\n The former Yorkshire Martyrs school on Westgate Hill Street has been the scene of multiple fires since it closed in 2010, with emergency services regularly being called out to the site.\n<\/p>\n
\n After several more fires in recent weeks, Green Councillors in Tong have called for the building to be demolished, saying the ruins of the school give a \u201cterrible first impression\u201d for people arriving in the city as well as being dangerous.\n<\/p>\n
\n And they have said the building\u2019s continued presence \u201cputs firefighters, police officers and residents in danger every time there\u2019s another incident.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The building, next to Tong Leadership Academy, was purchased by Batley-based Apollo Beds in 2016.\n<\/p>\n
\n In 2019, the owners of the company were fined \u00a320,000 by a court for failing to comply with a community protection notice issued by Bradford Council, demanding they secure the site.\n<\/p>\n
\n After a recent blaze at the building, the three Green Councillors for Tong, Matt Edwards, Celia Hickson and Ursula Sutcliffe issued a statement calling for work to make the site safe to be accelerated.\n<\/p>\n
\n They said: \u201cThis is the latest in a string of fires, break-ins and safety issues that have plagued the site for almost a decade.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n They said the derelict school had become \u201ca serious risk to public safety and a symbol of neglect\u201d and \u201care demanding that the Council force the owners to either demolish the building or sell it to someone who will act responsibly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Cllr Edwards said: \u201cThis building has been a hazard and an eyesore for far too long.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt creates a terrible first impression of Bradford for thousands of people travelling down the A650 \u2014 but much more seriously, it puts firefighters, police officers and residents in danger every time there\u2019s another incident.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe owners have shown complete disregard for the community, and the Labour-run Council has failed to take strong enough action. We need to stop waiting.\n<\/p>\n
\n “This building needs to be demolished, and the site brought back into use in a way that benefits local people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Before they issued the statement, Cllr Hickson had raised the matter publicly at Full Council asking what enforcement action the Council was taking.\n<\/p>\n
\n A response from Council bosses said: \u201cEnvironmental Health Services has an ongoing investigation, with a view to taking enforcement action where appropriate.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAn appraisal of the enforcement options is being considered.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cEnvironmental Health Services have served Community Protection Warnings and a Community Protection Notice in February 2025 in an effort to address the issue.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThese have proven to be unsuccessful, so alternative interventions are now being considered.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Cllr Hickson pointed out that the situation had been ongoing for years, and asked if there would be any action before the school holidays.\n<\/p>\n
\n The former Yorkshire Martyrs (Image: Green Party)\n<\/p>\n
\n Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Executive foe Healthy People and Places, said: \u201cOfficers do have to work within the parameters of the law.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe do recognise the repeated call outs, and officers are looking at what actions they can take to further improve the site.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n After the meeting Cllr Hickson said: \u201cThe Council has had years to sort this out. The fact we\u2019re still talking about ‘considering options’ after nearly a decade just isn\u2019t good enough.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis building is a danger. It\u2019s attracting fires and anti-social behaviour. If the owners won\u2019t act, the Council must force their hand \u2014 by pushing for demolition or a sale to someone who will take responsibility.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The Telegraph & Argus\u00a0contacted the owners of the site, the Ul Haq family. They said there were \u201cexciting\u201d plans for the site, and that the company was in talks with the school, but could not say any more at this stage.\n<\/p>\n
\n When asked if there was any update on the issue, a Bradford Council spokesperson said: \u201cWe are unable to comment on specific details of this issue, as we have an ongoing investigation for which we have previously taken enforcement action and may do so again.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe will be working with partner agencies to identify an appropriate solution.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n There was a blaze in one of the rooms in the former school site on July 21. After that blaze West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was a suspected arson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former Yorkshire Martyrs school on Westgate Hill Street has been the scene of multiple fires since it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-311004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-leeds","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114957256203886180","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}