WORK to create a nine-acre employment site in Bradford will also see works to boost biodiversity on a neighbouring site.
The Parry Lane Enterprise Zone is expected to bring hundreds of jobs to the area once business have moved on site.
And to offset the loss of biodiversity on the site the development has caused, environmental improvements are being made to a nearby plot of land.
When complete, this site will be used as an example of how sites can be developed without harming an area’s biodiversity.
The Parry Lane Enterprise Zone has been in the pipeline for years,and is part of a West Yorkshire-wide scheme where public money is used to make long empty sites suitable for new business.
The land, the former Yorkshire Electricity Board depot, has been one of the biggest brownfield sites in Bradford, but difficulty in working the site has put off developers.
Work on multi-million pound employment site to begin with new Greggs car park
In 2020 West Yorkshire Combined Authority announced it would be spending £6.9 million to make the site more attractive for developers by remediating the land, £5m of which will come from the Government’s getting building fund. Private investment would make up the rest of the £19m development.
Work on remediating the site is almost complete, and it is now being marketed for sale.
Bradford Council says despite the impact of coronavirus lockdowns leading to sub-contractor and material shortages, the work has been completed on time and within budget by the contractor, Balfour Beatty.
The project is the first in the district to deliver off-site environmental improvements which will be required under the latest Environment Act.
Planting trees, shrubs and wildflowers on a site at Douglas Road will offset the loss of biodiversity within the development site.
The green additions will improve the currently unmanaged area of land, provide a better environment for local residents, improve air quality, help reduce potential for flooding, muffle noise pollution and soak up carbon to reverse climate change.
The Council will use Douglas Road as a demonstration project to show developers how to follow new legal requirements to improve the environment in new developments.
Councillor Alex Ross Shaw, Executive for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “The Parry Lane Enterprise Zone will provide much needed space for firms to invest and expand, and will boost local job opportunities.
“This is a great example of how brownfield sites can be redeveloped in a green and sustainable way, unleashing the potential of land which has remained vacant for many years.”
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