Yorkshire Water Given Green Light For Sustainable Housing Project

Water supplier Yorkshire Water has been given the go-ahead by Bradford City Council to turn 180 acres of unused land into a sustainable housing and industrial development, providing around 2,000 jobs.

Sister company Keyland Developments has been granted planning permission to develop the Esholt site, a project that will include 150 homes ranging from one-bed maisonettes to five-bed detached houses so as to appeal to a diverse group of prospective buyers.

In addition, the project will feature an innovative employment element, delivering up to 100,000m2 of sustainable workspaces to make room for a mix of industry, but with a focus on vertical farms, biotech businesses and industries that can use heat, water and power generated by the treatment works to maximise sustainability.

Part of the development will also see nearly £2 million spent on improving transport links and encouraging alternative transport use. Work will include extending local bus services, upgrading local roads, car-sharing initiatives for the employment site and making improvements to pedestrian and cycle links to the site.

One of the key focuses included in the masterplanning of Esholt is revealing how businesses and homes alike can reduce water consumption through innovative design. The idea is that this will influence how developments can contribute to meeting the challenges of supplying an expanding region with the water it needs without having an impact on the environment.

Luke Axe, land and planning director at Keyland Development, said: “This is a significant step forwards in the delivery of one of the UK’s most exciting sustainable developments and is the culmination of a year of hard work by our inspiring project team.

“We are passionately committed to bringing forward a development of excellence that the team, the locality and the wider region can be proud of and hold up as a beacon of positive living. We have an exciting year ahead of us ensuring that Esholt realises its full potential and we can’t wait to activate the plans.”

LDN Architects has now been appointed to lead the design of the redevelopment of Esholt Hall, which is also being included in the project. It is due to be transformed into a flagship centre of excellence for learning and wellbeing and, once complete, the site will be used as Yorkshire Water’s training academy, complementing other practical training facilities.

Esholt Hall itself is the Blackett ancestral home – and you might well recognise it from the TV adaptation of Catherine Cookson’s The Moth. It was built by Sir Walter Calverley in 1706, a Queen Anne style mansion with grounds, a conservatory and terrace. It was actually built on the site of a Cistercian nunnery, home to eleven nuns who lived there until dissolution 1540.

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