BRADFORD Chamber of Commerce and Bradford Council are to work closer together in a bid to tackle the problem of land shortage across the district.

It follows the Chamber's report on the shortage of development sites for commercial use and how this could impact on Bradford's economic growth strategy, which was published in March.

A meeting of the Bradford Property Forum, a networking and lobby group for businesses in the property and development sector, heard how future economic growth in the district will be jeopardised if more land is not made available for development.

According to the Chamber, there is around 50 per cent less land available for employment use in Bradford than there was just five years ago, with the Council currently part-way through its planning process to identify appropriate sites.

The Chamber's 'Creating Space for Future Success' report says: "A growing number of businesses or their representatives, such as property agents,

are saying that there is a shortage of suitable employment land being made available in the Bradford district.

"While this issue, due in part to the topography of Bradford, may have been around for quite some time, the consequences for future

economic growth in the district could be quite significant."

It also says that much of the existing industrial land is "not of an appropriate standard" and has poor connectivity to the main highway network.

The report highlights "increasing competition" from neighbouring authorities, which have continued to identify and allocate new employment sites for current and future business needs.

"Experiences by some local businesses indicate that they are struggling to find suitable alternative premises, but want to remain in the city close to their skilled workforce," the report says.

"Simply, we need to ensure that there is a supply of good quality, well-located sites capable of meeting the needs of the manufacturing and logistics sectors.

"This is not to say we should ignore the potential requirement for new city centre office space as this is vital to ensuring the viability of the city centre."

In putting the spotlight on one case study, described as a "long-established, internationally owned, timber product company", the report says it had outgrown its existing premises and was looking at its options.

It was based close to Bradford's boundary and was looking at the whole of West Yorkshire, with a preference for Bradford or Kirklees.

The report says: "One existing building was identified in Bradford, but quickly dismissed due to it being poor loading access and in need of substantial capital investment.

"Despite the potential for a company of substantial size coming into the district, bringing high numbers of jobs and significant income via business rates payments, Bradford had to be dismissed as an option due to the lack of any viable options. The company eventually relocated to a site in Kirklees."

The report concludes that updating the 2011 Employment Land Review is now a "key task" and allocating land for commercial and industrial use is essential in helping to deliver economic success.

Further meetings are due to take place between the Council and the Chamber of Commerce to look at options for resolving the issues raised at the meeting and in the report.