Kurdish Islamic Culture Centre to take over a Bradford pub

Charity Kurdish Islamic Culture Centre has applied to Bradford Council planners to transform The Fairweather Green public house.

According to the design and access statement accompanying the plans, they want to create a community and learning facility in the building.

The site itself is on the busy Thornton Road, which leads to Bradford city centre.

There are no external changes proposed as part of the plans to reuse the building,

Instead, it will be fitted out internally to create an open-plan community room on the ground floor and four classrooms or meeting rooms on the first floor from the existing bedrooms.

There is some off-street parking at the front of the building off Thornton Road, but the documents add that the majority of users will be local residents and a number of people will travel there by bus, taxi or bicycle, rather than a car.

The site is surrounded by buildings of a mixed-use, including retail shops, a primary school and residential buildings. It is not a listed building and is not within a conservation area.

The Fairweather Green pub on Thornton Road

The police have been consulted in relation to the plans and have called for more information on a number of issues, including opening and closing times, and security measures, such as high-definition CCTV.

They also express concern about the small car park, which they say would only fit two vehicles at most, which may well be used by staff.

Lisa Reardon, the Designing out Crime officer for the Bradford district, explains how there is on-street parking nearby, but that is next to a school so is likely to be in demand at peak times of the day.

This could mean any visitors that intend to travel by vehicle may end up parking on the surrounding streets,” she adds.

In addition, she said there are no details in the plans regarding security measures – and there were two burglaries at the site in the last few months, where tools and equipment were stolen while the building was under renovation.

She does add that West Yorkshire Police has no objection in principle to the use.

Those wanting to have their say, have until Friday, July 1, to do so.

A decision is expected from planners in just under a month’s time.

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