Residents and industry experts are being invited to have their say on the locations of seven potential sites for waste management plants in the Bradford district.

Council officers have scoured employment sites to identify the ideal spots for the plants, which are needed to cope with the changing ways waste will be managed over the next 20 years.

A list of 150 sites has now been whittled down to the seven and a series of public consultation sessions started yesterday at Bradford Central Library.

It is not yet known how many sites will be needed, but the seven in the consultation are considered to be the most suitable locations.

Two of the proposed sites are close to residential areas.

One is off Belton Road and Keighley Road, Silsden. It covers two areas within a business park close to the local authority boundary which are used for animal grazing.

A small amount of low-density housing is nearby to a second site, off Neville Road and Lower Lane, Bowling, Bradford. It is on the edge of the city’s industrial and commercial centre and is near an existing waste facility.

Another location on the shortlist is Bradford Council’s Stockbridge Depot, in Royd Ings Avenue, Keighley.

A potential site for development in Ingleby Road, Girlington, is bounded by Bradford Beck. It is vacant, fallow land which has previously been used for waste disposal.

Land could also be released at the Council’s household waste facility in Bowling Back Lane for additional waste facilities.

The other earmarked sites include a vacant site in an industrial area in the north of Bradford at Prince Royd Way and Ingleby Road, Listerhills, and the site of a former glazing warehouse in Ripley Road, Bowling.

These proposals are set out in the Council’s Waste Management Development Plan Document which is aimed at producing a plan which sets out an effective management strategy for all types of waste from household rubbish, industrial and construction, to hazardous clinical waste and agricultural.

The closing date for comments is Friday, April 1. A further round of consultation is expected within the next 12 months when a final draft plan is published. To comment on the proposals, visit a drop-in session or log on to bradford.gov.uk/ldf.

e-mail: ben.barnett@telegraphandargus.co.uk