A SITE that was once earmarked for a multi million pound development could now be used as a cafe and outdoor seating area if new plans are approved.

A planning application has been submitted to Bradford Council to install a cafe on 138-140 Thornton Road, which is overlooked by the Hollings Mill building and lies within the Goitside Conservation Area.

The cafe would be created from a shipping container clad in timber, and there would be parking for 26 cars.

The application, by Christopher Thornburn, says the car park could also be used by future visitors to the nearby Bradford Live music venue - which is being created in the former Odeon building a short distance away.

It claims the new business would turn the site into a “community hub.”

This plot of land, on one of the main routes into the city centre, was once the proposed site of a major regeneration scheme.

In 2015 Bradford Council granted planning permission to Golden Sands developments to completely transform the former workshop site.

Those plans included a nine storey apartment building, with four shops and a cafe on the ground floor and a landscaped courtyard.

Plans to create food court in Conservation Area are refused

But apart from the demolition of the existing building on the site, that development never went ahead, and in 2019 an application to turn the land into a car park was approved.

The new application says that as well as the cafe, the vacant site will be landscaped to create “new green spaces on Thornton Road” and points out that the building was not permanent - meaning the site could be developed again in the future.

The site lies in the Goitside Conservation Area - a section of the city centre that, although having greater protection than other areas, is home to various vacant sites and derelict buildings.

It is currently blocked off by hoarding.

The new planning application says: “Our client’s intended development is sympathetic to the local area and the importance of the conservation area, hence the greenery and not wanting to add a permanent building to the site.

“The proposals are considered to positively contribute to the character, appearance and setting of the Conservation Area and the regeneration of Bradford.

“This development will create a small community hub.

“With the development of the former Odeon to Bradford Live just down the road, there could be an arrangement for parking use to be shared/rented to help with congestion so close to the junction at the end of Thornton Road.”

A decision on the application is expected in October.

Earlier this Summer an application to turn the warehouse building next to this site into ten apartments was submitted to Bradford Council.

A decision on that application is also expected in October.