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7:00am Tuesday 5th May 2009
The company created to drive through Bradford’s £3 billion regeneration is to be disbanded, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal.
During a nine-month handover period, the Council will take back in-house the work of Bradford Centre Regeneration which since 2003 has spearheaded the ‘Birth of a New City’ initiative.
Exact details of how BCR will be disbanded are yet to emerge but it is possible that it could be kept as a shell, as a means of attracting investment from various funding bodies.
But control over regeneration will return to the Council which, it is believed, now feels itself to be in the best position to drive forward the delivery stage of the programme with a more dynamic team.
Councillor Ian Greenwood, leader of the Council’s Labour group and a member of the BCR board, admitted it had had mixed results.
“My view is that it was good to have a vehicle for concentrating attention and focus on the city centre,” he said.
“I very much welcome the private sector investment in the body and I think the planning stage was good.
“But I am not convinced we have seen the amount of improvement in the city centre that we might have expected in the period. I think people would have expected greater physical indication of regeneration than has been demonstrated. We need to see cranes and buildings going up.
“The Council needs to be responsible for steering regeneration forward in the future.”
Councillor David Ward, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Bradford Council, was more forthright.
He said: “The sooner they (BCR) go the better, and it will be sooner rather than later.
“We were always unhappy about the fact that something we regard as being the responsibility of the Council for regeneration was being privatised, with the inevitable secrecy that followed. It was an abdication of responsibilities.
“It had to be very much an open and transparent process if it was to be successful. I believe we should bring regeneration back in-house with very strong leadership.
“We were over ambitious and had far too many grand schemes. The development of Bradford was always more likely to be on an incremental basis to make something a success and then move on to the next thing.
“Things like the canal project and the world mile looked great when they took them across to Cannes, but were never likely to succeed.
“There was a lack of understanding of Bradford. The wealth did not exist for these schemes. We are not a Leeds, Sheffield or Manchester in terms of our economy. There was a basic failure to understand the deprivation in Bradford.
“The cost of BCR is obviously financial, in terms of the running of the organisation, but the even greater cost is the lost chance for development.
Council leader Kris Hopkins was unavailable for comment.
Jammy, Bradford says...
7:17am Tue 5 May 09
feddup, huddersfield says...
8:42am Tue 5 May 09
Joedavid, Bradford says...
9:05am Tue 5 May 09
dazbot, Bradford says...
9:18am Tue 5 May 09
c/pot, eccelshill says...
9:27am Tue 5 May 09
nowt fresh, Bradford says...
9:49am Tue 5 May 09
PHILISAN, ALFORD says...
10:13am Tue 5 May 09
Dr Evil, Saltaire says...
10:32am Tue 5 May 09
albion, west riding says...
10:58am Tue 5 May 09
LeviathanRising, Keighley says...
11:13am Tue 5 May 09
edgey2001, Morley says...
11:20am Tue 5 May 09
sarahkate, bradford says...
11:30am Tue 5 May 09
feddup, huddersfield says...
11:34am Tue 5 May 09
tyker, midland road says...
11:46am Tue 5 May 09
emma72, Eccleshill says...
12:12pm Tue 5 May 09
Jayteebee, Bradford says...
12:18pm Tue 5 May 09
ItchyBungle, Bradford says...
12:18pm Tue 5 May 09
emma72, Eccleshill says...
12:19pm Tue 5 May 09
Joedavid wrote:HOLD ON A MINUTE - ISN'T HE PART OF THE COUNCIL? Isn't this the first time in SIX YEARS that the any member of the council has said anything? ISN'T HE ALSO RESPONSIBLE?
Best News T&A as ever printed.
Well said David Ward.
emma72, Eccleshill says...
12:26pm Tue 5 May 09
c/pot wrote:petition for a public inquiry at:
A complete waste of time and our money,it gets more like a Carry On film year after year,there should be a public enquiry into this farse and someone should be held responsible for it.
SLATE MINER, Bfd. says...
1:16pm Tue 5 May 09
feddup wrote:Have I missed something here? Where does it mention anything about payments to Ms Marshall or sacking her?
