A FORMER water treatment plant on the edge of Bradford is up for sale with planning consent for 400,000 sq ft of industrial and employment space which could create around 800 new jobs.

Keyland Developments Ltd, the property trading arm of Kelda Group and sister company to Yorkshire Water, is marketing the redundant North Bierley waste water treatment works in Oakenshaw.

It is not known how much the firm expects to sell the 57-acre site for.

Keyland won outline planning consent from Kirklees Council in March this year to transform the site, which has been dormant since 2010, into a major commercial development.

The plans will enable 400,000 sq ft of industrial and associated office space to be built by the purchaser, with a ratio of 30 per cent general industrial use and 70 storage and distribution usage.

The firm said it had determined the range of unit sizes in response to continued and severe regional shortages of new industrial accommodation and to support growing businesses locally that cannot be accommodated in the fully-occupied neighbouring business parks in North Kirklees and South Bradford.

The site itself occupies a strategic position at the intersection of the M62 and M606 motorways, and is expected to appeal to industrial occupiers as a result.

Peter Garrett, managing director of Keyland Developments Ltd, said they were "very aware of the strong levels of demand for unlocked land of this nature, with planning permission already in place".

"The regional industrial sector is experiencing shortages across all unit size categories and the North Bierley site is in prime position to attract occupiers seeking industrial and warehousing in a key location in the Yorkshire region.

"We take pride in our ability to bring forward these strategic sites so that they can be regenerated and make a positive impact on the area.

"Creating 800 jobs would be a fantastic result and we look forward to progressing discussions with interested parties.”

Keyland has appointed Leeds-based agents Dove Haigh Phillips (DHP) to market the site.

DHP Partner, Mike Dove said: “The Keyland team are to be congratulated on their proactive approach to planning, land assembly and commercial master planning which have enabled this immediate opportunity. The commercial demographics of this major M62 hub are outstanding.

“The North Bierley site is surrounded by 4 million square feet of industrial estates now at full capacity. These are well populated by successful but frustrated occupiers who are hungry for new generation industrial and logistics employment space.”

Keyland Developments Ltd has been operating across Yorkshire for more than 20 years, regenerating Yorkshire Water’s redundant sites.