A PLANNING committee has approved a “Grade A” office development next to City Park, despite one Councillor raising concerns that it could become “ a very beautiful white elephant.”

The One City Park development will be built on former Tyrls Police station site, and work is due to start in Spring.

Hailed as one of the biggest regeneration schemes planned for the city, the development has been in the pipeline for a number of years. But before work could begin the an application for the five storey office building, which was submitted by Muse Developments, had to go before Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

At a meeting this morning, Councillors were told that the development, would provide flexible, high quality office space - something that the city centre was lacking.

As of last week there had been no objections to the application from members of the public. In the run up to the meeting six people wrote to the Council to object, questioning why new businesses could not move to the numerous derelict office buildings in Bradford, and claiming the office block would spoil City Park.

Millions in funding to kickstart Bradford regeneration projects

Officers had recommended that members approve the application - pointing out that plans for an office development on the site date back to before the Tyrls station was even demolished.

The One City Park plans would include “flexible” work space as well as more traditional office space, and there would be space on the ground floor for retail or leisure use, and the area around the building would be landscaped - including a stepped area leading to City Park.

The scheme, which will be supported by Bradford Council, is expected to cost £35 million. Last year the Government granted £7.5m towards the scheme through its “getting building fund.”

Councillor Paul Sullivan (Cons, Bingley) said due to the Covid pandemic the trend was towards home working. He said: “People are staying at home. If we can get this to work it will be terrific, but I feel it will be a beautiful white elephant.”

Simon Woodhurst, Regeneration Development Manager at the Council, said: “I’ve worked for Bradford Council for 50 years. From day 1 we’ve struggled to attract businesses to locate in Bradford city centre. The trend has been for commercial activity to locate in the Aire Valley or choose other cities.

“Attempts made by the Council to attract investment have been legendary. Businesses love the city, love the architecture, love the location and love the people of Bradford. But as soon as they look at the stock of office space we have in the city they look away.

“We do have some Grade A office space, but even these spaces have been unable to attract these companies.

“One City Park will finally give Bradford a stake in the game. I am absolutely confident that this building will attract occupiers.”

Councillor Doreen Lee (Lab, Keighley East) said: “I think it is fabulous. It is something we’ve been talking about for ages. I disagree that it will be a white elephant - people won’t stay working at home forever.”

Representatives from Muse told the Committee that work on site would start in March and would likely be completed by Spring 2023.

Members voted to approve the plans.

A PLANNING committee has approved a "Grade A" office development next to City Park, despite one Councillor raising concerns that it could become " a very beautiful white elephant."

The One City Park development will be built on former Tyrls Police station site, and work is due to start in Spring.

Hailed as one of the biggest regeneration schemes planned for the city, the development has been in the pipeline for a number of years. But before work could begin the an application for the five storey office building, which was submitted by Muse Developments, had to go before Bradford Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee.

At a meeting yesterday, Councillors were told that the development, would provide flexible, high quality office space - something that the city centre was lacking.

As of last week there had been no objections to the application from members of the public. In the run up to the meeting five people wrote to the Council to object, questioning why new businesses could not move to the numerous derelict office buildings in Bradford, and claiming the office block would spoil City Park.

Officers had recommended that members approve the application - pointing out that plans for an office development on the site date back to before the Tyrls station was even demolished.

Planning permission had been granted for another office building on the site years ago, but that permission had since expired.

The One City Park plans would include "flexible" work space as well as more traditional office space, and there would be space on the ground floor for retail or leisure use, and the area around the building would be landscaped - including a stepped area leading to City Park.

The scheme, which will be supported by Bradford Council, is expected to cost £35 million. Last year the Government granted £7.5m towards the scheme through its "getting building fund."

Officers said the scheme would offer modern office space that was lacking in Bradford - a city where most office space is several decades, or even centuries, old.

Councillor Paul Sullivan (Cons, Bingley) said due to the Covid pandemic the trend was towards home working. He said: "If this goes ahead I'm worried we'd be left with lots of empty office space.

"People are staying at home. If we can get this to work it will be terrific, but I feel it will be a beautiful white elephant."

Simon Woodhurst, Regeneration Development Manager at the Council, said: "I've worked for Bradford Council for 50 years. From day 1 we've struggled to attract businesses to locate in Bradford city centre. The trend has been for commercial activity to locate in the Aire Valley or choose other cities.

"Attempts made by the Council to attract investment have been legendary. Businesses love the city, love the architecture, love the location and love the people of Bradford. But as soon as they look at the stock of office space we have in the city they look away.

"We do have some Grade A office space, but even these spaces have been unable to attract these companies.

"One City Park will finally give Bradford a stake in the game. I am absolutely confident that this building will attract occupiers."

Referring to Cllr Sullivan's comments that office space was becoming redundant as people work from home, he said: "Home working doesn't work for every company, especially creative companies that thrive on people working in teams.

"Covid has pointed out that city centres need people working in them to work. Shops need people, leisure needs people. If you take out office space then city centre's suffer. This type of activity is essential for the future of Bradford city centre."

Councillor Mohammed Shafiq (Lab, Bradford Moor) said; "I'm pleased with this initiative. Let's put Bradford city centre back on the map for attracting businesses."

Councillor Doreen Lee (Lab, Keighley East) said: "I think it is fabulous. It is something we've been talking about for ages. I disagree that it will be a white elephant - people won't stay working at home forever."

Chair of the Committee Councillor David Warburton (Lab Wyke) said people were already returning to offices. He said: "At low Moor station during the pandemic you'd see 10 or 12 cars parked. Now the car park is 90 per cent full. People are coming back into city centres."

Representatives from Muse told the Committee that work on site would start in March and be completed by Spring 2023.

Members voted to approve the plans.

After the meeting a Muse spokesman said the development will create more than 300 jobs throughout construction, with a further 450 jobs based in the new building once complete. 

Simon Dew, development director at Muse Developments said: “As specialists in place-changing regeneration, we’ve really embedded ourselves in Bradford and worked closely with the council, local stakeholders and the wider business community over the last 18 months to make sure that One City Park will be a landmark development for the city, and act as a catalyst for further investment, growth and opportunity. There’s no doubt that the pandemic has changed the way we work, and we’ve taken this into consideration by designing a scheme that will accommodate flexible, hybrid working patterns - but is also state-of-the-art, energy efficient and where collaboration and creativity can thrive.”

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: “Getting the green light for this development, on the back of Bradford being longlisted for UK City of Culture 2025, is another step in our plans for delivering regeneration. We look forward to working with Muse to bring the scheme to completion over the coming months.”