I suppose we must now wait to find out just how massive the pay-off is going to be for these losers. How much more of our cash can Ms Marshall accept with a straight face ? Has she the decency to accept the sack and not try to screw even more money out of us ? I somehow doubt it...
lanzaman, bradford says...
1:34pm Tue 5 May 09
mysay1985, Bradford says...
1:35pm Tue 5 May 09
SLATE MINER, Bfd. says...
1:43pm Tue 5 May 09
emma72 wrote:Good old emma still banging on and on and on and on about the petition. Looking at the petition stats it dont seem to be working em.
c/pot wrote: A complete waste of time and our money,it gets more like a Carry On film year after year,there should be a public enquiry into this farse and someone should be held responsible for it.petition for a public inquiry at: http://petitions.num ber10.gov.uk/Bradfor dRegen/
emma72, Eccleshill says...
1:48pm Tue 5 May 09
SLATE MINER wrote:Granted the stats aren't brilliant - petitions aren't very exciting for people are they - however with over 200 petitionees it goes to the PM
emma72 wrote:Good old emma still banging on and on and on and on about the petition. Looking at the petition stats it dont seem to be working em.
c/pot wrote: A complete waste of time and our money,it gets more like a Carry On film year after year,there should be a public enquiry into this farse and someone should be held responsible for it.petition for a public inquiry at: http://petitions.num ber10.gov.uk/Bradfor dRegen/
The Odeon Crusader, Wibsey says...
2:17pm Tue 5 May 09
emma72 wrote:Emma, it is completely wrong to question Cllr David Ward's motives for speaking out.
Joedavid wrote: Best News T&A as ever printed. Well said David Ward.HOLD ON A MINUTE - ISN'T HE PART OF THE COUNCIL? Isn't this the first time in SIX YEARS that the any member of the council has said anything? ISN'T HE ALSO RESPONSIBLE? Perhaps thinks is he's starts saying this now - when there are action groups popping up all over the place he'll have a better chance in the next elections
feddup, huddersfield says...
2:23pm Tue 5 May 09
SLATE MINER wrote:If the company is ceasing to exist, then presumably her job will cease to exist, and she'll effectively be sacked. And given her track record, I think it highly likely she'll be insisting on a huge compensation payout.
feddup wrote: I suppose we must now wait to find out just how massive the pay-off is going to be for these losers. How much more of our cash can Ms Marshall accept with a straight face ? Has she the decency to accept the sack and not try to screw even more money out of us ? I somehow doubt it...Have I missed something here? Where does it mention anything about payments to Ms Marshall or sacking her?
SLATE MINER, Bfd. says...
2:34pm Tue 5 May 09
feddup wrote:Lets get this right. If the company is would up she will effectively be made redundant and not sacked. This being the case she will be entitled to redundancy payment in line with government legislation. That is of course unless the council have her on a tight contract which I doubt.
SLATE MINER wrote:If the company is ceasing to exist, then presumably her job will cease to exist, and she'll effectively be sacked. And given her track record, I think it highly likely she'll be insisting on a huge compensation payout.feddup wrote: I suppose we must now wait to find out just how massive the pay-off is going to be for these losers. How much more of our cash can Ms Marshall accept with a straight face ? Has she the decency to accept the sack and not try to screw even more money out of us ? I somehow doubt it...Have I missed something here? Where does it mention anything about payments to Ms Marshall or sacking her?
emma72, Eccleshill says...
3:19pm Tue 5 May 09
The Odeon Crusader wrote:if this is the case,
emma72 wrote:Emma, it is completely wrong to question Cllr David Ward's motives for speaking out.
Joedavid wrote: Best News T&A as ever printed. Well said David Ward.HOLD ON A MINUTE - ISN'T HE PART OF THE COUNCIL? Isn't this the first time in SIX YEARS that the any member of the council has said anything? ISN'T HE ALSO RESPONSIBLE? Perhaps thinks is he's starts saying this now - when there are action groups popping up all over the place he'll have a better chance in the next elections
For several years he has been rightly critical of BCR in the public arena and has been perhaps the only councillor to do so.
David Ward has championed the BORG campaign, and his presence at the Hug The Odeon event was a huge gesture when other councillors stayed away...
