Petitioners are calling on Bradford Council to refuse to allow a major new supermarket development in Shipley.

Green councillor Kevin Warnes has so far collected about 300 signatures on the petition he is running online and in shops until the end of July.

Bradford Council is currently considering planning applications for superstores at the site of Crossley Evans scrapyard, on Otley Road, and at Airedale Mills.

The petition says: “We, the undersigned, call on Bradford Council to refuse to allow major new supermarket developments in or near to Shipley town centre on the grounds that these will undermine the economic viability of local retailers, increase traffic-related speeding and road congestion, air pollution and noise nuisance and significantly add to the district’s energy use and carbon pollution.”

Coun Warnes said if a supermarket was given the go-ahead, he hoped it would be carbon neutral. He said current plans could contribute 2,000 tonnes of carbon to the environment per year and while he appreciated firms had to make money, he hoped it would not be at the town’s expense.

Shop fitting business Cardinal wants to redevelop its Salts Mill Road site so it can relocate, but Crossley Evans boss Matthew Evans does not want the scrap yard to have to move. He said himself and staff would be signing the petition and he is currently working on an official objection to the store plans for his site, which he leases from Network Rail and DB Schenker Rail (UK).

“The main concern is that employers at our site are at serious risk,” he said.

The company has been in Shipley for more than 100 years.

Coun Warnes said: “We would effectively be swapping a long established business which is involved with waste recovery for a supermarket that will create enormous amounts of waste.”