MULTI-million pound plans for a new “enterprise zone” in Bradford, which was recently highlighted by the government as key regeneration scheme for the region, will go before a planning committee next week.

The £19m scheme to transform a site on Parry Lane by building up to 10 industrial units - creating a total of 25,000 square metres of employment space, has been in the planning stages for years.

It is predicted that the development could bring 500 jobs to the area.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority has provided £8m of funding for the scheme.

And earlier this month the government included the proposals in a list of “shovel ready” projects that it was providing funding for to boost local economies.

First two employment buildings at Gain Lane enterprise zone site approved

Parry Lane and a similar enterprise zone at Langthwaite in Wakefield were given £9.07m to be divided between them.

A planning application for the site, submitted in April, will go before Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee at an online meeting next Thursday morning, where members will be advised to approve the plans.

Originally the plans, for business and industrial units, included a small unit that would be marketed as a cafe or take away, but that part of the application has since been removed.

The application is only an outline one - a much more detailed planning application will have to be approved before the work on the site begins.

The site will include parking for 261 cars and 35 light goods vehicles.

The main access to the site will be from Parry Lane and Sticker Lane, and the scheme includes a major remodelling of the junction at Parry Lane/Lower Lane.

The site has been empty since 2008 when Yorkshire Energy vacated the area. All the buildings on the site were demolished in 2012.

In recent years was identified by the Combined Authority and Bradford Council as one of three sites in the city where a new enterprise zone could be built.

Work started on another of these enterprise zones, at Gain Lane, late last year.

The third is due to be built at Staithgate Lane - although that project is in its early stages.

Members of the Committee will be told that there have been nine objections to the plans. Issues raised by objectors included loss of privacy, an increase in traffic and claims the development will reduce the value of their homes.

One objector said: “This area is already plagued by fly tipping and criminal activity this would only serve to make it much worse.”

A report to the committee points out that the layout of the units on the site will not be determined until the full, more detailed application, known as a reserved matters application, is submitted. It will be vital that units are built an acceptable distance from any neighbouring homes, officers will tell members.

Members will be advised to approve the plans, with the report saying: “The scheme provides a development on an allocated site that raises no concerns with regard to highway safety. Issues of visual and residential amenity will be considered at the Reserved Matter stage.”

One condition if the plans are approved is that 10 per cent of parking spaces on the site have electric vehicle charging points.

Whoever takes on the units will also have to produce a travel plan that includes “incentives to reduce their reliance upon the private car.”