AN MP has thrown her weight behind plans for a new beauty studio despite vociferous objections from residents. 

The proposals, if passed, would see Express House on White Abbey Road transformed into a new beauty studio on the first floor, with a retail unit and cafe on the ground floor. 

The scheme was previously submitted and withdrawn due to concerns over a lack of parking spaces.

But the new application says: “These recommended car parking spaces have now been met and have been incorporated as part of the scheme.”

It says that as the building is close to the city centre, users “will not require vehicular access to the building”. 

It highlights access to public transport and says the existing retail unit had been used previously “without complaints and complications.”

It added: “The new studio will have its customers arrive through a drop off and pick up service. Many customers are usually picked up in automobiles that form part of the celebration. This is typical from people offering this service from other premises, homes etc.
 

“As part of an attempt to satisfy the highways department, eight car parking spaces have been provided. This is split into five on site and three within the ground of Unit 3 Hardaker Street.”

Some externals works, including a balcony facing on to White Abbey Road, are proposed and the applicant says the plans will “bring back into use an empty building that will not only add value to White Abbey Road, but it will also go some way to tackle the antisocial behaviour that exists within the area”. 

But furious residents of Hardaker Street have hit out at the plans.

Asif Khan said there are “many difficulties” with parking on the small street.

“As it is not a private street I see a lot of non residents parking here for over five hours daily,” he said. Mr Khan also raised doubts about the drop-off and pick-up service, describing the idea as “nonsense”.

He said: “We all know if customers are going to come to do a bridal course or customers who come to eat from the cafe would most likely bring their car.”

But in an official letter to planners, Bradford West MP Naz Shah said the new proposals “will not only change the landscape but will also attract customers from across the world”. 

She added: “White Abbey Road currently houses some extremely extravagant Asian clothing shops which attract people from across the UK, however the current stretch of shops only go so far down White Abbey Road, leaving the top end which leads onto Westgate neglected. The said regeneration project would not only integrate the neglected part but also draw more footfall to the area.”