The announcement that the European Regional Development Fund is putting up £1.46 million towards the creation of a food technology park in Ripley Street is one to be applauded. This grant towards a £4.8 million project which has already received funding from Bradford Council and Yorkshire Forward means that work can now start on reclaiming the site, which is currently in a derelict state.

It is excellent news for West Bowling, a part of the inner city which will surely benefit considerably from this development. In fact it is good news for Bradford in general.

This is a city which has largely lost the traditional industries on which its past prosperity and reputation were based. The wool-textile and engineering sectors have faded away, along with the many thousands of jobs they provided in the vast mills and factories.

Fortunately in their place have come various smaller enterprises better suited to the needs of the new millennium: call centres, media and electronics companies, countless firms serving the supply sector...and a booming catering trade.

Bradford has won itself a new name as a place which specialises in international cuisine. There is now in and around this city a wide diversity of restaurants offering food to suit all taste. It is one of Bradford's selling points.

This new food technology park, which it is hoped will eventually generate up to 300 jobs in units once partnerships with the private sector have been developed, should considerably strengthen the city's reputation as a centre of excellence as far as food production is concerned.