COUNCILLORS will decide whether a former pub can be converted into bedsits at a meeting on Thursday.

In July an application to turn the former George and Dragon pub in Great Horton into a "house of multiple occupation" for ten people was submitted to Bradford Council.

The Grade II listed building on Great Horton Road dates back to the early 1800s. It lies within the Great Horton Conservation Area.

Yorkshire Property Surveyors submitted the application, which includes some rather enthusiastic claims about the plans.

It says: "If the original public rooms could be combined to create the central hub of the house, the place of congregation, the meeting place, the beating heart where the occupants can meet, cook, eat and talk, then they can disperse into their own rooms before starting all over again, then the building can enter a new phase of existence, using all of it's unique and historic features and character to create a new, possibly more vibrant, centre of occupancy and residence, retaining it's name, identity and presence in the locality and ensuring that it remains a useful member of that locality.

Retrospective plan to turn pub in city centre conservation area into shop and flats is refused

"The George and Dragon will be re-invented to face a third century of popular and affectionate use."

The plans will be decided by members of the Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee in an online meeting.

Despite 15 people having objected to plans for the Grade II listed building, members will be advised to approve the scheme.

Residents of Great Horton have claimed that bedsits would not be a good use of the prominent building, and that the area was becoming a "ghetto."

One objector said: "This area is fast becoming a slum due to the number of short term let properties. Allowing this development will only serve towards further degeneration of Great Horton."

Another said: "We don't need or want a 10-bedroom house that is going to be lived in by people who could cause trouble."

But planning officers say: "The building is in need of a sustainable use that would ensure its future maintenance rather than it falling into disrepair.

"In principle, there is no objection to the change of use of the building to a HMO, provided that the resulting layout and appearance does not have any adverse impact on residential or visual amenity."