MAJOR plans have been submitted to develop a former water treatment plant on the outskirts of Bradford, creating a business park and homes as well as 800 jobs.

Keyland Developments Ltd has passed the outline plans to Kirklees Council after first indicating it wanted to regenerate the redundant North Bierley waste water treatment works almost two years ago.

The property trading arm of Kelda Group, which also includes Yorkshire Water, had originally thought to turn the site into a 57-acre business and industrial complex with 500,000 sq ft of space for mixed employment and a potential for 1,000 jobs.

But following consultation with local residents in the village of Oakenshaw near Cleckheaton, and working with the council, the firm has now altered its proposals to comprise of 400,000 sq ft of employment space and 100 homes.

The water treatment works, which have been closed since 2010, are close to the M62 and M606 motorways and the new plans have been designed to “maximise the potential of the site and contribute to the long-term economic regeneration of the area”.

The new proposals include a range of unit sizes for businesses after the firm’s research indicated that nearby business parks in South Bradford and North Kirklees are already operating at full capacity.

The housing part of the scheme includes a mix of family and affordable homes. It also includes a new car park for nearby school, Woodlands Primary.

Peter Garrett, managing director of Keyland Developments Ltd, said; “The North Bierley site is one of the most strategically placed and extensive sites within the region and as such, we want to ensure that it is brought back into life and put to its best possible use.

“Having spent several months working closely with the local community and council, we have created a mixed-use scheme which ticks multiple important regeneration criteria of new homes, new business space and new community facilities.

“We hope to support local businesses and the surrounding community through the provision of a well-considered development to make a valued and sustainable contribution to the local economy.”

At a consultation event in October 2014, residents raised strong concerns about the plans for a new business park in their village, saying the local roads would not be able to cope and that it would “kill” Oakenshaw as no one would want to live there.

Residents and parents are gathering outside the school for a protest against the plans on Friday amid concerns about the safety of roads in the village should the business park and extra homes go ahead.

Victoria McCabe, whose five-year-old son Rowan attends Woodlands, said it followed a lorry overturning in the village last week: “We are concerned about road safety if this business park goes ahead - it will mean more lorries driving in and out which will ruin the village.”