City waiting to see big picture (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

City waiting to see big picture

3:07pm Tuesday 2nd January 2007 in Analysis By Jim Greenhalf

This year is a big one for Bradford in terms of important regeneration schemes, for the celebration of at least one birthday and the marking of at least two key anniversaries. JIM GREENHALF reports.

This summer, on July 9 to be exact, David Hockney will be 70. This single event offers Bradford, the artist's home town, a golden opportunity to swank a bit to the wider world.

And why not? Just for a change Bradford can claim to have something authentic and tangible to be proud of: a local boy who has made good on the international stage for more than 30 years.

In that time he has done much to promote Bradford, bringing at least three world premieres of his exhibitions to Salts Mill since 1987.

Coincidentally, within those 20 years the mill and the entire village of Saltaire has gained World Heritage status. Hockney's art, increased prosperity and careful conservation have turned a former run-down textile factory three miles to the north of the city centre into an inspiration for all mill conversions throughout Bradford.

Would NewMason Properties have seized on the opportunity of regenerating Victoria Mills in Shipley, would Urban Splash have felt confident of giving a vital new lease of life to abandoned Lister's Mill in Manningham without the example of what happened at Salts in November, 1987?

That is when, to the surprise and disbelief of the wider world, the late Jonathan Silver opened the 1853 Hockney Gallery at Salts Mill.

Contrary to what some believe, Silver did not have a blueprint or a masterplan; the regeneration of Salts Mill was gradual and piecemeal. At the time of Silver's premature death from cancer in October 1997, the mill was still ripe for further change. In the past ten years his wife Maggie Silver has added a fish restaurant and gallery space on the third floor as well as refurbishing the 1853 Gallery, the Diner and the bookshop on the second floor.

But it was her husband Jonathan who started the ball rolling in 1987 which led to UNESCO, in December 2001, granting World Heritage status.

The 20th anniversary of the Gallery and the tenth marking his death are going to be big events for the mill in particular and Saltaire in general.

But the biggest local news events of 2007 for Bradford as a whole are likely to centre on the future of two city-centre regeneration schemes. Up to press, Westfield's proposed Broadway development and the New Victoria Place scheme on the site of the former Odeon cinema have been in abeyance.

Bradford Council's planning meeting to consider the Odeon proposal has been postponed until spring pending further reports. The Broadway shopping centre, under Westfield's original proposals, should be part-way to completion in readiness for this Christmas. Last year we were assured that the scheme would go ahead and that work on site would begin at the back end of this winter.

Conservative Councillor Simon Cooke, Bradford Council's former executive member for regeneration, says the Council needs to be more decisive, more pro-active.

"It worries me that we (the Council) are reluctant to be seen pushing the button," he said. "Apparently there are 39 key projects targeted in the city centre with a team working on them. I haven't seen anything happening."

Given that much time and money has been devoted to clearing parts of the city centre of the construction mistakes of the late 1950s, isn't the Council's caution at least understandable?

"The grand plan of Stanley Wardley is remarkably similar to the one we have got now. The issue with Wardley was the quality of what was built - not the fact that he had a grand plan," said Coun Cooke.

"There is a real issue here in the relationship between the Council and developers. Too often developers are seen as the enemy rather than people who can deliver change in the city centre.

"There is an absolute imperative for the Council to take control of the main drag from Westgate through to White Abbey Road, the so-called World Mile. I am amazed that the Morrisons building hasn't been bought by Bradford Centre Regeneration so that the Council can take control of that area - with one or two small exceptions it owns most of the land round the supermarket. There is a lot of sitting round, waiting, and not enough pushing," he added.

That's another issue, along with the future of the site of the police station in the Tyrls. As a self-confessed believer in both the Westfield development and the need to replace the Odeon building with something modern and appropriate, at what point in 2007 would Coun Cooke expect to see real activity?

"Private development things can be tricky to resolve. I wouldn't panic too much if there are still questions to be answered by the middle of the year," he said.

"What would be helpful is if there was more communication with the public, telling people what's going on in as much detail as possible."

So, for Councillor Cooke the end of June represents a line in the sand for work to start on Broadway.

Apart from these specific projects, is 2007 likely to be a good or bad year for other parts of the metropolitan district?

Clive Miers, an independent financial adviser based in Shipley, said: "I think the Aire Valley looks strong in terms of investment coming in.

"We have seen phenomenal growth in things like restaurants in the Shipley area; there is a lot going on in the commercial sector. Akin to it, the retail sector looks strong, as does housing.

"I think these trends will move along the Aire Valley and we will see places like Bingley boom this year.

"In the city centre and other central areas of Bradford I think there will be some stability in prices which have maxed out. I wouldn't expect prices to increase by more than the rate of inflation (about 2.7 per cent) in these areas."

So, for the year ahead of us, there is the strong possibility of growth and progress.

Councillor Ian Greenwood, leader of the Labour Group, is involved with the successful Trident regeneration programme just outside the city centre. Asked to pinpoint the difference between this project and the Broadway scheme he said: "It always comes down to leadership. If you look at regeneration schemes in the district the single thing that defines the successful ones is the quality of leadership - and I don't just mean political leadership.

"The people at Westfield need to be sat down with politicians in charge and convince them that regeneration is going ahead.I don't know if they are convinced of Bradford's commitment because I haven't seen enough of them to know - I've been kept away from them.

"The next 12 months will be key for regeneration in the city. If nothing has started to move by then Bradford will have considerable difficulty.

"On the Odeon, that bit of the West End has been cut off from the civic centre of Bradford for a generation. We need to put in a bridge across Prince's Way because you can't close the road - too much traffic uses it."