A DECISION on whether to knock down the second, empty former Keighley College building is being delayed until later this summer.

The dilapidated property in Cavendish Street has now been disused for nearly seven years.

A spokesman for Bradford Council has this week confirmed: "This is due to be discussed at a summer Executive Committee meeting," but did not give details on an exact date for this meeting.

As previously reported in the Keighley News, Bradford Council made the shock announcement last month (March) that it was considering demolishing the derelict Cavendish Street block.

The council’s executive is to consider a recommendation by its officers to flatten the multi-storey building to make the land more attractive to prospective developers.

The proposal has been welcomed by Keighley politicians and business leaders, who said it was about time the eyesore 1950s property was consigned to history.

Previous attempts to market the 33,000 sq ft, five-floor building have been unsuccessful, with the only firm offer – to transform it into a business and enterprise centre – falling through last autumn after two years of protracted negotiations.

A local group called the Utley Centre had wanted to buy the building and convert it into a business and enterprise centre.

It had suggested the premises could host a number of projects, including back to work schemes to tackle unemployment, and an office "hot-desks" initiative.

But the sale process was never completed because a Government department would not authorise the release of the council-owned property.

The Utley Centre confirmed last November that it was pulling out of the purchase.

The Keighley News understands that the decision on whether to demolish the property has been put back because a planned Bradford Council executive committee meeting would have clashed with the recently called General Election in June.

Meanwhile, work to get rid of the nearby ex-college building at the junction of North Street and Cavendish Street is nearing completion, though large mounds of rubble remain to be cleared.

As of Tuesday afternoon, (April 24) all that remained of this property was a couple of battered walls near Lord Street's junction with Cavendish Street.

Large-scale external structural demolition has been ongoing at this separate site since February 6, and the 30-week contract to get rid of the entire building is expected to be completed in early June.

The council had tried to find a buyer for the old property, but without success.