Council regeneration chiefs are set to sign an agreement with a private company to create a £500 million development of homes, businesses and leisure between Bradford and Shipley.

The Council is looking to start the venture with Urbo Regeneration Ltd to develop a 100-acre triangle of land off Canal Road, including a canalside development at Bolton Woods.

It would form the Centre Section of the Canal Road Corridor project, which has been earmarked as one of Bradford’s four main “priority” areas for regeneration over the next 15 to 20 years.

Urbo Regeneration has been working with Council regeneration chiefs for five years on options to unlock that section of the canal corridor as an area for people to live and work.

Sheffield-based family-owned company Arnold Laver, which is a majority shareholder in Urbo and owns a timber factory in Canal Road, has agreed with the Council to re-locate to an as yet undisclosed site in the district.

Now, the Council proposes to take a 19 per cent equity stake in a limited company set up with Urbo and appoint a member to its board, meaning the authority will have a say in how the centre section of the Canal Road corridor regeneration project will be developed.

The so-called Joint Venture Partnership (JVP) is expected to attract private funding and give the Council a “key decision making” role without having to spend huge amounts of taxpayers’ money on the multi-million pound project.

If successful, the Council is expected to enter into similar agreements with other businesses with interests in the Canal Road area.

Due to the fragile state of the economy it is not expected to start construction on the project for three to five years, but the Council’s executive, chaired by Council leader Kris Hopkins, will decide whether to press ahead with the JVP with Urbo at a meeting at City Hall next Tuesday.

A report to the executive reads: “Development funding is to be secured by Urbo, with them also providing project management skills… to develop the project, act as lead developer and project manager for the regeneration of the Centre Section.”

A shareholders’ agreement is expected to be drawn up by next month and senior Council officers are also seeking approval from the executive to draw up a business case and a business plan for the JVP.

Peter Swallow, a director of Urbo Regeneration, said the company had been working with the Council to create a “comprehensive” re-development plan for the central section of the project.

He said: “Urbo is delighted to be assisting the Council with the exciting re-development proposals. However, it will be some time before it is in a position to announce detailed plans.”

The Council’s regeneration development manager, Simon Woodhurst, said: “The Canal Road Corridor scheme is a 15 to 20-year comprehensive regeneration proposal that is still at the early planning stage and with a lot of work to be carried out before anything is decided, finalised or delivered on the ground.”

“Investigations, potentially including major transport and canal restoration infrastructure, have produced broad estimates in the region of £186 million.”