DEVELOPERS behind plans to demolish a dairy farm and replace it with an innovation centre insist the development will help “Bradford compete in the global economy” as protesters plan a demonstration against it.

Landowner Kingsbridge Directors Pension Scheme (KDP S), submitted the application to change the use of Milner Field Farm, Primrose Lane, Gilstead, Bingley, and create the Bradford Innovation Centre, to include research laboratories and units for start-up businesses.

But descendants of Milner Field Farm’s founders Sir James Roberts and Sir Titus Salt are against the plans. Nick Salt and Jamie Roberts will attend a protest against the development on Saturday, December 3.

Protesters are objecting to the plans as the site is on green belt land and the main access would be over a single track bridge.

Farmer David Downs, whose family has managed the land since 1902, said: “We will be fighting this all the way. We have had an awful lot of support from people. We employ several people and I don’t believe Bingley is the place for a world class innovation centre.”

The revised application includes the partial demolition of the existing dilapidated farm buildings and structures, retention and refurbishment of two blocks of the site and retention and refurbishment of the Milner Field farmhouse.

It also features building new single and two-storey buildings to include incubator cells, research labs and cafe space.

The proposal, which is still to come before Bradford Council, has received 1,184 comments on the authority’s website.

KDPS spokesman David Beal said: “The intention is to create a world class innovation centre that will help the Bradford region to compete in the global economy.

“The application does not affect the green belt status of the site; the entire site would remain zoned as green belt by the Council, even if the application is approved to change the current use of the buildings.

“There will be no change to the visual impact of the buildings on the Milner Field site, and our application maintains the shapes, topography, trees, and views of the current fields.”

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