A Bradford group is racing ahead with plans to complete a major environment scheme by the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.

Members of the Black Mountain Millennium Green Trust want to transform an area of semi-waste land in built-up Little Horton into a park, complete with an amphitheatre.

The land would contain a sensory garden for people with sight problems and disabilities and there would be wildlife features, pathways and ponds.

Now the trust, set by the community, has taken a step forward by submitting a planning application to Bradford Council for the project.

A decision may be given by officers using delegated powers, rather than sending it to the full planning committee after the elections.

The group has also applied to the council's education department, which owns the land at Haycliffe Lane for a 999-year lease.

The land is the only green site left in the area, which is close to schools. The project has already been allocated £50,000 from the countryside commission and £4,000 from Bass Brewery. The trust is also hoping to get a £39,000 contribution from Bradford Environmental Action Trust. The scheme is expected to cost a total of £125,000.

The group is even looking at the possibility of "talking " features in the sensory garden, where people could press a button on a sculpture and get taped descriptions of wildlife in the area, like butterflies and plants.

Trust co-ordinator Christine MacKay said: "We hope to get it finished for midnight on New Years Eve."

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