Serious reservations were expressed by many people (including this newspaper) when developer Asquith Properties submitted its original plans for an apartment block on the former Shipley Paints site at the junction of Leeds Road and the Shipley-Airedale Road.

A 17-storey tower block standing well above any of the surrounding historic buildings of Little Germany would, it was felt, have dominated the area and been entirely out of keeping with the architecture around it.

Full marks to Asquith for taking those concerns on board and coming back with what the artist's impression reveals to be a stunning new design which, at 11 storeys, is in scale with the existing neighbouring buildings. Nothing goes better with Yorkshire stone than glass and steel, and this £22 million building with 130 apartments plus £250,000 penthouses will have the lot.

There is nothing wrong, of course, with a tower block. This was just not the right place for it. If Asquith still wants to build one to further add to its growing list of Bradford developments, the Council should work with it to find a suitable site.

It is a company which deserves to be encouraged. It has already invested £70 million in Bradford developments and that figure is expected to rise to £100 million. It has further demonstrated its faith in Bradford by opening an office here and now, instead of walking away when its tower-block plan was turned down, it has demonstrated its commitment by returning with a scheme which will provide a striking new building at a major gateway to the city.