A century old building in a Bradford conservation area can be converted into a restaurant after new plans were approved.
The building stands at the junction of Grattan Road and Thornton Road, on the edge of Bradford city centre and one of the main routes into the city.
Until recently the ground floor was used as a car valeting business, but this summer an application to convert this ground floor space into a food business was submitted to Bradford Council by Ebrar Khan.
The plans have now been approved after the applicants confirmed the business would be an 80-seat restaurant and not a takeaway.
The building is in the Goitside Conservation Area, the original industrial heart of Bradford, but is not listed.
As well as the change of use, the approved application also allows for a new glazed frontage, more glazing on the side of the building and two doors to rear.
Two people had objected to the plans, raising concerns about traffic and questioning whether the development would comply with the Council’s takeaway planning policy.
Referring to the traffic concerns, planning officers said: “While the new use would be considered likely to generate higher highways demand than the previous use, it would not be so significant as to warrant severe harm to highways safety.
“It is also noted the site is situated in very close proximity to Bradford City Centre, and so is considered a sustainable urban location with access to numerous forms of public transport. In this sense the retained lack of vehicle parking is considered acceptable.”
Referring to the question over whether the business would be a takeaway or restaurant, officers said: “Following clarification the proposed use would be for a restaurant use and not a hot food takeaway.
“Two objections said the proposal would not comply with the Hot Food Takeaway supplementary planning document. However given that the proposed land use would be a restaurant and not a takeaway, the requirements of the Hot Food Takeaway SPD are not directly relevant.”
This area of Bradford is currently undergoing some major changes. Work is underway on a nearby site on Thornton Road to build a low carbon energy centre and a Starbucks drive thru, with plans for a second drive thru and a data centre on the same site due to be decided by Bradford Council before the end of the year.
And work is well underway on the construction of a new church, Sunbridge Road Mission, on another nearby site.
