A FORMER garage in Oakworth is to be changed into a café and community craft workshop.

Bradford Council has given planning permission for a change of use of Providence Garage near the bottom of Providence Lane between Oakworth and Haworth.

The building’s new owner plans to turn the existing workshops, which were used for car maintenance for more than 40 years, into a “daytime hub” to serve the community.

The applicant stated: “The buildings are to be used by the public, with one of the workshops to be used as a craft workshop holding classes from upholstery and decorative painting to flower arranging.

“The other workshop, separate to the craft area, will be fitted out to provide ancillary accommodation in the form of a daytime café using the meeting space to its full potential.”

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“In the light of recent increased housing in the Oakworth area, the change of use will provide a much-needed social meeting place for the local community. The use of the building avoids it falling into disrepair.”

The café will be open Monday to Sundays from 8.30am to 4.30pm, with a midweek evening craft course from 6.30-8.30pm and a monthly Friday supper club from 7-10pm.

Approval is for a café only, not a restaurant or takeaway in the future. There will be no additional building or extensions into the greenbelt, and the existing boundary of natural stone walls on all four sides will be retained.

There are currently separate upper and lower car parks with a single access, but in future the car parks will be linked within the site, with a one-way system and a separate entrance and exit onto Providence Lane.

Bradford Council officers describe the proposed new use as a “moderately-scaled café” likely to cause less noise than the original garage, and it would not disrupt residents of nearby Hebble Bank at unsociable hours.

Officers added: “The proposal is deemed to bring a building back into use and would have the potential to make a positive contribution in the area.”

Worth Valley ward councillor Rebecca Poulsen described the café and workshop plan as a “lovely” idea, adding: “I wish them luck with it. To open any new business at the moment is a challenge, and it will be bringing a great facility to that area.”