A DERELICT ‘health hazard’ piece of land blighted by fly-tipping could be compulsorily purchased by Bradford Council in a last resort to bring the site under control. 

The land, near Draughton Grove in Bankfoot, has been causing misery for years, with the Council forced to clear waste from the site seven times since 2012. 

A report says this has come at a “significant cost” to the authority and the only way to effectively tackle the problem is for it to gain control of the land and secure it against unauthorised access.

Bradford Council said it has even gone to the lengths of using specialist tracing agents to find the registered owners, but “exhaustive and diligent” enquiries have been unsuccessful. 

The report adds: “As there is little or no prospect of the landowners being located, there is no alternative other than to seek to rely on the use of CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) powers as a precautionary measure to acquire the land, although enquiries will continue to be made in the hope that the landowners will be found and are willing to either take remedial steps to ensure that the land can no longer be used for fly-tipping or are prepared to dispose of the land to the Council.

“This land is just one of a number of neglected sites in the immediate area which suffers regular fly-tipping. Neighbourhood Service staff have worked over a number of years with Incommunities, the main landlord in the area - and other local partners to try to reduce fly-tipping. 
“It has been a challenge on this particular site, as it is the only one where no contact with the landowners has been established.

“The Council has been very proactive in the area trying to prevent fly-tipping. This includes regular walkabouts with partners, speaking to local residents about Council waste disposal services and penalties for fly-tipping, community clean ups, door knocks, visits by Council recycling advisers and refuse team etc. 

“However, with a frequent turnover of residents in the area, the change has been negligible.”

The report, due to be discussed by Bradford Council’s decision-making Executive on October 5, says there are fears the situation will worsen the longer the land is left unprotected.

It adds: “The poor condition of this derelict land is creating a health hazard and having a detrimental impact on the surrounding environment and quality of life of local residents.”

It says that a CPO would enable to the Council to work with partners to attract funding to “reclaim” the land.

Possible options include it being leased to a voluntary group to be developed for community use, or for it to be used for housing development. 

“The proposed future use would mean the Council would no longer be called upon to fund the clearance of noxious and hazardous waste dumped on the land,” says the report.

The report says that if the CPO is not authorised, this will “inevitably lead to the condition of the derelict land becoming a worse health hazard and injurious to the welfare and well-being of local residents and the wider community and leaving the Council to use and pay for enforcement powers to clear the land of debris from fly-tipping”.

Councillor Sabiya Khan (Lab, Wibsey) said she and her fellow ward councillors are supportive of the measure and consultations have generated a number of ideas for use of the land.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Portfolio Holder for Healthy People and Places, said: “Sites like this attract antisocial behaviour, fly-tipping and affect local house prices.

“We pursue every avenue to work with landowners of problematic sites, but in this instance we’ve been unable to locate the owner, so as a last resort officers are recommending a compulsory purchase.

“If approved, we will take control of the site and turn it around, so that it can have a positive and useful benefit to the local area.”