A SEWAGE treatment works in Bradford could soon be the site of one of the country’s leading sustainable industrial and residential developments, according to Yorkshire Water.

The Bradford-based company, with its sister company Keyland Developments, yesterday unveiled final details to local residents.

The plans, which include 150 homes and a 100,000m2 innovative industrial development, will make the most of heat, power and water generated by the treatment works to maximise sustainability and attract businesses which can contribute to the ‘circular economy’ approach.

The plans will particularly focus on showing how homes and businesses can reduce their water consumption through innovative design, in a move that Yorkshire Water hopes will influence how developments in future can contribute to meeting the challenge of supplying a growing region with the water it needs, without impacting the environment.

Thanks to advances in technology, the operational footprint of the 32-acre Esholt Waste Water Treatment Works has reduced significantly over recent years, leaving large areas of formerly operational brownfield land redundant and unused.

Yorkshire Water, working with Keyland Developments and a team of experts, has been developing the plans in consultation with the local community and unveiled the final plans at the public consultation event yesterday.

The first phase of the scheme to be brought forward will be the residential development, which will feature 150 homes, covering a wide range from one-bedroom maisonettes to five-bedroom detached houses, all of which, the company says, will be designed to make use of local materials to ensure the development can sit comfortably with nearby Esholt village.

Following feedback from the local community, Yorkshire Water says the plans will also include shared recreation spaces as well as sustainable transport routes to encourage walking and cycling through the site.

Nevil Muncaster, director of Asset Management at Yorkshire Water and chair of Keyland Developments, said: “We are incredibly excited to unveil the masterplan for Esholt which is the culmination of months of intensive work with the project team, and extensive community and stakeholder engagement.

“We have a fantastic opportunity here at Esholt to create a nationally-significant, innovative and sustainable development which will have far reaching social and economic benefits.

“For Yorkshire Water and Keyland it provides us with an opportunity to showcase how developments can be designed with sustainability in mind, to help us meet the challenges that we face over the coming years. For Bradford, the project will create much-needed housing and the industrial development will help in addressing the shortage of employment space in the surrounding area for growing Bradford businesses or relocating companies, with neighbouring business parks operating at full or close to capacity.”

Following the community consultation event last night, the team will refine the plans ahead of the submission of the planning application.