The Broadway in Bradford is to get 'indoor adventure park'

Late last year the Broadway Shopping Centre announced plans to build an “indoor adventure park” in vacant first floor space above a number of shop units.

The centre would also include indoor football and indoor golf, an inflatables area and a café.

The plans have now been given the go-ahead by Bradford Council.

The application is for unit SU16 – a vacant retail space between jewellery store Pandora and outdoor clothing store Trespass.

This ground floor unit would be the entrance to the adventure centre, with most of the activity space on the first floor – stretching to space above the mall’s HMV store.

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The application was to see if the proposed leisure business could go ahead without the need for planning permission – as there was nothing in the original planning approval for Broadway that would prevent such businesses from opening in the centre.

Planning officers pointed out that an ice-skating rink and bumper car area would usually fall into different planning categories to the other proposed uses.

The proposed layout of the leisure facility (Image: Bradford Council)

But they concluded that these parts of the new development would not be separate businesses – but smaller parts of the overall adventure park.

They added: “These activities would be small scale and would not be taking place as separate uses - It is reasonable to regard the skating rink and bumper cars to be part-and-parcel of the single indoor recreation use, and the Council would be reasonable in regarding that as the ‘planning unit,’ not the numerous individual constituent parts.

“By virtue of the small size and functional dependency of the skating rink and bumper cars- with a single point of admission- these aspects are not standalone independent uses to be considered in isolation.”

The plans had divided opinion among T&A readers.

When they were announced, many welcomed a new leisure use in the city centre, with Carole Ideson saying: “ I think it's a great idea. They need to bring footfall back up and that is how you do it.”

Linton Robinson added: “They need to do this in more city centres.”

However, others were less enthusiastic about the plans, and questioned if Bradford city centre already had too many leisure businesses.

Sabrina Gartland said: “Nothing wrong with the ice rink we already have.”

Ruth Belcher said: “A bit strange in a shopping centre.”

Shirley Ann Brearley said: “Good god no, there will be loads of kids and teenagers hanging around and causing a nuisance.”