A PIECE of land that was once earmarked for a £30 million business centre could instead be developed for housing.

In the 00s, Coolgardie Farm in Crossflatts was proposed to be home to Bingley Technology Park, a development that would have brought 1,500 jobs to the area.

It was due to be an integral part of the Airedale Masterplan to create a thriving corridor of hi-tech industries along the Aire Valley.

But the project collapsed in 2008 due to the global financial crisis, with hundreds of thousands of pounds having already been spent on the plans.

The land has remained empty since.

Most recently the site, near Bingley Grammar School and off Keighley Road, has been put forward in Bradford Council’s draft Local Plan as being a site that could be suitable for houses.

Now a planning application to build 90 homes on the site has been submitted to Bradford Council by Avant Homes Yorkshire.

The homes would be a mix of market houses and social/affordable homes.

Of the market houses there would be 19 two-bed homes, 30 three bed homes and 23 four bed homes.

The social housing would include 12 two bed and six three bed homes.

There would be parking spaces for 186 cars across the site.

The application highlights the shortage of housing in the UK, and the high cost of existing housing this has created.

It says: “The United Kingdom’s housing costs are now among the highest on earth, the economic and social impacts severe.

“Since 1970, the average price of a house has risen four and a half fold after inflation. No other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country has experienced a price increase on this magnitude over this period.

“People should be able to expect homes that they want to live in. Our failure to build is already harming our children and grandchildren.

“The government needs to push on all fronts. A key component of this push is to make most effective use of land in sustainable locations which will be attractive to developers to speed up the building of new homes and support the government’s wider ambition to increase competition in the house building market.

“The proposals would provide much needed housing within this locality, in a range of house types and sizes alongside significant public open space. Furthermore, the proposed development seeks to make use of long-standing vacant land which has a history of delivery struggles for both residential development and more recently employment development.”

A decision on the application is expected in September.