3. Bradley Today: A Spatial Portrait

In this chapter we aim to provide a flavour of what makes Bradley locally distinctive and highlight the key issues and opportunities that this plan will seek to address. More detailed background information can be found in the Technical Paper which accompanies this report.

The Bradley Priority Action Area covers a significant part (32.5 hectares, approximately 20%) of the Bradley ward in Nelson.

It forms the gateway into Nelson town centre from Junction 13 of the M65, less than half a kilometre to the north along Scotland Road, and from Colne along the A56 Leeds Road. For the most part, these two gateway routes are in need of improvement and do not present an attractive first impression of either Bradley or Nelson.

The Bradley Priority Action Area is predominantly residential. It is characterised by tightly packed streets of stone built terraced properties, the majority of which were built between 1850 and 1910 to house the workers for the cotton mills that developed around the turn of the century.

Both large and small scale industrial and commercial uses remain in the area and in addition there are a number of buildings of historic significance, including the former Bradley swimming baths, a number of churches and chapels, and the local primary school.

The key social characteristics of the area are as follows:

• Bradley ward has a population of 6,735 people (the highest of any ward in Pendle) living in 2,505 households.
• Under 60% of Bradley’s population is white – this is low compared to the Pendle district average of 84.9% and national average of 90.9%.
• Almost 40% of the population in Bradley are of Pakistani ethnic origin.
• Bradley has a relatively young population with nearly one-third of the population aged under 16, considerably higher than the national average of 20.2%.
• Nearly 40% of households have dependent children, again significantly higher than the national average of 29.5%. This illustrates the high proportion of families living in the area and the need for larger family accommodation.
• The ward also has a lower than average 60+ population.
• Over one-third of households in Bradley consist of a single person, slightly above the 30% national average.
• Average household size is 2.7 persons.

(Source: Census, 2001)

According to the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 the Bradley ward is suffering from increasing levels of deprivation. It was ranked in the worst 4% of wards in the country in the IMD 2004, whereas its overall score in the IMD 2007 ranked the ward 76^th worst in the country, placing it in the bottom 1% of wards nationally. This is clear statistical evidence of the need for the Bradley AAP to help regenerate the area and improve the declining standard of living for local people.

The state of the housing market in Bradley is typical of other HMR areas and exhibits many characteristics of low demand housing. The predominant house type within the AAP boundary and the wider Bradley ward is terraced housing; 70% across the ward (Census, 2001) and almost 100% within the AAP boundary. A lack of housing choice is one of the recognised drivers of low demand housing.

The area suffers from an above average number of vacant properties (11.8% as at April 2008) as well as poor quality and unfit housing. The 2004 Stock Condition Survey showed that the majority of the properties (almost 90% of the terrace blocks) within the AAP boundary failed against the Decent Homes Standard⁽¹⁵⁾. House prices have also been persistently lower than the borough, regional and national average for terraced properties.

Owner occupation within the Bradley ward is also relatively low at 60% with a correspondingly high proportion of private rented properties⁽¹⁶⁾ .

Today the largest employers in the Bradley ward are public sector organisations such as Nelson and Colne College and local primary schools. The retail sector and manufacturing each account for one-fifth of local jobs (Annual Business Inquiry, 2007). Within the AAP boundary there are numerous retail premises along the main gateway routes (Leeds Road and Scotland Road) and a couple of large former textile mills, which are still used for employment purposes.

However, ‘worklessness’⁽¹⁷⁾   within the Bradley ward is high (27.8%) compared to the Pendle average of 16.9% (DWP Revised August 2008 Working Age Benefits, NOMIS). The fact that so many people are claiming benefits as their sole means of income is reflected in the IMD 2007, which shows that Bradley suffers from significant income deprivation, with three of its four Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA)⁽¹⁸⁾   ranked in the 5% most income deprived LSOAs in England (IMD, 2007).

Qualification levels are also very low in Bradley: 50.8% of the population has no qualifications compared to 35.9% for Pendle and 29.1% for England and Wales (2001 Census, ONS).

