PLANS for a major new development at one of the Bradford district’s biggest tourist attractions have been approved.

Bradford Council has given the green light to Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (K&WVR) to build a 100-seat cafe and a car park extension at Oxenhope station.

Responding to the decision, Roger France, K&WVR’s project manager for the scheme, said: “We’re delighted that we’ve got the planning permission.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to go ahead with this.

“We do believe that it would be a great asset not just for the railway but for Oxenhope and the local area.

“But these things are not cheap and we want something of quality rather than just a run-of-the-mill cafe. We don’t want to go ahead until we can achieve what we’re aiming for.”

Mr France said there were no immediate plans to start building work as the railway must first find the funds necessary to complete the project.

Once built the cafe and its associated kitchen and toilets will take the form of a single storey building on the western side of Oxenhope Station’s existing exhibition shed, facing towards the car park.

A detailed statement accompanying the planning application explains that the 350 square metre property will have a curved, mostly glazed facade.

It adds that being able to provide this kind of facility is an important part of helping to maintain the K&WVR’s status as a major destination for visitors, warning that the attraction’s income is too dependent on passenger fares.

The statement notes: “Analysis of comparable heritage railway attractions elsewhere in the country have indicated that the absence of appropriate catering facilities on the railway to meet visitor demand and tour operator requirements is preventing business growth.

“The need for a high quality catering outlet is of wider importance than just the future development of the Oxenhope Station site.

“It is of key strategic economic benefit to core business, which supports the other heritage assets the railway is responsible for.”

The car park extension, which has also been approved, is destined for land close to the junction of Moorhouse Lane and Mill Lane. It will include 26 new spaces in place of the 17 spaces now occupying the site of the proposed new cafe.

Oxenhope Station was built in 1867 and extended in 1881.

The K&WVR says the new cafe is being located and designed to minimise impact on the older parts of the site.

Its design statement also notes that most of the people who will use the cafe would be passengers on the railway itself, or people who would have access to the existing car park – including coach parties.

The statement comments: “The development is not intended to significantly increase overall peak visitor numbers to the railway, rather to provide better facilities to cater for visitors over a longer season.

“The proposed use should not generate noise additional to the current use of the site, which includes the operation of steam and diesel trains.”