Plan for huge new Home Bargains store at Shipley retail park approved

The discount retailer will open its new store at Shipley Wharf Retail Park, next to Lidl and Costa, after plans for a new branch were approved by Bradford Council this week.

The retail park is at the junction of Otley Road and Salts Mill Road, on the former Airedale Mills site. Home Bargains will be built on the remaining space at the retail park, and the application was promoted as the “final piece in the jigsaw” for the site’s redevelopment.

When the application was submitted last year, Home Bargains said the store would create 70 jobs, and that there were “no plans” to shut the town’s existing Home Bargains, based in a much smaller unit on Market Square.

Plans to develop a retail park on the factory site date back to 2018. The Lidl and drive thru Costa were approved in 2020 before opening last year.

The site at Shipley Wharf Retail Park (Image: newsquest)

Home Bargain’s application said the new store would take advantage of the “significant growth” in the discount retailer sector.

It went on to say that the company’s recent expansion has seen numerous stores open in retail parks, rather than on high streets.

Shipley Town Council had raised concerns over the plans, saying it would draw people away from the town centre, and that there did not seem to be adequate pedestrian and cycle links between the store and the centre – such as pedestrian crossings.

Approving the application, planning officers said Home Bargains had agreed signed an agreement to introduce better pedestrian and cycle links as part of the work.

Officers said: “The proposed building is sited on Otley Road, a main highway through Shipley.

“The flank wall to Otley Road has been designed to include glazing and natural stone. Along with the proposed 'street' trees along this frontage, it is considered that the development would respond appropriately to its prominent location.

“The existing Lidl adjacent to the application site was the subject of agreement to provide improved pedestrian links from Shipley town centre to the development site.

The site at Shipley Wharf Retail Park (Image: newsquest)

“Works are now programmed to improve connectivity between the town centre and development site.”

Once the store is completed the retail park will have parking spaces for 186 cars.

The Telegraph & Argus contacted Home Bargains to ask when work might start, or if there was a planned opening date, but no one was available for comment.