Chemical company looks to safeguard jobs with new planning proposal

Based in Wyke, Nufarm is an agricultural chemical company that operates from a huge site on Wyke Lane, and is one of the biggest employers in that area of the District.

The company has just submitted a planning application to Bradford Council to extend and upgrade facilities on the site.

Effluent is processed on the site, but due to limited facilities this waste water is not at a standard where it can be disposed of using the sewage system.

Currently this waste water is transported daily by a fleet of tankers to a treatment plant in Esholt, over 10 miles away, where it can safely be disposed of.

The new planning application is for the construction of a water purification plant that will allow this waste to be treated on site before being disposed of into the sewer system.

It says the work will prove to be a major investment that secures the future of the business in the area, as well as helping improve air quality by removing the HGVs from Bradford roads.

The application says the plans will involve the construction of two micro bio-reactor tanks, two effluent buffer tanks, two holding tanks, a process water tank, a materials store building, a chemical storage area, new drainage works and the resurfacing an existing access road.

The new works will be built on a vacant one hectare area of the company’s headquarters.

Wyke Chemical Works has operated on the site since the 1860s, with herbicides and explosives among the products developed there over the 160 year period.

Nufarm has been based at the site since 2008 and currently employs 350 staff.

The company describes itself as being “focused on the provision of a wide range of top quality crop protection products for farmers and growers including Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides and Plant Growth Regulators.”

The planning application, which was submitted this week, says: “The scheme will eliminate the need to transport partially treated effluent offsite to Esholt, removing 20-24 HGV’s from the road each day, making the existing facilities more sustainable and self-sufficient.

“There is an evident need for the development to enable the works to operate more sustainably and modernise the facilities helping to safeguard the circa 350 jobs at the chemical works.

“The scheme will represent a modest extension to the existing works, be set back from the road be sufficiently screened by the line of mature trees on the perimeter of the chemical works.”

It says that the construction of the new features would likely take between six and eight months to complete.

A decision on the application will be made by Bradford Council early in the New Year.