PEOPLE can now have their say on a document that will help map out where future development in the Bradford District takes place.

Bradford Council has published its preferred options for the review of its Core Strategy and has launched the next step in its consultation allowing people to have their say on the document.

The finished work will set out where in the district housing and business developments will take place.

It sets a target of 1,703 new homes to be built each year of the 15 year period covered by the plan. That figure is down from an earlier version of the plan, which would have required 2,476 homes a year.

The 234 page document also proposes future policies on transport, leisure and environmental issues.

A review on the document has now started, and over the coming weeks the Council is holding a number of workshops to help people get to grips with the document before they have their say on it.

Under the proposals 81 per cent of new developments will be built on brownfield sites, or non-greenbelt land.

The proposals also focus on wider urban regeneration, and neighbourhood renewal is also laid out in the Core Strategy to include inner city areas of Manningham and Little Horton, Ravenscliffe, Thorpe Edge, Barkerend, Bradford Moor, Thornbury, Laisterdyke, Bierley, Holme Wood, Buttershaw, Woodside, Allerton and Keighley.

Information about the Core Strategy and how people can have their say is on the council’s website here.

The document can also be viewed during opening hours at several libraries - City, Bradford Local Studies, Bingley, Ilkley, Keighley and Shipley. It is also available at Britannia House in Bradford and Keighley Town Hall.

People can email planning.policy@bradford.gov.uk, (include Core Strategy Preferred Options Consultation in the subject) or write to City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Local Plan Team, 4th Floor, Britannia House, Hall Ings, Bradford, BD1 1HX.

There will be a series of public drop-in sessions which will take place at Victoria Hall in Saltaire on Wednesday August 7 from 3.30pm to 7.30pm, The Clarke Foley Centre in Ilkley Wednesday August 14 from 3.30pm to 7.30pm, Central Hall Keighley Wednesday August 21 3.30pm to 7.30pm and in The Broadway shopping centre Wednesday August 28 11am to 2pm.

There will also a series of workshops on specific topics with a panel, presentations and discussions with key partners.

A session on Housing and Infrastructure will be held on Tuesday September 3 from 2pm to 4pm at City Hall, one on Environment on Friday September 6 from 2pm to 4pm at City Hall, a Transport and Movement session on Monday September 16from 2pm to 4pm at City Hall and one on Economy and Jobs on Tuesday September 17 from 2pm to 4pm at Victoria Hall in Keighley.

These events have limited places so people will need to register by emailing planning.policy@bradford.gov.uk

The strategy also sets out planning policy to meet revised housing growth needs that are to be delivered through "maximising brownfield regeneration opportunities" and that allows for a reduced need to release Green Belt land.

Because the number of new homes needed for the people of the Bradford district per year has been reduced, all areas across the district will see a reduction in the housing targets with the exception of the city centre which sees an increase. Over 70 per cent of the new houses that are built over the next 17 years will be in the Bradford city area, 18 per cent within Airedale, 5.6 per cent within the South Pennine towns and villages and 5.4 per cent within Wharfedale.

Over 81 per cent of all new housing development will be within brownfield and non-greenbelt locations and proposals will see a reduction by half in the amount of greenbelt land that could be released for development and the majority of these will be within the Bradford city area. This retains the proposal for development at Holme Wood that would include new housing, employment space, community infrastructure and open space.

The strategy lays out plans for the reduction in air pollution within urban areas, minimising the district’s carbon footprint by investing in walking, cycling and cleaner public transport infrastructure.

There are plans to enhance the green infrastructure in the district ensuring that communities are protected from flood risk through investment in infrastructure including sustainable drainage systems and tree planting.

A new Healthy Places policy also forms part of the Core Strategy, as well as a new policy on bio-diversity which requires developers to ensure that habitats for wildlife are enhanced and left in a better state than they were before development.

The strategy has a stronger focus on managing and improving existing rail, bus, cycle paths and footpaths to help ease congestion, improve air quality and encourage a shift to more sustainable transport, together with supporting the delivery of new park and ride facilities and electric vehicle charging points.

Bradford Council’s Core Strategy will continue to support a significant growth in jobs at 1,600 per year over 17 years.

Initiatives such as the new Business Development Zones offer opportunities offer increases for both the type of business uses and the number of employees at these sites.

A new Homes and Neighbourhood Design Guide has been developed in support of the Core Strategy which has a clear focus on high quality design and healthy places. It includes enhanced accessibility and wheelchair housing standards, minimum space standards and support for the integration of innovative waste collection. This is subject to a separate public consultation.

The Core Strategy encourages and supports developments that meet the needs of the district’s population including meeting older people’s housing needs, self and custom building and specialist housing.

The strategy also lays out requirements for developers to build affordable housing on all major developments of 10 or more homes or sites of over half a hectare, as well as the need for timely infrastructure planning and a phased approach to house building to ensure that the right infrastructure is delivered at the right time.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and transport, said: “We have strong ambitions for Bradford district in the coming years and want to see quality homes built where people need them and significant economic growth to provide the jobs for the future.

“We’ve always said that we have to operate within the national planning policy framework and the revised Core Strategy is in line with the latest methodology the government have put forward.

“However, it also gave us the chance to update some of the policies in the strategy and go further in areas like air quality with greater expectations around walking and cycling and green infrastructure that manages flood risk through investment in things like tree planting.”