Bradford low carbon heat pipe plan approved

The design of the site will be "iconic", councillors were told

Plans to create a £40m low carbon heating network supplying buildings in Bradford city centre have been approved.

An energy plant will be built by 1Energy on vacant land at the junction of Thornton Road and Listerhills Road.

The firm will use air source heat pumps to warm water, which is then run through underground pipes to customers.

Councillors were told it would be the largest scheme of its kind in the UK and had attracted national interest.

The site had been designated for housing, and an application to build hundreds of flats on the site was approved earlier this year.

At a meeting of Bradford Council's Regulatory and Appeals Committee, members were told that if the energy centre was built, plans for a housing development - and a planned filling station and drive through coffee shop that would accompany it - would probably not proceed.

Planning officer Carole Haworth told members the site had long been designated for housing in the council's City Centre Area Action Plan.

The scheme would help reduce carbon emissions generated by city centre public buildings, the council heard

Any non-residential use would have to provide a substantial public benefit for the council to allow the large housing site to be lost.

She said officers felt the energy plant would do this, and argued it was one of the best ways to reduce the carbon footprint of city centre buildings.

She said: "This will dramatically improve air quality.

"Rather than setting up their own greener heating, businesses could plug into this network.

"This will drive developers to Bradford, as they will be able to achieve greater carbon reductions than in cities without a district heat project."

'Blueprint'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), she said the building's appearance, which includes a 30-metre (98ft) flue, would be "iconic".

John Brooks, representing the energy company, said: "There is a lot of interest in the Bradford scheme nationally, it could become the blueprint of how other heat networks operate in the future.

"This system can evolve and grow over time."

A recent report by Bradford Council revealed that the council-run buildings likely to sign up to the heat network include City Hall, Britannia House, Margaret McMillan Tower, Sir Henry Mitchell House, St Georges Hall and the Alhambra Theatre.