A 1,000 home City Village in Bradford is a "radical" and "unprecedented" development - Councillors have been told.

The top of town area of the city is expected to undergo major changes in the coming years.

Work to build a new market on Darley Street is currently underway, and when that development is complete, in Spring 2022, Oastler Market will be flattened.

In its place Bradford Council is planning to create a new "city village" - a development of around 1,000 family homes.

The authority hopes the development will not only provide much needed housing for the district, relieving pressure on the district's Green Belt, but will also help reinvigorate shops and businesses in the top of town area - a section of the city centre that has suffered since the opening of the Broadway Shopping Centre.

Areas like North Parade, Westgate and Rawson Square would become new "high streets" for the housing development.

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The Council's Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee were given a report detailing a number of city centre regeneration projects at a meeting last week.

They heard that the City Village was one of the main regeneration schemes planned for the centre. A report to the committee said: "Following a shift in retail trends and the cementing of the city centre’s retail core in and around the Broadway shopping centre, the ‘top of town’ area needs of a new identity and direction.

"The Council is proposing to revitalise and re-purpose this area to create a ‘village’ neighbourhood that will be a vibrant, healthy and attractive area with a 1,000 new homes, a revitalised independent shopping offer topped by the new food led market, and flexible business spaces.

"A new residential led mixed use development is an exciting opportunity for the Council to work collaboratively with public and private sector partners to deliver a place where people will choose to live work and play.

"This Master Delivery Plan was part of a wider Council programme funded through the Design Quality stream of the government’s Planning Delivery Fund. The overarching aims of the programme are to achieve a step change in the quality of housing development and to improve health outcomes through design."

Clare Wilkinson from Bradford Council said: "This is the best way to re-invigorate the area. It will revitalise and repurpose the area, and create a place vibrant, healthy and full of activity.

"It will revitalise the independent shopping offer led by a new market and flexible business space."

Shelagh O'Neill, Assistant Director - Economy and Development, said: "It will be a radical transformation of the area. It is an unprecedented number of houses being built in the centre of an industrial city."

She said local businesses would be consulted on the plans.

The development would include new areas of green space, such as public parks and play areas. Mrs O'Neill added: "This will not just be about this development, but what we do in other developments. It will have a long term impact on how we can operate."

Councillor Ralph Berry (Lab, Wibsey) said: "It is a very brave mission to turn the top end of town into a new community."