A REGENERATION masterplan for Bradford city centre has “lost its direction” with a host of key schemes stalling, according to the opposition Tories.

Councillor Simon Cooke, Conservative group leader at Bradford Council, said he had major concerns about a lack of progress on the plans to build a new public sector hub on the Jacob's Well site and Grade A offices where the former Tyrls police station once stood in City Park.

He said he was also worried that the Council’s new plan to open a market in the former Marks & Spencer in Darley Street, and knock down the Oastler Centre site for housing, did not have a housebuilder signed up.

He said: “I cannot help but feel that the Council has lost its direction for improving the city centre. It feels as if the Council is flailing around, desperately wondering what best to do, in order to deliver upon its vision.

“There is even a sense of uncertainty regarding the future of the Odeon, leaving one with a sense that all of the proposed major city centre schemes fall into the categories of stalled, or hanging on by a whisker.”

The scheme to build a new £20m public sector hub on the Jacob's Well site in Nelson Street, in partnership with private developers, was unveiled by Bradford Council in February 2015.

At the time, developers said they aimed to open it in the first quarter of 2018.

But while the Council vacated the building last summer, no planning applications have been submitted or tenants signed up. Council bosses said this year that a refurbishment of the existing building is now being considered.

Nearby, grand plans for Grade A offices dubbed 1 City Park were first unveiled in 2014, when Bradford Council earmarked the site of the now-demolished Tyrls police station in City Park for a new-build opportunity for a private developer.

But despite the Council securing outline planning permission and funding from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, no developer has yet signed up. Last year, the Council said it was looking at various options for taking a development forward, including managing the completed offices itself.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, executive member for regeneration at the Labour-led Council, insisted that the city’s regeneration was “continuing at pace”.

He said: “There’s more to do but we’ve got a flourishing city centre with the Broadway, North Parade, City Park, Sunbridge Wells and heritage street improvements to name a few. Contrast that with the Conservative shambles symbolised by the infamous hole in the ground which they left us with.”

Cllr Ross-Shaw said their “ambitious” plan to create a new food-focused market in Darley Street freed up the Oastler site for development but said it was “disingenuous of Cllr Cooke to think we should have a developer signed up for a proposal we’ve only just announced”.

He said: “We’re moving quickly and we’ll appoint the design team for the market redevelopment within weeks. Let’s also remember that moving the markets affects people’s livelihoods so we need to work with stallholders to get it right.

“Bradford city centre is on the up and the next few years will see some real steps forward for the city.”

Meanwhile, Bradford Live, the non-profit organisation hoping to turn the Odeon back into a commercial live venue, also insisted that real progress was being made on its £15m project.

Director Lee Craven said two potential operators were tendering for the opportunity to run the building and they “should be able to make a selection by the end of July”.

He said: “I remain optimistic that it will come through. I know it doesn’t look as if things are happening and the Odeon looks in a bit of a sorry shape.

“But it’s structurally sound and there’s an enormous amount going on behind the scenes and people don’t realise.

“Unfortunately, a lot of it is commercially confidential.”

MORE TOP STORIES