PLANNING officers have cleared up the ambiguity over what a long empty city centre unit can be used for.

The £3.5million Travelodge Hotel on Valley Road was opened in 2012, and plans for the building included ground floor commercial space and a detached commercial unit as well as 69 bedrooms.

The detached commercial unit, which would have been at the bend where Valley Road meets Mill Street, was never built, and since the hotel opened the 3,000 square foot ground floor unit has remained empty.

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This summer an application was submitted to clear up “ambiguity” of what this ground floor unit can be used for.

The application called for clarification on if the units can be used as planning uses A1 (shops), A2 (Financial and professional services), A3 (restaurants and cafes), A4 (drinking establishments), A5 (hot food takeaways), B1 (Business/offices) or D2 (assembly and leisure).

When the plans were approved these uses were allocated to the proposed detached commercial unit, but it was vague as to whether the same planning permissions applied to the ground floor.

Bradford Council officers have confirmed that the ground floor unit is suitable for any of these uses, adding “there are no restrictive conditions.”