A RIDING school threatened with closure under a major home-building plan has managed to secure its future.

Throstle Nest Riding School had been in jeopardy because of plans to build up to 600 homes on a large swathe of Fagley, which includes their base.

The proposals sparked a huge public outcry, with riders and supporters of the school and its Riding for the Disabled Group staging a high-profile horseback demonstration outside City Hall last year.

But now the school has struck a deal with its landlords, the Marshall family, meaning it will be moved to a new site if the proposals get planning permission.

Jeanette Wheeler, proprietor of the riding school, said: "The landlord's agreed to pay to move the arena and equipment, if and when they get planning permission.

"This is the third time we have fought this over the years, so when they came up with an arrangement for us we decided that's the way forward.

"You do get to a point where you think it is going to be inevitable."

Mrs Wheeler said the school had already found a potential new site in Wilsden, although under the arrangement it would get at least another two years in Fagley.

She said: "It's still Bradford, obviously it's the other side but when we looked around this area there wasn't anything that was available."

And she said that because of the arrangement, the school was now backing the housing scheme.

Sarah Hamilton, fundraiser for the Riding for the Disabled Group, said: "It's not ideal, we would much rather stay there, but it is much better to go in a structured way and be in slight control of it."

Under the outline proposals, up to 600 homes would be built on the old Fagley Quarry and a nearby area of land designated as urban greenspace.

The application is a joint project between the Marshalls and Bradford Council, which owns an area of the proposed development.

The plans are recommended for approval at a meeting of Bradford Council's regulatory and appeals committee tomorrow.

A report drawn up by officers says: "This site is a very sustainable site and will provide up to 600 dwellings that would go a long way to making up the shortfall in the housing supply."

A total of £1 million would be offered for local infrastructure, such as school places or road improvements.