To some, they’re a convenient place to buy clothes, furniture and electrical goods, helped by the added incentive of free parking.

To others, they suck the lifeblood from traditional retail areas of town and city centres.

Out-of-town shopping developments have been a bone of contention for many a long year, but the old argument was thrust back into the spotlight earlier this week by a wrangle between an ambitious developer and Bradford Council.

Javed Ahmed Majid, owner of the derelict Town and Country Club in Manningham Lane, wants to build a £9m Asian bazaar over five levels on the prominent site.

The building, which would include up to ten restaurants and a host of Asian jewellery, clothing and furniture shops, would be served by a new multi-storey car park nearby.

But Mr Majid, owner of Cleveland-based Maher Entertainments, said his proposal had been “point-blank refused” by planners.

He said the Council believed the shops that would have been included in the Asian bazaar on Manningham Lane were exactly the sort of businesses that ought instead to be located within Westfield’s city centre shopping development at Broadway.

The Council would merely say that Mr Majid’s proposal was “not acceptable”.

After hearing of the argument between Mr Majid and the Council, retail experts and developers have been quick to give their views on the issue of out-of-town shopping developments.

Mary Frame, of Bradford Chamber of Trade, said: “We need to concentrate on the city centre. Out-of-town developments just fragment the traditional shopping area.

“Surely the site on Manningham Lane could be used for something else – something that won’t detract from the city centre. Why not use a disused building in the city centre for this retail park? I’m sure there are plenty of buildings that could be used.

“We have had too much of this out-of-town shopping. It’s very attractive to people because of the free parking.

“We feel at the chamber that free parking is the essence of the thing. If you can park on the main street for free in places like Cleckheaton and Skipton, people are going to favour that. People with money don’t like paying for parking.”

She said it would be nice if Bradford Council looked again at the possibility of providing free parking in the city centre, but said she doubted it would happen.

Andrew Mason, chairman of Bradford Property Forum, said he had mixed feelings on out-of-town retail schemes.

He said: “I think we were a bit cavalier ten or 15 years ago, carving up the countryside for these developments, but I think times have changed.

“I don’t necessarily like to see out-of-town shopping centres, especially on greenfield sites.

“However, where you’ve got a redundant building and a brownfield site, it’s a bit different. I’m more comfortable and relaxed about the idea of bringing old industrial sites back into use.”

Mr Mason said he was delighted to say he had never been to places such as Meadowhall, in Sheffield, and Monks Cross, in York, which he argued “sapped the blood out of town centres”.

He said: “We need to look towards our city centres and see how we can protect them. Too many out-of-town retail developments can contribute to urban decay.”

Mr Mason said the key to Bradford’s future retail offer was the Broadway shopping development, put on hold by Westfield.

He said: “Broadway needs to have the likes of Next, Zara and that type of boutique. There’s a stronger case for city centre malls because they bring life and vibrancy. People who visit the malls are likely to visit other shops nearby in the city centre.

“But Broadway also needs to attract the Asian pound into the city centre and I know that Westfield want Westfield Bradford to be more eclectic.

“They need to pull off a shopping centre that has Next and Zara sitting next to Bombay Stores and similar businesses. There’s a chance to create a multi-racial use that can only be good for Bradford.”

Turning to the proposal for an Asian bazaar on Manningham Lane, Mr Mason said: “Anything that dilutes the Broadway offer will cause the local authority massive indigestion and I think they will fight tooth and nail to stop it.

“There’s a lot of people who have worked so hard to get Westfield to Bradford and they won’t want to jeopardise that.”

On the subject of Forster Square retail park, which often divides opinion, Mr Mason said: “It’s an extremely successful retail park and that is demonstrated by the amount of people who use it.

“It’s a development I’m comfortable with because it’s on a brownfield site and the people of Bradford like it.

“Although it might not be the most architecturally-desirable location in Bradford, it does exactly what it says on the tin.”