Bradford Council set to push ahead with £500m regeneration vision between Shipley and Bradford

Published Date: Monday 27th September 2010 Bradford Telegraph and Argus

Bradford Council is set to press ahead with ambitious regeneration plans by setting up a public-private company to develop a £500 million ‘eco-settlement’.

The Council’s Executive will be asked to agree to the formation of a Joint Venture Company (JVCo) to develop a huge area of land between Bradford and Shipley.

The project will be the central section of a wider scheme along the Canal Road Corridor.

Detailed plans for the first homes are scheduled to be completed by the start of 2012 and development should begin before 2013. A business plan will go before the Executive which sets out the terms of the joint venture between Bradford Council and development firm Urbo Regeneration Ltd.

Councillor David Green, portfolio holder for regeneration and economy, said this was the first step to transform the 100-acre swathe of brown-field land into a development of “high-quality” homes. “I am sure that there is real commitment to delivering this,” he said. “It is the vehicle that will allow us to work with the private sector in getting the development off the ground.”

Under the proposals, the Council will transfer a package of land, valued at £3.7m, into the JVCo.

That includes Frizinghall allotments, sites near Poplar Crescent, Gaisby Lane, Powell Road, Stanley Road and Queens Road, and other Council-owned brown-field areas around Canal Road.

The Council may use Compulsory Purchase Orders to buy more land for the development, if necessary.

Urbo Regeneration will attract investment from private developers to build on the site. Builders’ merchants Arnold Laver – a principal shareholder in Chesterfield-based Urbo – will have its Canal Road base relocated elsewhere in the district.

Coun Green is expected to act as the Council’s representative on the board of the JVCo, giving the authority a say on its major decisions.

The Council will not be expected to invest any taxpayers’ money into the scheme without being reimbursed by the JVCo, according to the proposed plan. Any profits made will be spent on public works for the future developments The Executive will be asked to approve the business case and endorse the JVCo until 2013 when it meets on Friday. Members will also be asked to approve Coun Green’s appointment to the JVCo board.

Coun Green said: “The joint venture puts in place the structures that make it easier to attract investment because all the interested parties in the area will be involved in one company.”

A report to the meeting says the Canal Road Corridor is one of four areas in the Leeds City Region partnership earmarked for urban ‘eco-settlements’.

It states: “The Council’s aspiration is to transform the Canal Road Corridor area into a ‘great place’ made up of a series of high-quality sustainable neighbourhoods where local people will want to live and work.”