A DEVELOPMENT of houses next to a canal has been refused, with heritage officers claiming the works would be "detrimental to the outstanding universal value" of Saltaire.

Hartley Quality Residential Developments had submitted a planning application to re-develop the derelict and overgrown former garden centre at Hirst Wood, next to the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Their plans would see the derelict buildings demolished and three, 3-bedroom houses built in their place, along with a woodland trail.

Homes planned for derelict canalside site on the edge of Saltaire

But the plans have now been refused by Bradford Council. The site is in the "buffer zone" of Saltaire, a World Heritage Site. Heritage officer Jon Ackroyd said: "This scheme is considered to result in harm to the setting of the Saltaire WHS and to adversely affect the outstanding universal value of the site. The proposals would also result in harm to the character of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal conservation area. There is no comparable public benefit evident to offset the level of harm which would arise.

"The increase in the scale and footprint of proposed buildings in this area would start to erode this character and would be detrimental to the outstanding universal value of the WHS."

There had been numerous objections to the plans from local residents, and concerns had also been raised by the Canal and Rivers Trust, Bradford Urban Wildlife Group and the Council's highways department.

The plans were refused for numerous reasons, including inappropriate development in the Green Belt, that the scale of the development was out of keeping with the Leeds-Liverpool Canal Conservation Area, that it would cause an "intensified use" of Hirst Mill Crescent, the impact on local ecology and biodiversity, and the lack of detail over the planned woodland trail.