PROPOSED alterations to a planned riverside apartment building have been refused – as planning permission for the huge development has expired.

An application for the major redevelopment of the former Butterfield Industrial Estate off Otley Road in Baildon was approved by Bradford Council in 2007.

Plans were for a six-storey building containing 120 flats built next to the River Aire, along with a commercial development and convenience store.

Although the convenience store was built – a Tesco Express, followed by a BMW garage and then housing in 2015, there was never any progress on the apartment building.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: An aerial view of the siteAn aerial view of the site (Image: newsquest)

This Summer Baila Developments Ltd submitted an application to alter conditions of the approved plans – saying the amendments would allow the work to finally progress.

The original plans were approved in 2007, a time when Bradford Council was Conservative-run.

Officers said the development would “contribute to the regeneration of the area and bring significant environmental improvements.”

One condition of the approval was that the development needed to begin within three years of the plans being approved.

Refusing the changes to the approved plans, officers said: “Whilst the proposed changes to the elevations are considered to be minor, it is considered that the original planning permission has not been implemented in its approved form. The permission granted (in 2007) is considered to be expired - i.e. not an extant planning permission.”