Employment zone could be used for future West Yorkshire tram plans

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority is reviewing the future of the site

A planned redevelopment site in West Yorkshire will be reviewed after it was revealed a section of the land has been “safeguarded” for the Bradford to Leeds tram route.

The Parry Lane Enterprise Zone, in the Bowling Back Lane area, was due to be one of the biggest regeneration schemes in West Yorkshire. It was earmarked for a £19m development industrial units that would bring almost 500 jobs to the area, with hopes that the development would be completed by 2025.

But although £8.8m has been spent on clearing the site, it currently remains vacant, and now it has emerged that the land has been sold to West Yorkshire Combined Authority – which will “assess options” for its future.

Parry Lane was one of nine Enterprise Zones first proposed by the authority a decade ago. It had hoped to take vacant areas of land that were in prime locations, but had attracted little investment, and make them more attractive to potential developers.

The Parry Lane site was the former home of Yorkshire Energy, but had been vacant for years before it was suggested as an Enterprise Zone. In 2020, plans for 25,000 square metres of employment space across 10 industrial units on the site was approved.

Since then, the site has been referenced in the early plans for a new tram line between Bradford and Leeds. One possible route would pass through the Bowling Back Lane area, with a possible stop at Parry Lane.

WYCA has now purchased the Parry Lane site at the request of its Mass Transit team.

A West Yorkshire Combined Authority spokesperson said: “As of March this year the Combined Authority is the new owner of the land at Parry Lane, following the successful completion of an £8.8m remediation of the site.

“Options will now be assessed in the proper way to determine the future use of the land, some of which remains safeguarded for Mass Transit. Further details will be made available to the public and to members of the Combined Authority at its next full meeting.”