Additionally, David Ward also was the man responsible for the stormy Question Time With BCR event at the Midland Hotel in Feb 2008 taking place following his resolution to a full council meeting for BCR to be less secretive and open with the Bradford public. The event was successful in the sense that the Bradford public ripped BCR to pieces and despite Hopkins' vow to have future public meetings, they bottled out of any!!!
Great news today - let's hope the council now take the Odeon issue on board and reconcile it with the views of local people.
SLATE MINER, Bfd. says...
3:41pm Tue 5 May 09
The Odeon Crusader, Wibsey says...
3:53pm Tue 5 May 09
mad matt, Bradford says...
4:08pm Tue 5 May 09
emma72, Eccleshill says...
4:44pm Tue 5 May 09
SLATE MINER wrote:So does this mean the headline should read:
BREAKING NEWS
If the information I have just obtained by doing a search on Ms Marshall is true this means that she reaches retirement age in january next year. If this is the case it could explain why it is going to take 9 months for the hand over to take place - very convenient me thinks.
Matt1961, Cleckheaton says...
7:22pm Tue 5 May 09
MP, keighley says...
7:44pm Tue 5 May 09
yorkshiregirl, leeds says...
7:46pm Tue 5 May 09
yezboss, Bradford says...
7:51pm Tue 5 May 09
DJA, Bradford says...
8:37pm Tue 5 May 09
The Odeon Crusader wrote:Excuse me. Isn't David Ward a Liberal Democrat - The party that is proping up this awful Conservative leadership of Bradford Council.
emma72 wrote:Emma, it is completely wrong to question Cllr David Ward's motives for speaking out. For several years he has been rightly critical of BCR in the public arena and has been perhaps the only councillor to do so. David Ward has championed the BORG campaign, and his presence at the Hug The Odeon event was a huge gesture when other councillors stayed away... Additionally, David Ward also was the man responsible for the stormy Question Time With BCR event at the Midland Hotel in Feb 2008 taking place following his resolution to a full council meeting for BCR to be less secretive and open with the Bradford public. The event was successful in the sense that the Bradford public ripped BCR to pieces and despite Hopkins' vow to have future public meetings, they bottled out of any!!! Great news today - let's hope the council now take the Odeon issue on board and reconcile it with the views of local people.Joedavid wrote: Best News T&A as ever printed. Well said David Ward.HOLD ON A MINUTE - ISN'T HE PART OF THE COUNCIL? Isn't this the first time in SIX YEARS that the any member of the council has said anything? ISN'T HE ALSO RESPONSIBLE? Perhaps thinks is he's starts saying this now - when there are action groups popping up all over the place he'll have a better chance in the next elections
The Odeon Crusader, Wibsey says...
8:49pm Tue 5 May 09
DJA wrote:Surely your question should be why doesn't Hopkins listen to the voices of the public like D Ward has?
The Odeon Crusader wrote:Excuse me. Isn't David Ward a Liberal Democrat - The party that is proping up this awful Conservative leadership of Bradford Council. Why doesn't he and the Conservative's listen to the voices that have proposed using Broadway as an outdoor market until the development of Westfield Bradford takes place.emma72 wrote:Emma, it is completely wrong to question Cllr David Ward's motives for speaking out. For several years he has been rightly critical of BCR in the public arena and has been perhaps the only councillor to do so. David Ward has championed the BORG campaign, and his presence at the Hug The Odeon event was a huge gesture when other councillors stayed away... Additionally, David Ward also was the man responsible for the stormy Question Time With BCR event at the Midland Hotel in Feb 2008 taking place following his resolution to a full council meeting for BCR to be less secretive and open with the Bradford public. The event was successful in the sense that the Bradford public ripped BCR to pieces and despite Hopkins' vow to have future public meetings, they bottled out of any!!! Great news today - let's hope the council now take the Odeon issue on board and reconcile it with the views of local people.Joedavid wrote: Best News T&A as ever printed. Well said David Ward.HOLD ON A MINUTE - ISN'T HE PART OF THE COUNCIL? Isn't this the first time in SIX YEARS that the any member of the council has said anything? ISN'T HE ALSO RESPONSIBLE? Perhaps thinks is he's starts saying this now - when there are action groups popping up all over the place he'll have a better chance in the next elections
lonniejockstrap, Bradford says...
