PLANS to demolish an empty pub and build eight homes near to a busy junction in Wyke are being recommended for approval later this week.

The scheme by Westmoreland Homes is for the former Westfield Hotel at the junction of Whitehall Road and Westfield Lane.

The pub has been empty for three years and in that time permission was granted to turn it into a fish and chip shop and restaurant.

However there are concerns that the existing access to the pub car park would be unsuitable for a housing development as it is too near the traffic lights and junction.

In a report to Kirklees Council’s Heavy Woollen planning sub-committee, planning officers state: “All the properties are two-storey with pitched roofs. Plots two to eight front onto Whitehall Road with plot one turned to provide presence onto Westfield Lane.

“The scheme includes three different house types with all but one of the dwellings being three-bedroomed.

“Each plot includes garden spaces to the rear and small landscaped area to the front.”

It continues that the development would use the existing access which will extend to the rear of the proposed houses, with two parking spaces per property.

There would be no access from Whitehall Road for vehicles.

But there have been a total of 14 objections to the scheme with concerns ranging from access being dangerous so close to the busy junction, and a concern that as the pub had been out of use for three years the development would see an increase in traffic.

Highways officers however believe a residential development would generate fewer vehicle movements than a pub, particularly in the evening when the movements would have potentially “ a far greater number” in the peak evening period.

Plans were refused by Bradford Council for two homes in the vicinity back in 2016 due to the designs requiring any future occupant to either reverse into the parking space off Westfield Lane or reverse out it.

The report also describes the building as “gradually falling into a state of disrepair having been vacant for some time”. In addition “the physical state of the building both externally and internally does not lend itself to reuse currently and total refurbishment would be required to bring the building back into viable use”.

Cleckheaton Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Pinnock has called for the matter to be considered by the sub-committee and asked for members of the panel to visit the site before making a decision.

He said: “I consider it important that committee members look at the relationship of the access to the Westfield traffic lights.

“This is notwithstanding the fact that there is an existing access for the public house: the fact remains that the access is very close to the junction, and this needs to be considered carefully.”

In a design and access statement accompanying the plans, Westmoreland Homes adds: “The existing Westfield Hotel building is in disrepair and is not suitable for conversion.

“The proposal to demolish the building and replace with a residential development will improve the site and street scene, improve the outlook of the existing adjacent houses and increase the number of quality homes in the area by redeveloping a brownfield site.”

It adds that its proposal will improve the usage of the site, complement its surroundings and improve the quality of the built environment.

Prior to closing in 2015, the pub was called Harry’s Carvery, and was among 18 food businesses in the Bradford area to be given a hygiene rating of zero by environmental health inspectors.

A decision is expected at the Heavy Woollen planning sub-committee meeting on Thursday.