Bradford Metropolitan District Council has given the green light to the construction of the hotly anticipated £150 million New Bolton Woods development.
The ground-breaking scheme, which covers more than 30 hectares of land on the outskirts of the city centre, will deliver 1000 much-needed homes, a new local centre comprising shopping facilities, a primary school and health centre as well as sports facilities and landscaped open space, over the next 10 years.
The first 50 homes have already been delivered and are fully occupied and earlier this year planning consent was granted for a new Aldi food store at the development. Work to deliver the next residential phase, of the new sustainable ‘urban village’, will start as soon as house-builder delivery partners are identified.
The granting of planning permission for the complete New Bolton Woods development is the culmination of three years of extensive urban design work and public consultation carried out by Canal Road Urban Village Ltd (CRUVL), a joint venture partnership created by regeneration specialists Urbo and Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Urbo has worked closely with leading designers Urbed to produce the innovative masterplan for New Bolton Woods, which was highly praised at the planning committee meeting after consent had been granted.
Councillor Susan Hinchliffe commented: “I’m really pleased that the application has gone through. It’s a long term vision for the area which has an accompanying thought-through plan of what infrastructure the area will need in the future as well. We all now have to work hard to deliver that vision so that local people realise the benefits of the regeneration as soon as possible.”
Peter Swallow, a Director of Urbo and CRUVL said: “The granting of planning permission is a major milestone in the delivery of the residential phase of New Bolton Woods. We are now in a position to start talking to housebuilders and identify the right partners to deliver the scheme. We anticipate great demand given the excellent location of the development, its proximity to public transport and the demand for private housing in the area.”
Manchester-based HOW Planning advised throughout, prepared the environmental statement and submitted the planning application on behalf of the regeneration partnership.
Jon Suckley, Partner at HOW Planning, added: “Approval of these plans will enable Urbo Regeneration to bring forward what is a hugely exciting development and a fantastic prospect for Bradford. It will not only provide new housing, community facilities and a new local centre but it will create a thriving new district for the city.”
Plans for the development went to a final public consultation in June 2014 and were met with overwhelming support to provide the investment in new houses, shops and other facilities expected in a thriving place, paving the way for the granting of consent at the November planning committee.
With Bradford's economy forecast to grow to more than £9 billion by 2016, making the district the third largest in Yorkshire and Humber, the New Bolton Woods development will be an important contributor in providing new homes for employees of major companies choosing to invest in the city.