THE next stage of one of the biggest developments in the district is due to open next month.

The New Bolton Woods “Urban Village” is a £150 million new development between Shipley and Bradford that will include over 1,100 houses as well as shops, schools and sports facilities.

Next month the first new business at the site, a drive through Costa Coffee on the junction of Canal Road and Stanley Road, will open - marking the next stage of the scheme.

After the opening, construction will start on a neighbouring Aldi supermarket and another 10,000 sq ft shop, which are both due to open in Spring 2020.

The shopping area has been described as being the future “focal point for the community at New Bolton Woods” and could be expanded upon with more shops in the future.

The 30-hectare urban village scheme is a joint venture between Bradford Council and regeneration firm Urbo, under the banner of the Canal Road Urban Village Limited.

It has been in the planning stages since 2012 as a way to provide housing for the district’s growing population.

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As well as the housing, the Council has said: “In order for it to be a place where families will want to live the proposals include the creation of a new Local Centre comprising a medium sized food store, other shops, education, health, sports/leisure facilities and business accommodation within an environment that features high quality public open space.”

The first phase, to provide 50 new houses, 20 of which are social housing, was completed by Skipton Properties in 2014.

The next 145 houses are currently under construction on the slopes off Poplars Park Avenue, overlooking Canal Road, and are due to be completed by 2021. The developer behind that part of scheme is Keepmoat Homes.

The next step will be a development of a further 250 homes off Poplars Park Road, also by Keepmoat, along with an access road that would allow the development of up to up to 700 houses on the old Bolton Woods Quarry Site - plans that were approved last May.

After that, new sports facilities will be built on the King George V Playing Fields, which will be managed by One In A Million Free School.

This stage will also include a “significant” area of public open space.

The Council says the entire development may take up to 15 years to complete, and will also eventually include “further retail, commercial and residential developments” as well as “new health, education, improved sports facilities and quality open spaces” that will make the development more of a stand alone village, and less of a suburb of Bradford.

The scheme has not been without its controversy, with groups like the West Yorkshire Ecological Service raising concerns over how the development would lead to a loss of woodland.

But the Council has maintained it was an essential part of the district’s growth plans - and vital to meet Bradford’s housing targets.

The ambitious development will be discussed by Bradford Council’s Regeneration and Economy Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday evening, when members are presented with a report of current regeneration projects in the Keighley and Shipley constituencies.

The report reveals the New Bolton Woods scheme may also lead to “additional later phases of housing that could mean the ultimate delivery up to 1,000 further new homes in total within the NBW scheme.”

Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe recently hailed New Bolton Woods as being one of the key regeneration projects in the Bradford District, and work on the businesses on site being a positive sign of its progress.

Coun Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: We are very pleased to see the New Bolton Woods scheme progressing so well.

“This exciting scheme will create a new community is playing an important role in providing supporting infrastructure and stimulating business growth and investment in this key part of the city.

“The Council is committed to delivering high quality urban regeneration projects and we prioritise brownfield sites where possible.”

The committee will also discuss projects such and the Shipley/Bradford Corridor improvement scheme, the residential development at Crag Road in Shipley and the future of the former Keighley College site in the centre of Keighley.

The committee meets in City Hall at 5.30pm on Tuesday.