Plans for an electric car charging station in the city centre have been refused over concerns drivers could reverse into pedestrians.
And planners also questioned the thinking behind chopping down trees to make way for the environmentally friendly car charging site.
A parking area with five EV charging points had been proposed for a small area of land next to Wardley House – Bradford’s Ice Skating tower block.
Eight cherry trees have already been chopped down in preparation for the changes.
Submitted by I Farooqi, the plans would see cars access the site off William Street, near the entrance to the Sharp Street car park.
To prevent drivers from dangerously reversing out of the car park, the plans included a turning circle.
The application said this turning circle would allow drivers to exit the small site by re positioning their car and driving back onto William Street facing forward.
But the plans have been refused by Bradford Council after Highways Officers pointed out that this was not likely to work in practice.
They felt many drivers would likely just reverse out of the site – onto a pathway shared with pedestrians.
Officers said: “The proposed parking arrangement does not work and the turning space within the site is unlikely to be used with vehicles finding it easier to just reverse out on a bend and/or over a pedestrian crossing point on a well-used footpath leading from Sharpe Street car park onto Little Horton Lane and the City Centre.
“If approved the current proposal would likely lead to conflicts arising between pedestrian movements and vehicles reversing out from the site raising pedestrian and highway safety concerns.”
The planning application had added: “The provision of five new EVPS in the town centre will encourage more electric vehicle use reducing the use of polluting petrol and diesel vehicles.”
But planning officers questioned the green credentials of the plans, saying “In order to accommodate these proposals, the applicant is seeking to remove eight wild cherry trees; it should be noted that it was observed at a recent visit to the site that the trees have already been removed.
“Notwithstanding this the removal of established trees to accommodate electric vehicle charging points is counterproductive and although EVC’s can be provided elsewhere in the carpark the removal of trees that currently contribute to creating cleaner air quality has been lost and detracts from the street scene.”
