A FILLING station could return to a key site in the heart of Shipley - decades after a similar business closed down.

A planning application to create a new petrol filling station and shop on a former car showroom site has been submitted to Bradford Council.

If the application by Valli Forecourts is approved part of the former Colin Appleyard showroom on Otley Road would be demolished to make way for the new business.

The site had previously been used as a petrol filling station, called the Civic Service Station, before it was a car showroom, but the facility has long since been shut and the underground tanks made safe.

The plans include a 200 square metre shop that would open 24 hours a day as well as a car wash. And the company says it will create up to 30 jobs.

The nearest filling station is in Saltaire.

Empty car showroom in Shipley could become dessert parlour

The Colin Appleyard Suzuki dealership re-located from the Otley Road site to a showroom on Canal Road last summer, leaving the prominent site in the centre of Shipley, and on one of the main roads in through the town, empty.

Applicants Valli Forecourts currently has 15 forecourts across the country, including businesses in Leeds, Guiseley and Birmingham.

The application says: “Valli Forecourts pride themselves on their use of environmental technologies, which on this site will include photovoltaics, voltage optimisation and LED lighting. Grid connected photovoltaic panels are proposed to both the roof of the petrol filling station / retail building and to the top of the pump canopy.”

It adds: “Given that the site has formerly been a petrol filling station and considering its location on the busy link between Otley and Bradford, some miles away from the next nearest petrol filling station, it seems logical that a such a development be reinstated on the site.

“The site is less than 200m away from the large 24hour Shipley Asda supermarket which will limit the amount of customers purchasing goods without fuel.

“We believe that the proposed development meets good design standards that promote safe, secure and accessible streets and places, maintains local identity and respects the Shipley townscape and setting.

“The proposed development aims to bring jobs, amenity and access which will represent a positive contribution to the local area, creating between twenty and thirty new full time and part time employment positions for local people.”

A decision on the application is expected next month.

Highways officers have supported the scheme, saying it “would not have adverse implications for highway safety.”

A neighbouring building, also part of the Colin Appleyard site, could be transformed into an ice cream parlour if a separate application, submitted by Sajid Sadiq, is approved.