MORE than half of the units on Bradford's main retail thoroughfare now lie empty, seven months after The Broadway shopping centre opened its doors.

Now the Chamber of Trade is pleading with Bradford Council to rethink plans to extend parking charges around Darley Street, saying shops there need all the help they can get.

Retailers are also calling for more to be done to bolster the Kirkgate Shopping Centre.

And the manager of the Kirkgate centre has warned that plans by the Post Office to move its Darley Street branch into The Broadway could be the final "nail in the coffin" for that part of town.

The streets around The Broadway are now thriving, with a redevelopment of The Xchange - formerly Arndale House - well under way and plans in place for a new cinema on Broadway itself.

In stark contrast, the pedestrianised section of Darley Street, which for decades has been at the centre of Bradford's shopping offer, now has ten empty units and only seven open shops, after some big names moved to The Broadway and others left the city centre entirely.

More empty units can be found in nearby streets such as Westgate and Bank Street.

Bradford Council, which is having to plug a multi-million pound hole in its budgets, has now told traders it plans to extend the times when people have to pay to park in nearby roads.

There would be parking charges from 8am to 6pm daily, rather than 10am to 4.30pm, and a flat fee of £1 for Sundays, which is currently free.

But the secretary of the Chamber of Trade, Val Summerscales, said the change would be "an absolute folly" at a time when that part of town looks as it does.

Mrs Summerscales said Darley Street was a vital link between the top and bottom of town, but she was getting increasingly concerned about the number of shops disappearing.

"I walk up and down there and I think, 'That's another one gone'," she said.

"Obviously, we expected some of the shops to relocate into The Broadway centre - that was well documented before it opened but it becomes more difficult for the traders that are left."

A spokesman for Bradford Council said the parking changes were designed to benefit shoppers.

He said: "We are trying to introduce a parking structure which encourages those parking all day to use long-stay car parks and free up the spaces available for people wanting to park for a short amount of time to visit the shops and markets.

"Bradford still has the cheapest on-street parking charges in West Yorkshire."

Kirkgate Market traders have also been hit by the dwindling number of customers and believe the only way the top end of the city centre will be boosted is if retailers are found to fill the empty units.

Stallholder Yvette Hardy, of Hardy's Jewellers, had successfully lobbied the Kirkgate centre to cut its parking fees a month ago, to bring them closer to the fees at The Broadway.

Miss Hardy told the Telegraph & Argus that while the move had helped stallholders, it was still not enough to keep them afloat long-term.

Empty units both within the shopping centre and the surrounding streets were sapping their trade, she added.

"There has been an improvement in trade since the car park prices were cut and we are not about 50 per cent down on usual, rather than 70 per cent.

"But it's still not enough and are we still struggling.

"If the empty units are filled with new shops, that could give us the boost we need and bring more customers to the market."

In response Kirkgate centre manager Catherine Riley said the recent reduction in parking fees was the first step in a "grander plan" for attracting visitors to the Kirkgate centre.

She said: "It is currently too early to analyse the impact of cheaper parking but anecdotally our numbers are up."

Speaking about the effect of The Broadway's opening on her centre, Mrs Riley said its footfall had actually increased since The Broadway opened its doors, and the burgeoning independent quarter around North Parade had also had a positive impact.

She said the Kirkgate centre was in commercially sensitive discussions with new retailers about opening in its larger units and it would reveal more information when it was able to.

But Mrs Riley expressed concern over the Post Office’s plans to move out of the area.

Last month, the Post Office announced it planned to move the Darley Street branch into the WH Smith shop inside The Broadway.

Mrs Riley: "Our conversations with not only local traders but with locals clearly shows the level of opposition to the move which feels to many, like a nail in the coffin for the Darley Street side of our shopping district.

"More can be done to close the gap between the areas of the city."

The Chamber of Trade, which represents retailers, has called on the Post Office to consider moving into the Kirkgate Shopping Centre instead.

Mrs Summerscales said the branch should have a frontage facing out onto a public street, which the Kirkgate centre could offer.

She said the Kirkgate centre was doing all it could to attract new tenants, which she saw as "the key" to helping that part of town.

A Post Office consultation on the plans ended on June 1 and a spokesman said no final decision had yet been made.

The spokesman said it had received 25 responses, which included concerns about Darley Street and suggestions to move into the Kirkgate centre, which would be "very carefully considered".

Meanwhile, bosses at The Broadway were keen to emphasise the positive effect its opening had had on the city's economy.

General manager Ian Ward said the opening of the centre represented a £260 million investment in Bradford city centre, and offered a shopping experience "to rival developments in cities across the region which have traditionally drawn footfall and spend away from Bradford".

He said new retailers were in the process of joining the centre, adding: "This represents a huge footfall draw for the whole area, and with it, significant opportunities for the wider city to capitalise on."

Bradford Council has been running a grant scheme to encourage new retailers into 'priority streets' in the city centre, including Darley Street.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, executive member for planning and transport, said: "Darley Street is part of our Priority Streets initiative which provides capital grants to bring vacant properties back into use on Darley Street, Kirkgate and Ivegate.

“We are also talking to the landlords or owners of vacant properties on Darley Street about meanwhile uses and to the new owners of the Kirkgate Centre.

“I would add that over 50 per cent of the retailers in Broadway are new to Bradford and we’ve witnessed additional investment in Meyer Bergman’s cinema/leisure development and the Xchange development on Broadway."

Cllr Ross-Shaw said the authority had also relaxed planning rules around the change-of-use of buildings in the city centre, so it was "doing everything in our power" to help owners find new uses for their properties, including as pop-up spaces for arts groups.

He added: "The Broadway shopping centre is going to change how people move around the city centre.

“City centres do not remain static, just as our shopping habits shift over time, so retailers want different spaces and therefore the space requirements in a city centre inevitably change.

“Regeneration never stops."