels.

Shoppers and businesses in Bradford have been waiting for years for the shopping centre on the site partly surrounded by hoardings and partly covered by a temporary Bradford Urban Garden in the heart of the city centre.

It is more than seven years since the former Broadway development was razed to make way for a new shopping centre which it was hoped would breathe new life into the city.

A letter in the report notes that the shopping centre is now five years overdue “with consequent adverse effect on Bradford’s retail economy.”