A new ‘linear park’, complete with a town square and eye-catching boulevard, is planned for the heart of a large city centre regeneration project.

The park will go through the once run-down Chain Street area of Goitside – once dubbed ‘Death Row’ by residents – where a multi-million pound transformation is under way.

The neighbourhood was once dubbed Death Row by locals, but a project by Incommunities, Bradford Council and the Homes and Communities Agency is turning its fortunes around.

The Council has now applied for planning permission for the linear park, which it says would create a new green corridor between Manningham and the city centre.

It would begin at Grattan Road, where a large tree would be lit to mark the entrance.

This would link into a community park running along Chain Street, which would have seating, lawns and trees.

The park area would then turn into a boulevard, which would be open to cars with traffic-calming measures in place.

And a new town square would mark the end of the corridor, near Ashton Street. This square would be overlooked by a planned care home.

Council leader, Councillor David Green, said: “This shows our commitment to bringing the Chain Street area back into sustainable use.

“We believe that the people living there and the people who will use the area have an entitlement to great public open space.

“It will not only improve the quality of life of people who live there, but also the people passing through.”

The linear park would be designed on the theme of ‘weaving’, in a nod to the city’s historic textile roots, with a path weaving through the park’s different areas.

The application says: “A central path and recreational spaces will weave in and out. This weaving effect draws on the textile industry both past and present in Bradford, with overlapping spaces allowing ‘pockets’ of activity to be defined in the landscape.”

The application says the linear park would also bring the natural environment to an urban area, maximising views into the development and “reinforcing the character of the place”.

Council said the cost of the project was not available because it was “still being estimated”.

Last week, there were celebrations as Incommunities unveiled its £1.2 million conversion of 36 hard-to-let bedsits into sought-after three-bedroom family homes.

More homes are to be built on open grassland facing Chain Street and the extra-care scheme for the elderly is planned for a car park on Ashton Street, as long as Government funding can be secured.