New Home Bargains at Shipley retail park could create 70 jobs

The Shipley Wharf Retail Park was recently built on Otley Road, near the border of Baildon and Shipley.

A Lidl supermarket and drive thru Costa store have already opened on the site.

And now a new planning application submitted to Bradford Council has revealed that the remainder of the site will be taken up by a 19,956 square foot Home Bargains store.

The application says the retailer has no plans to close its existing Shipley store, on Market Square, despite the new development.

The site used to be home to Airedale Mills, but in 2018 planning permission was granted to demolish the factory and build a new retail development on site.

The existing Shipley Wharf retail park (Image: newsquest)

Further plans for the Lidl and Costa were approved in late 2020, but a large chunk of the site had remained undeveloped.

The new application described the Home Bargains plan as the “final piece of the jigsaw.”

Submitted as a joint application between Home Bargains and Morbaine Ltd, the plans say the discount retail sector has seen “significant growth” in recent years.

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The application says: “Home Bargains has no plans to close their existing store within Shipley town centre.”

It adds: “The application site is situated within easy walking distance of Shipley town centre. 

“The proposal also seeks to integrate into existing pedestrian and public transport routes, and to allow sufficient car and cycle parking and a dedicated area for servicing.”

Acknowledging that the site is outside Shipley town centre, the application says: “Home Bargain’s business model has evolved over time for the company to continue to operate viably in a competitive and challenging retail environment, to establish the most efficient and profitable trading format accessible to the widest range of customers.

“This has led to Home Bargains to trade from retail parks and sites where large level open floorplate, efficient servicing arrangements and adjacent customer car parking are provided.

“In this regard, the operator often trades from two qualitatively different locations within one town, as will be the case in Shipley – the town centre offer and then the larger offer at the edge of centre retail park.”

Once completed, the retail park will have 186 parking spaces, eight of which will have EV charging points.

The application adds: “The proposal would also help improve consumer choice in the area, bring back into active use a previously developed site, and support a greater number of jobs than the previous use of the site.”

A decision on the application is expected in the New Year.