Holes mean work has begun on Bradford flats - planners say

Bradford Council planners agreed the excavations meant that work had started on the development

A pair of holes in the ground is sufficient evidence that development work has begun on a 72-flat apartment block, planners have said.

In 2020, Bradford Council approved plans for the seven-storey building on Sunbridge Road. as long as work began by March 2023.

Now, a potential purchaser of the site claimed that the digging of the holes in the former car park meant that planning permission should not lapse.

Council planning officers have agreed.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a surveyor visited the site in March, the deadline for work to begin.

The surveyor's report said: "The excavations have commenced to the Vaughan Street elevation. Phase one and phase two pad works have been excavated.

"These are required to be excavated down to form strata."

This week, Bradford Council planners agreed that the holes meant planning was still valid, saying: "The development was started within the prescribed period."

When a LDRS reporter visited the site on Thursday, it appeared that apart from the two excavated holes, one of which contained a soiled mattress, there had been no further work on the site.