REGENERATION BOSS SAYS CAMPAIGN IS VITAL TO CITY CENTRE

by John Roberts

The Telegraph & Argus’s Buy it in Bradford campaign has been hailed as “crucial” to the future of the city by a regeneration chief.

Maud Marshall is the chief executive behind a vision to give Bradford a green city centre featuring parks, a lake and a big pier.

Bradford Centre Regeneration has developed a masterplan which splits the city into four neighbourhoods: the Bowl, the Channel, the Market and the Valley.

Talks are on-going with Council planning officers about how to turn the ambitious designs into a reality though Mrs Marshall warned it could take more than a decade before the transformation of the city centre is complete.

She said: “In regeneration you cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs. We have got a window of regeneration between now and the opening of Broadway in the city. In the meantime the city is going to undergo a lot of change.

“It will be a lot dustier and lot more difficult to navigate so having a campaign like this which supports the city commercially here and now is crucial. Congratulations to the Telegraph & Argus for taking a lead on this.”

The BCR is one of 18 urban regeneration companies in the country. It is funded by Bradford Council, regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and private-sector cash.

The masterplan was commissioned from Alsop Architects in February 2003. It won the support of both Bradford Council and Yorkshire Forward last year.

BCR is currently looking at the potential future uses of historic Eastbrook Hall and the former Gaumont and Odeon Cinema site in the city centre.

Mrs Marshall said: “The city has to hold its faith in what is going to happen in Bradford. People have got to keep their nerve.

“One of the problems is that Bradfordians have been let down too many times in the past with schemes which haven’t happened.

“But I think we will win the hearts and minds of the people in Bradford once they see early results in the city centre with Westfield building Broadway and the work Urban Splash are doing at the edge of the city to create homes at Listers Mill.”

e-mail: john.roberts @bradford.newsquest.co.uk

‘WE HAVE LOTS TO OFFER – PEOPLE SHOULD KEEP COMING’
Staff at the Game computer store in Broadway have backed the Telegraph & Argus Buy it in Bradford campaign to help keep business thriving in the city. Branch manager Joyce Brewer – pictured, on the right, with colleague Ellen Wright – urged shoppers to continue using the shops which are close to where the new state-of-the-art Broadway complex is going to be while development work is taking place. She said: “We are still open for business but a lot of people have stopped coming down to this end of town for some reason. “We will be going into the new shopping centre once it opens but people should carry on coming here in the meantime. “ Bradford has a lot more to offer than people realise.”	John Turner, the manager of Clarks shoe shop, said the Buy it in Bradford campaign had come at the right time for the city’s retailers. Mr Turner, pictured, said: “This is exactly what we need with the redevelopment which has taken place in Leeds and Huddersfield. “We need to keep people aware that Bradford is still a place to shop and that the city centre has a lot to offer. “When you think of all the suburbs around Bradford, the city does have the potential to have a lot more people coming in to shop.” Staff at Clarks have celebrated picking up an award after being voted as the customers’ favourite shop by visitors to the Kirkgate shopping centre. The store shared first prize with BBS coffee shop in the centre.