Bradford NCP car park: Latest on the demolition work

Work to pull down the multi-storey car park has been ongoing for weeks, with demolition equipment taking apart the building from the top floor downwards.

This work has been done while large protective screens have covered the council-owned car park.

With the upper floors now removed, large cranes are being moved to the site to begin the next stage, which will see the remainder of the structure pulled down by ground-based equipment.

The next stage comes as new documents show how the entrance concourse to the station will look, including new trees, green spaces, and bat boxes.

Work to demolish the NCP is part of the Government-funded Transforming Cities Fund for Bradford – work that will also see the pedestrianisation of Hall Ings.

The latest update by Bradford Council on the work said: “Screen and scaffolding will (this week) be removed and the demolition sequence will continue from the ground floor, with large machines being installed in June to assist with this.

“The works to demolish the former NCP car park will create a new green space, linking to Hall Ings and Norfolk Gardens.”

New planning documents detailing what this new green space might look like have recently been published.

Documents including tree planting plans, arboriculture statements, and biodiversity layouts show that the new space linking Hall Ings to the Interchange will include grassed areas, tree planting, and hedgerows.

The proposed planting plan for the new concourse at Bradford Interchange (Image: Bradford Council)

Five bat boxes and five bird boxes will be installed on newly planted trees to boost inner-city nature.

The documents show that there will be different types of bat boxes, with some “suitable for small crevice dwelling species, such as common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus and some suitable for brown long-eared bats Plecotus auritus". 

Work has also started on the removal of the large bus shelters on Hall Ings – now obsolete due to the pedestrianisation of what was once one of the main traffic routes through the city.

The former bus shelters on Hall Ings (Image: Newsquest)

The work to create the new concourse comes as the future of the bus section of the Bradford Interchange building is unclear – with the facility having been closed since January due to falling concrete.

Although the rail station remains open, West Yorkshire Combined Authority has yet to reveal when, or if, the bus station will re-open.