A Bradford community group has been awarded more than £1m towards a project to create an eco-friendly enterprise centre on a brownfield site.

Newlands Community Association has been granted planning permission to build the centre on a three and a half acre site in Bradford, at a total cost of £3.7m.

Project leaders intend to open the building next spring and their vision came a step closer when communities secretary John Denham announced the grant of £1,037,500, from The Communitybuilders Fund.

The Association’s business manager Tony Holdich explained: “The Association is currently based at The Holybrook Centre, in Eccleshill, which is no longer fit for use. We intend to build an enterprise centre and managed workspaces.”

He said the new centre will be a straw bale building, and that the bales “will be filled between the pillars of the building coated with lime render and covered with cedar panels which don’t need varnishing or any treatment.

“The walls will be three feet deep, providing excellent heat and sound insulation. The building will be served by a ground source heat pump to give under-floor heating throughout and a water system which collects rainwater in a reservoir to service toilets and water plants. If all goes to plan work will start in June.”

The Holybrook Centre’s other existing tenants will be relocated to the new centre, including the Special Needs Objective Outreach Project, Mencap, The Play Network, Bradford District Care Trust and Brunel Housing. More than half of the building will be available to new tenants, with discounts for start up businesses.

The project has already been backed with £990,000 from Bradford Council’s Kickstart funds and is expecting to receive confirmation of a further £850,000 investment from the European Regional Development Fund through Yorkshire Forward, as well as another grant from a separate funding stream.

To secure the £1m the team travelled to London last month after submitting a business plan to explain to a panel why their project was worthy of attracting the investment.

By Nicola Storey