8:50pm Tue 5 May 09
DJA, Bradford says...
9:21pm Tue 5 May 09
The Odeon Crusader wrote:If David Ward listened to members of the public - He would resign as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats because it's his party that is keeping Hopkins leader of the Council.
DJA wrote:Surely your question should be why doesn't Hopkins listen to the voices of the public like D Ward has? Take the politics out of it for a second, at least David Ward has spoken out against BCR and their questionable ways for the past few years!The Odeon Crusader wrote:Excuse me. Isn't David Ward a Liberal Democrat - The party that is proping up this awful Conservative leadership of Bradford Council. Why doesn't he and the Conservative's listen to the voices that have proposed using Broadway as an outdoor market until the development of Westfield Bradford takes place.emma72 wrote:Emma, it is completely wrong to question Cllr David Ward's motives for speaking out. For several years he has been rightly critical of BCR in the public arena and has been perhaps the only councillor to do so. David Ward has championed the BORG campaign, and his presence at the Hug The Odeon event was a huge gesture when other councillors stayed away... Additionally, David Ward also was the man responsible for the stormy Question Time With BCR event at the Midland Hotel in Feb 2008 taking place following his resolution to a full council meeting for BCR to be less secretive and open with the Bradford public. The event was successful in the sense that the Bradford public ripped BCR to pieces and despite Hopkins' vow to have future public meetings, they bottled out of any!!! Great news today - let's hope the council now take the Odeon issue on board and reconcile it with the views of local people.Joedavid wrote: Best News T&A as ever printed. Well said David Ward.HOLD ON A MINUTE - ISN'T HE PART OF THE COUNCIL? Isn't this the first time in SIX YEARS that the any member of the council has said anything? ISN'T HE ALSO RESPONSIBLE? Perhaps thinks is he's starts saying this now - when there are action groups popping up all over the place he'll have a better chance in the next elections
dazbot, Bradford says...
9:29pm Tue 5 May 09
The Odeon Crusader, Wibsey says...
9:40pm Tue 5 May 09
dazbot wrote:Spot on, dazbot!
What I think we all need now is a statement about the regeneration situation in Bradford, and the next steps forward we can take (that are not pie in the sky ideas). If there are any projects that can be done with the Leeds / Bradford Airport money, we should immediately use it to get the town center working again, be it rent subsidies to get business back into empty shops or small developments to improve the look of the place.
OdsalMan, bradford says...
9:59pm Tue 5 May 09
MP, keighley says...
10:46pm Tue 5 May 09
Wanna Have, Bradford says...
11:15pm Tue 5 May 09
LeviathanRising, Keighley says...
12:10am Wed 6 May 09
Osgood, Keighley says...
6:24am Wed 6 May 09
emma72, Eccleshill says...
9:56am Wed 6 May 09
emma72 wrote:Just as a byword
The Odeon Crusader wrote:if this is the case,
emma72 wrote:Emma, it is completely wrong to question Cllr David Ward's motives for speaking out.
Joedavid wrote: Best News T&A as ever printed. Well said David Ward.HOLD ON A MINUTE - ISN'T HE PART OF THE COUNCIL? Isn't this the first time in SIX YEARS that the any member of the council has said anything? ISN'T HE ALSO RESPONSIBLE? Perhaps thinks is he's starts saying this now - when there are action groups popping up all over the place he'll have a better chance in the next elections
For several years he has been rightly critical of BCR in the public arena and has been perhaps the only councillor to do so.
David Ward has championed the BORG campaign, and his presence at the Hug The Odeon event was a huge gesture when other councillors stayed away...
Additionally, David Ward also was the man responsible for the stormy Question Time With BCR event at the Midland Hotel in Feb 2008 taking place following his resolution to a full council meeting for BCR to be less secretive and open with the Bradford public. The event was successful in the sense that the Bradford public ripped BCR to pieces and despite Hopkins' vow to have future public meetings, they bottled out of any!!!
Great news today - let's hope the council now take the Odeon issue on board and reconcile it with the views of local people.
I stand corrected
80)
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Collos, Bradford says...
7:07am Tue 5 May 09