A CARE home closed by Bradford Council would be demolished and replaced with housing, under a scheme lodged with planners.

But one local councillor has said she is “surprised to see” the size of the houses being proposed.

Thackley Grange care home in Booth Royd Drive, Thackley, was one of three Council-run residential homes which was branded outdated and closed in 2011.

It has since been replaced by the new Elm Tree Court development of extra care flats at nearby Ellar Carr Road.

Now a developer, Guiseley-based Masham Homes, has lodged a planning application to pull down the old Thackley Grange building and replace it with 14 two-storey houses.

The homes would be four and five-bedroom detached properties, some with detached garages.

The site already has outline permission for up to 19 homes, secured by landowner Bradford Council in 2014.

According to the Council’s website, the site is under offer but not yet sold.

A document lodged with Masham Homes’ planning application say the developer has “taken on the development and subsequently moved matters forward”.

It says: “Several meetings have taken place to develop the design and schemes have been put forward to the planning department to agree on the appearance and a suitable layout for the development.

“Other related items have been discussed at these meetings to ensure that all the elements of concern from the planning perspective have been incorporated into the design.

“As a result of these discussions and meetings the scheme has been developed in line with the outline approval and has taken on board the subsequent comments of the planning officer in relation to how Bradford Council felt the site should be developed.”

Local councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley), said they had already lost a fight to have the site used as extra parking for nearby Thackley Primary School instead of housing.

Cllr Sunderland queried the size of the homes planned, saying: “I’m surprised to see that, because it is a small site.”

And she said it was essential that the site had enough parking space to accommodate the cars of the 14 households, rather than causing on-street parking on nearby roads.

Ward colleague Councillor Dominic Fear (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) added: “The density of housing we are talking about is not right because of the pressures of the school being nearby and the amount of traffic that generates.

“It’s not the right size of housing for the area. What we need is smaller homes for older people.”

A public consultation on the plans runs until September 5.