BRADFORD Council has given permission for six listed buildings to be demolished in Bradford over the past three years.

The figures were given in a Freedom of Information request after the case of Grade II-listed Cherry Tree Farm was highlighted in the Telegraph & Argus in August.

It emerged that Bradford Council had ordered the demolition, saying the 18th century building was in a “perilous” state and had become a risk to children who have been known to frequent the site.

Vandals have previously damaged the former home, which is believed to have been built in 1754, leaving it derelict and hazardous.

The Council said it took the preservation of listed and heritage buildings very seriously, but the safety of children had to come first.

Another of the buildings given permission to be demolished was Lane Close Mills on Bartle Lane in Great Horton, the former Dracup’s Mill, which had been damaged by fire and left vacant for several years.

Plans were approved in April 2016 for the razing of the structures on the site to make way for a school, mosque, community centre, sports facilities, shops and a cafe.

Fire was also the cause for the eventual destruction of Bradford’s Interfaith Education Centre in Listerhills Road. The blaze in December 2009 at the Victorian Grade II-listed school building left it structurally unsafe.

In March Bradford Council granted outline planning permission for it to be torn down and replaced by up to eight homes, after hearing its repair would be unviable.

The fate of 22 Quebec Street behind the Odeon building was similar to Cherry Tree Farm as it was considered in a dangerous condition and was demolished in March.

But the fate of Keighley Station's signal box has a happier ending as at least it is going to be dismantled and re-constructed at a railway museum.

Si Cunningham, of Bradford Civic Society, said: “Listed buildings are of exceptional architectural or historical significance and we’re proud to have a higher proportion in Bradford than many other UK cities.

"Although we would always seek to preserve these buildings, we do recognise that in some very exceptional cases they are beyond repair.

"I think we’re very lucky in Bradford to have an excellent conservation officer at the council, especially when you consider that some local authorities have had that post completely removed."

The six buildings that Bradford Council gave permission to be demolished since 2015 are:

  • Remaining structures at Lane Close Mills, Bartle Lane, Great Horton (16/01881/LBC)
  • Former Interfaith Centre, Listerhills Road, demolition approved at Area Planning Panel (16/05662/LBC)
  • Former mortuary building at St Lukes Hospital, a 1970s building but within the listed complex (17/03255/LBC)
  • Deconstruction of Keighley Railway Station signal box, and reconstruction at Irlam Station heritage site in Lancashire which has not yet implemented (18/04320/LBC)
  • Demolition of 22 Quebec Street BD1 2ER in March 2017 took place in response to a Section 78 Dangerous Structures Notice served by Building Control
  • In July/August 2018 Cherry Tree Farm at Fagley Lane was demolished in response to a Section 78 Dangerous Structures Notice served by Building Control