Plans for new home rejected over tree felling row

Plans to build a new house on the site of a derelict care home have been rejected after planning officers said a number of trees at the site had been illegally felled.

The applicant had wanted to demolish the 10-bedroom property in Oak Mount, Bradford, and erect a large new house.

However, councillors were told an order to replace the trees, felled by a previous landowner, was in place and could not be carried out if the plans were approved.

Rejecting the application, one councillor said to approve it could be seen as "rewarding criminal activity".

Applicant Mohammed Tayyab said the new building, erected on a different footprint to the former care home, would help improve the area.

He said the trees had been felled before they bought the site in 2021, but planners told Bradford Council's planning panel that as the landowners it was still their responsibility to replace them.

Labour councillor Safina Kauser spoke in favour of the plans and said the site had been derelict for eight years before the applicants bought it.

"It is almost like planning officers don't want to bring this property back into life," she said.

"Why are they making it so difficult?"

She said the site was on the "doorstep" of Lister Park, the site of many City of Culture events, and asked: "Do you want people to drive by and see this eyesore? It is not a good look for Bradford."

Kauser said the applicants were being penalised for something they had not done.

However, officers said whoever felled the trees, it was done without consent, and approving a large house on the site would essentially reward that illegal act.

Planning committee chair Labour's Sinead Engel, said the fact the site was an eyesore was not something in favour of the applicant.

"It is their responsibility to keep the site safe.

"I can't bring myself to sanction a plan that rewards criminal activity.

"Regardless of who committed the crimes – the person who did it has benefitted if it has increased the value of the land."

Seven members voted to refuse the plans, and three voted against the officer's recommendation.

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