Highfield Middle School could be demolished to make way for social housing.

Manningham Housing Assoc-iation has applied for planning permission to build 17 family houses on the site off Drewry Road.

The school is due to close next summer as part of Bradford council's extensive schools reorganisation pro-cess.

The news was revealed as the association held a meeting with Asian community leaders in Keighley to outline its present and future plans for the town.

The association specialises in building houses across the Bradford district to offer to large families at affordable rents.

It transformed the former Spencer Street swimming baths into a housing complex and built developments in Spring Bank and off Fell Lane.

The association is currently building 24 houses off Aire-worth Road at Stockbridge, and 26 houses off Parkwood Street in Thwaites.

Work is due to begin next summer on a five-home development beside Victoria Road.

Rupert Pometsey, Manning-ham Housing's technical services manager, this week told the Keighley News there were no firm plans to build on the Highfield School site.

The association applies for permission first before seeking funding to buy and develop suitable sites in areas of housing need.

Mr Pometsey says: "We are being proactive because it's an area where we know there's a demand. We're always on the lookout for areas to develop."

Other areas in Keighley being investigated by Mr Pometsey include the former garage on Arctic Street at Beechcliffe.

Mr Pometsey came to Keighley with colleagues on Tuesday to talk with community leaders and potential tenants of the three current housing schemes.

He says: "It's important to contact the community. We want to make residents aware, and listen to people's views.

"We very much want to work with the community. We spend public money and take our cue from the community."

The seminar was the third to be arranged by Keighley Race Equality Council to let Manningham Housing inform local people of its work.

Race Equality officer Zafar Ali says: "These are key people involved in the community. They'll probably go back and spread the news."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.