Plan to turn vacant church near Leeds Road into bazaar is approved

Thornbury Methodist Church on Leeds Old Road was built in the late 1920s, but recently closed its doors to worshipers and was placed on the market.

Last year a planning application to convert the building into retail use was submitted to Bradford Council by Arshad Mahmood.

The plans said the church, a short distance from the Leeds Road McDonalds, was “showing signs of dilapidation” and described its car park as being overgrown and akin to a “mini forest.”

The application has now been approved by planning officers at Bradford Council.

The refurbishment will see two shops created at the entrance to the building. 29 small retail kiosks will be set up inside the building, spread out between two rooms.

No changes will be made to the building’s exterior – the application claims.

The church’s overgrown car park will be refurbished, creating 41 parking spaces, six disabled parking bays and six bicycle stands.

Access to the site will be from Randolph Street.

Thornbury Methodist Church (Image: newsquest)

The cornerstone of the building shows the church was built in 1927.

The application said: “Over the time the building has shown signs of dilapidation internally and the car parking to the rear has become a somewhat of a mini forest with overgrown vegetation. However in close proximity there are a number of long established retail units and small shops.

“Leeds Old Road has a very good public transport network with buses running frequently to Bradford city centre and Leeds.

130-year-old church plans new building in deprived area of Bradford city centre

“We believe the grant of planning permission will utilise the building that has been neglected for the past years.”

There had been no objections to the planning application.

Approving the development earlier this month, planning officers at Bradford Council said: “The retail space will be a bazaar, which includes two open halls that are occupied by mini kiosks.

“It is considered that the proposed retail floor space would be appropriate amount in relation to the scale of the Thornbury District Centre and its catchment.

“The existing car park is currently overgrown, therefore improvements will be made to bring the car park up to standard.”

Conditions of the approval include that the business could only open between 9am to 11pm Mondays to Saturdays and from 9am to 6pm on Sundays.

Another condition is that electric car charging points should be installed in the car park.