Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Shipley LDF

In the 23rd of a series of 27 articles analysing the key study into the availability of land in Bradford, Aire Valley Chief Reporter Marc Meneaud looks in depth at the possibilities for housing sites in Shipley.

Developers need to start building homes on brownfield sites in Shipley to meet a target of 2,000 new houses and kick-start the town's regeneration over the next two decades, a councillor has argued.

Many plans have been put forward - some already agreed by Council planners - to demolish disused waterside mills and regenerate former industrial sites in areas such as Dockfield Road, Salts Mill Road and Otley Road.

Further east, large areas off Leeds Road, Windhill, have also been granted planning permission for homes, but remain areas of wasteland until building starts.

Shipley Councillor Martin Love said more needs to be done to encourage developers to begin building projects to meet the district's housing demands.

A consultation is under way on the Local Development Framework (LDF), a blueprint to shape house building in Bradford District, which states the area needs 45,500 homes by 2028.

Under the LDF, nearly two thirds of all the new homes will be built in Bradford, Shipley and Lower Baildon.

Shipley will become a "vibrant focal point" for regeneration, with much-improved transport links, hi-tech industry and 2,000 new homes, according to the draft plan.

A land assessment, known as the SHLAA, has been carried out by Bradford Council to look at what areas of land may be developed.

It identifies three sites in Dockfield Road and Dock Lane, which could yield about 130 homes, including the former Regent Mill, which has been bulldozed but where homes have not yet been built.

There is also previously developed land in Wrose Brow Road and Wood End Crescent, where developer Keepmoat Homes and a social housing provider are looking to build a housing estate.

Other smaller areas, which would be available for homes, are identified in the SHLAA in Crag Road and around Bradford Beck, in Lower Baildon and in Wycliffe Road.

The study also indicates green belt land in Nab Wood, which could yield nearly 200 homes.

Coun Love (Green, Shipley) said: "There are ideal sites in Shipley which have already been given planning permission. We need to look at areas like those before we look at green fields.

"Every week in the Telegraph & Argus there are people quite rightly complaining about overloading their areas with housing, yet there are lots of sites in Shipley which could be developed.

"What we need is areas of land to be properly phased so that we make sure that brownfield sites are developed first. Then, if we need more homes, we can look again at other sites."

Shipley town centre will benefit from improved trans-port links as a hub between Bradford and Airedale, including a new train station at Manningham.

Coun Love said it was vital that transport improvements were made a priority in the LDF for the road and rail infrastructure to be able to cope with the huge number of proposed new homes.

He said: "We have got to have better and additional peak-time train services and services late at night and early in the morning, to give people the confidence to develop these areas."

THE LONG-TERM LAND STRATEGY

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) is a technical document which will provide a pool of sites from which to select land to be allocated for housing when preparing the Local Development Framework.

The Framework is a blueprint that will manage development and growth across the district over the next 15 years.

Consultation on it's core strategy document, which sets out a long-term spatial vision for the district until 2028, is continuing. It sets out broad locations for development and policies that will influence the use of land and the type and scale of development permitted, as well as identifying key infrastructure requirements.

The overall Local Development Framework is expected to come into effect in 2013 with consultation over specific land allocations taking place during 2012.

Sites included in the current SHLAA may not make it into the land allocations documents and final framework. In addition further potential sites could be identified as the assessment is updated every year.