A NEW farm shop and cafe could be built in the car park area of a driving range if new plans are approved.

The store would be a new location for long-standing Silsden butcher Isherwood’s, be fully powered by solar panels, and create more than a dozen new jobs.

A planning application to build the two-storey shop and cafe on land next to the golf driving range on Keighley Road in Silsden has been submitted to Bradford Council this month.

The application acknowledges that the site lies within the green belt, and so “special circumstances” will need to be proved for the proposals to go ahead.

The development includes a ground floor farm shop and a large first-floor cafe..

Isherwood's opened in Silsden town centre in 1987, and is currently the only family butchers’ shop in the town. It sells meat sourced from the family farm just outside of Silsden.

The application says the business, based on Kirkgate, needs to expand, but claims there are few buildings in Silsden available for such an expansion.

It adds: “The existing retail outlet is very constrained and cannot accommodate the farm production and there are no premises available in the defined town centre at all.

“It lacks convenient parking and cannot accommodate deliveries.”

“There is no means of expanding and never since 1987 has a shop on either side come on the market.

“There is no on-street parking in front of the shop, nor are there any facilities for deliveries by lorries at the rear.

“Isherwood’s is the only bespoke family specialist butcher in Silsden.

“However, it is not the only outlet in Silsden that sells meat – viz Aldi and the Co-op.

"What have they got that the current shop has not? Massive car parks, extensive meat display areas, and convenient delivery facilities.”

“A current survey  of the town centre shows that there are no properties on the market that can offer bigger and better accommodation with delivery facilities than the existing shop.

“In addition to the considerable capital investment that would be made the scheme will provide additional jobs.

“Currently there are five for the farm and shop. With the proposed development operational, this will increase to eight full-time and 12 part-time jobs."

The plans also include 36 car parking spaces and will involve the planting of 14 trees.

A decision on the application is expected in December.