The location of a caravan sales company that was closed last year can now be used by a car dealership after a decision by the planning officers.
Long-standing Dickinson Caravans on Canal Road between Shipley and Bradford closed its doors last year after serving in the district since the 1970s.
After staying empty for a year, it was announced that DM Keith Ltd. – which owns the neighboring Skoda dealership – is planning an expansion of the location.
A planning application to change usage to a used car dealer has been filed with Bradford Council and this application has now been approved.
The company intends to install temporary buildings on the site – including a sales building, a parking service building, and a photo bay building. It wants to know how profitable the site is as a dealership before investing in permanent buildings.
Existing buildings on the site would be demolished.
The plans also include the demolition of a boundary wall and fence to the site to make way for a road widening project.
Plan to “renature” the Bradford Beck route to Shipley for quick pursuit
The Canal Road Corridor Project is a multi-million pound project that will widen much of Canal Road and establish the main route for cars and trucks between Shipley and Bradford.
Manningham Lane will be modified to encourage public transport, walking and cycling. Most of the car traffic between Shipley and Bradford is instead diverted to the Canal Road Corridor.
Due to this expected project to widen the road, the front wall of the former caravan sales area on Canal Road will be demolished and rebuilt 2.5 meters back.
According to the application, around 108 used car spaces would be created on the site and the expansion would create six full-time positions.
Nobody had objected to the planning application.
The Canal Road Corridor is already home to numerous car dealerships.
Call to return to the drawing board on the street map
Officials approved the plan, saying, “Placing cars on the site would not affect eyesight either. Canal Road will be widened. This will tear down the existing stone wall with the unsightly picket fence at the top and replace it with a 1.8. ” m high paladin fence on the new edge of the site with a metal sliding gate that protects the entrance outside of operating hours.
“This represents a visual enhancement to the site. Inside the site, lighting pillars illuminate the location in hours of darkness and this is not detrimental to visual amenity provided there is a condition that details of these lighting pillars must be submitted for approval.
“Three temporary structures are proposed within the site. The buildings are temporary in nature so that the viability of the site can be assessed before more permanent structures are provided.
“The site is in flood zone 2, a country that is more prone to flooding. However, the site is already in use for the display and sale of caravans, which is similar to the proposed use as a used car dealer.”
A condition of the application is that the temporary buildings be removed from the site within five years, unless the company requests an extension of the deadline.
