Fears over scheme to build homes on site of orphanage

AN ORGANISATION set up to protect Yorkshire’s gardens and open spaces has raised concerns over a plan to build houses on the site of a former Victorian orphanage next to a park.

A planning application to build 11 large homes on the site of the Joseph Nutter orphanage was submitted to Bradford Council by Opulent Land Developments in March.

The development site is next to Horton Park in Bradford and has led to the Yorkshire Gardens Trust writing to the council to raise its concerns about the plans.

In a letter, the trust said: “This application squeezes 11 dwellings into the site and very close to the park boundary. It appears to be over-development.”

But the applicants stated it is “desirable” that the site is brought back into “active and beneficial use” to improve the setting of the park as well as the wider conservation area.

The orphanage was opened in the 1880s, and was funded by a donation from a local philanthropist, Joseph Nutter. It was more recently used as a college building, but has been empty since 2016.

However, the site has been sold and last year Mohammed Farid submitted an application to demolish the large building, claiming it was a health and safety hazard and that a new employment development would be built on the land.

Despite objections coming from as far as Boston, Massachusetts, London and Edinburgh, Bradford Council approved the demolition last summer.

The Yorkshire Gardens Trust, which has the Countess of Harewood as its president, wrote to the council after the housing application was submitted. A decision is expected next month.