The quality of the environment in the Bradley Priority Action Area is particularly poor. It is densely built-up with limited greenery or landscaping and a corresponding lack of public open space. The Pendle Open Space Audit (Pendle Council, 2008) identifies that the Bradley ward is deficient in many types of open space typology including parkland and equipped areas for play. There is, in fact, only one equipped play area within the whole AAP boundary. Whilst the Bradley ward has a surplus of allotments and civic spaces this is not the case within the AAP boundary.

Bradley scores poorly in the Living Environment Deprivation Domain⁽¹⁹⁾   of the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007. Three of the Bradley Lower Super Output Areas fall within the worst 1.5% of all the LSOAs in England.

The site of the former Riverside Mills complex (2.52ha) has been vacant since 1999. Whilst much has been done to address problems of fly-tipping, the current state of this site contributes further to the poor environmental quality of the area.

The Coal Authority has indicated that surface coal resources are present across the AAP area. While there is no requirement for developers to extract any minerals which may be found on development sites, the Coal Authority has advised that prior extraction of coal can be profitable even on small sites, can be undertaken, generally in a matter of weeks, as part of normal site preparation and groundworks and can create additional revenue to support development.

The regular grid iron pattern of streets in Bradley means that, on the whole, there are good levels of access and connection. There are just two areas that are not so accessible. Firstly, the Fleet Street and Regent Street areas are poorly connected; being separated by Walverden Water and the vacant Riverside Mills site. Secondly, the Throstle Nest Mill complex creates a barrier to movement between Bankhouse Road and Leeds Road.

Safety and ease of access both to and within the AAP boundary is of the utmost importance. Bradley is a densely built up area and contains a number of busy streets and roads leading to the town centre and the motorway. Vehicular accidents are known to occur regularly (LCC Mario Mapping).

There is potential for the establishment of safe cycle routes through Bradley which will improve communication, social interaction and promote a healthy mode of travel. The 2001 Census showed that nearly 50% of households within Bradley have no access to a car (ONS, 2001).

Walverden Water, classed as a main river watercourse by the Environment Agency (EA), flows through the western section of the Bradley AAP area. The river banks are walled for much of its length and the river corridor is untidy and used as an area for fly-tipping. Hendon Brook is a culverted watercourse that flows from east to west joining Walverden Water to the south of the Riverside Mills site. It is also classed by the EA as a main river watercourse.

The Walverden Water indicative flood plain, as depicted by the EA (see map 3 overleaf), covers a substantial part of the Bradley AAP area and shows that a number of the sites which it is proposed to redevelop as part of this plan are at risk of flooding. Detailed flood risk reviews have been undertaken on these sites ⁽²⁰⁾   and the sequential and exceptions tests have been applied in accordance with PPS 25 'Development and Flood Risk' (see Chapter 5 of the accompanying Technical Paper). Each site satisfies the requirements of these tests and is therefore considered suitable for redevelopment for residential use.

These detailed flood risk reviews have involved the production of more accurate flood risk maps relating to development sites, which can be found at p.36-39 of the Technical Paper and should be referred to by developers. The flood risk reviews and maps have helped to shape the details of the flood risk policy (Policy 2) of this AAP.

The Environment Agency are investing in improvements to these watercourses as part of the Walverden Water and Hendon Brook Flood Alleviation Scheme. The scheme has been designed to provide a 1% (1 in 100 years) standard of protection for Walverden Water and a 1.3% (1 in 75 years) standard of protection for Hendon Brook. Work along the channels is ongoing.

At the issues and options stage of this AAP, local residents and businesses were asked to identify their main issues and concerns. The consultation responses were analysed on a neighbourhood basis (see Map 4 overleaf for the boundaries of the 'neighbourhoods'). The neighbourhoods, are defined by man-made and natural barriers, e.g. main roads, rivers, etc. The key issues for each of these areas are identified in Table 1 below.

Summarising this, the issues identified most consistently across the AAP area are:

i. Fly tipping and other litter problems.

ii. Lack of open space in the area (e.g. play spaces for children).

iii. Derelict properties or homes in a poor state of repair.

iv. Poor quality of the public realm (for example the streets, green spaces and public areas).

In summary, the key characteristics and issues within the Bradley AAP boundary are as follows: