ONE of Bradford’s biggest stalled developments is a step closer to happening after a planning application was finally granted for the site.

The Citygate development dates back to 2005, and involved plans for hundreds of flats built off Manchester Road.

At one point the £45 million development would have included a 38-storey glass high rise building, which would have been the city’s tallest building.

The ambitious development was seen as a way of regenerating the Manchester Road area, and the Reyner House parade was demolished to make way for the project.

Although planning permission for the development had been granted, the development was beset by delays, and passed between different developers’ hands as the site remained vacant.

However in September 2017 it looked like the development could finally begin, after a company called Manchester Road Development One submitted a detailed application for a section of the site – which includes 554 flats and a shop.

Fifteen months after that application was submitted, it has now been approved by planning officers at Bradford Council.

The approved plans include over 300 one-bed flats, over 200 two-bed flats and 30 three-bed flats spread out over six apartment blocks, with newly created courtyard and green space between the buildings. There would also be parking for 118 cars.

The Telegraph & Argus has contacted Manchester Road Development One for details on when work might start, but has not yet received a response. However, when the plans were submitted the company said they hoped the development would be built within three years of permission being granted.

At the time the company said: ““We are aware of the chequered history the site has had historically but are committed to delivering a scheme that both ourselves and Bradford can be proud of.

“Subject to a positive planning outcome we are in well-developed negotiations with a West Yorkshire-based contractor to deliver the site over a period of three years. We have had some exciting work done on rebranding the project as Centreside which we hope is a name and an ethos that the surrounding area can adopt to identify this area has being part of the heart of this vibrant city.”

One condition of the approval is that the development must begin within two years, otherwise the planning permission will lapse.

The regeneration project was originally announced in 2005, when Bradford Trident held a competition to find a developer. The Citygate scheme was resurrected by the Skelwith Group after the previous developer, Asquith Properties, hit financial difficulties in 2008.

The scheme was given outline planning approval in 2014, but the developer at the time, Bradford Developments (Yorkshire) Ltd, was put into administration, leaving questions over its future.

The site was then sold to Manchester Road Development One in 2017.

Earlier this month Incommunities revealed plans to demolish five high rise apartment buildings a short distance from the Citygate site, replacing them with 63 affordable family homes.