PLANS for a new £1 million facelift at the Kirkgate Shopping centre have been given the green light by Bradford Council.

It is hoped the new modernised entrance and colourful cladding will give a boost to the centre’s visitor numbers.

The redevelopment includes a new £1 million entrance to the centre in Kirkgate, which features a two-storey glazed entrance lobby, new escalators, and a new staircase next to the escalators.

The new external cladding will cover the parts of the centre which overhang the pedestrian and vehicle entrances, along with a brick section on the corner of Kirkgate and Darley Street. It is being fitted “at key points of the street-scene to improve its appearance” and “to give the centre more prominence and to provide relief to the scale and form of the existing building”.

One of the shopfronts in Kirkgate is also being renovated as part of the development.

The application’s planning statement said: “These applications are all part of the same approach to improve the visitor experience and to sustain levels of footfall in this part of the city centre so that the vitality and viability of the Kirkgate Shopping Centre can be preserved.

“These works are required to ensure that the Kirkgate Centre continues to be operational and relevant in Bradford’s retail environment by making the centre attractive to prospective tenants and to maintain and hopefully increase levels of footfall.”

Multi-coloured translucent plastic panelling is being used for the over-cladding which will be backlit using LED lights.