Questions over £4.5m space centre funding approval

**Questions raised over approval of £4.5m space centre funding**

The Space Test North centre will be located at Providence Park in Keighley.

Opposition parties are asking why £4.5m in public regeneration funding is required to back a US-owned space testing centre in Keighley.

Bradford Council’s executive, which is led by Reform UK, has approved the grant for Space Test North at Providence Park, while York-registered BSC Filters is covering the rest of the £9m development.

BSC Filters is part of US-based Dover Corporation, which reported revenues of about $8.1bn in 2025.

The scheme is expected to generate 50 jobs, and the council leadership recently backed what it called “precisely the opportunity Keighley should be pursuing”.

But the investment, through a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government grant, has drawn questions from councillors in three opposition groups.

Conservative councillor Raph Cohn raised concerns about the public funding during a meeting on the project.

“It’s the size of the grant and the proportion of the investment of 50% - it’s very, very large,” he said.

“I struggle to understand why there’s no wholesale financing of it or at least investor financing.”

He also asked how much the council would get back if the project ran into trouble.

Space Test North would offer specialist radio frequency and environmental testing for space and satellite hardware, according to the

Bradford Council’s executive recently signed the deal off

Labour councillor Caroline Firth, who represents Keighley East, said: “This is a wonderful investment opportunity for Keighley.

“My question is, this is a relatively small amount of money when the parent company made £8.4bn revenue in 2024 when these discussions started.

“Why isn’t the parent company funding this themselves?”

Firth also questioned council officers about what would happen after the grant and how councillors could hold officers and the company accountable for the benefits being promised.

David Shepherd, the council’s director for place, said the centre would provide a service not currently available elsewhere in the North of England.

“But this will not proceed without public investment,” he said.

“It will re-establish Keighley’s reputation for engineering and will position Keighley at the forefront of the UK’s fastest growing industry.”

A report to the executive said protections in the deal would include a parent-company guarantee, security over project equipment and monitoring and clawback arrangements.

Ian Eglin, the council’s executive member for corporate resources, told the meeting the deal was “risk free for the council” because the money comes from a government grant.

However, he added: “It is low risk for the council and sometimes businesses have to take risks.”

Deputy council leader Andrew Judson said: “This is precisely the opportunity that Keighley should be pursuing, bringing investment to the district, supporting growth sectors of the future and creating skilled, well-paid jobs.”

After the meeting, councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed, deputy leader of the Bradford Independent group, called for more clarity.

He said he had “no objection whatsoever” to the investment in Keighley but said the council needed to show what residents would get in return.

“Why is £4.524m of public money necessary? What private funding was available or sought? And what would genuinely not happen without the public subsidy?” he asked.

“Residents should not simply be told that this is a £4.5m investment. They should be shown what £4.5m is going to deliver for them.”