A COUNCILLOR has hit out after Bradford Council put a plot of agricultural land up for auction later this week with a guide price of £30,000.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Lib Dem group, called the plan “crazy” and said the Council was selling off land just to raise money.

She said alternative options, such as additional parking for Apperley Bridge railway station, or an entrance to a new country park, should be looked into before selling the land was considered.

The land, along with three other agricultural sites around the district, is set to go under the hammer at an auction, held by Pugh Auctions, in the Norman Hunter Suite at Elland Road stadium in Leeds on Thursday.

Cllr Sunderland (Idle and Thackley) said: “My view is it’s crazy to sell the land before we have even decided what we want to use it for.

“It could be used for parking or for a country park, but it seems to me the Council is just racing to flog off land.

“It knows the local community is putting in plans for the area, and it is shocking to just find out it is being sold. It’s a really valuable piece of land and is being given away at a knock-down price.

“People using the station are already parking on the sides of the road as it’s such a popular route, and with thousands of homes being built nearby to not even consider using it as more car parking is crazy.”

Cllr Sunderland said a proper process needed putting in place before anything was done with the land.

“The land could be turned into woodland by planting thousands of trees, which then could help with flood relief to save people’s homes,” she said.

“If that isn’t an option then it could be used as the entrance to a new country park; the Esholt estate is one option being considered for a future country park, and that is something I strongly support.

“It has to go down that route, to say we definitely cannot use the land for flood relief or use it for a country park, then look at if we can use it for additional parking or not, and then put the issue to local people to find out what they want.

“Only after all that can we sell the land, but this has been done completely the wrong way round.

“£30,000 is a tiny amount when compared to what the Council would have to pay to buy it back to extend the railway station.

“The Council should withdraw the land from sale until it can assure local people that this land will not be needed in the future.”

No-one from Bradford Council was available to comment on the sale of the land.

If the site at Apperley Bridge and the three other sites sell for their guide prices, it will bring in £120,000 for the local authority.

The other three sites up for sale are a 7.48 acre plot of land, formerly part of Hollins Hill Farm, in Station Road, Guiseley, with a guide price of £52,000, a 3.2 acre plot at Hollowfield Beck, Greenfield Lane, Bierley, which has a guide price of £20,000, and a 2.71 acre plot in Merrydale Road, Bierley, which has a guide price of £18,000.