Westfield has confirmed it remains “fully committed” to the Broadway shopping centre in Bradford – even if a proposed expansion of another West Yorkshire shopping centre gets the go-ahead.

The Australian developer has objected to the extension of the White Rose centre, near Leeds, on the grounds of harmful impact on Bradford. Leeds City planning councillors will meet tomorrow to discuss the plans, which include a multi-screen cinema, four new restaurants and the extension of the Debenhams and Primark stores.

Duncan Bower, director of development at Westfield, said: “I can confirm that Westfield remains fully committed to the Bradford development regardless of any decision at White Rose.

“Site preparation works are already underway and today, Westfield is hosting a ‘Meet the Buyer’ event with Bradford Council to promote construction job opportunities to local contractors and suppliers. I am pleased to say the ‘Meet the Buyer’ event is at full capacity with 200 attendees.

“In the last week, we have signed three new retailers including River Island, Ernest Jones and H Samuel in addition to those already committed comprising Debenhams, M&S, Next, W H Smith and others.”

Speaking about the reasons for Westfield’s objection to the White Rose scheme, Mr Bower said: “Westfield, along with surrounding councils and investors, have objected to the planning application to extend the White Rose shopping centre on grounds of harmful impact on the city of Bradford and local town centres.

“The extension of White Rose, which is an out-of-town shopping centre, is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework which is firmly focussed on prioritising and supporting town and city centres first.

“The recent opening of 1m sq ft of retail at Trinity Leeds and the current planning application for the Victoria Gate Project further supports the fact that the Leeds area is well serviced for retail and does not require further out of town expansion.”

Mr Bower was writing in response to a question by Bradford West MP George Galloway, who had demanded a definitive ‘yes or no’ answer from Westfield as to whether its development would go ahead.