A report, being presented at a meeting of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council’s Executive Committee on 5 November, will seek Executive approval for Bradford Council to use its statutory Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) powers to acquire necessary third-party property interests in land at Wealdheare Street, Bolton Woods in Bradford.
The site is not recorded at HM Land Registry and efforts have taken place to search for, trace and contact the owner of the site without success.
Without the proposed CPO measures being used to secure the site for residential development, the council says there is a high risk that the land will remain unused, unproductive and continue to have unsightly blight on the neighbourhood.
The council want to use the small site to build housing in the New Bolton Woods regeneration area.
This is with the view to delivering new residential development within the Canal Road Urban Village Regeneration Scheme.
New Bolton Woods is a major regeneration project, delivering 1,000 homes, with two phases already completed delivering 200 houses, together with the new Aldi store and Costa Coffee drive-thru in the local centre off Stanley Road.
Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “As a local councillor for the area I know this site has been a blight on nearby houses for years.
“Despite our best efforts an owner cannot be identified, so using a CPO could bring the site into worthwhile use, create new homes and remove an eyesore for local residents.”
