Arguably, people with a definite purpose have a plan, whereas those who hope to have a plan have a vision.

Over the last 20 years or so, Bradford has had Bradford Vision, Bradford Congress, Shout For Bradford, Bradford’s Bouncing Back, Bradford Centre Regeneration, Bradford Breakthrough and Positive Bradford.

The latest addition to this assembly of the well-intentioned is the Bradford Matters Group, whose ambitions and membership were set out in a spread in the Telegraph & Argus last week.

The BMG has 27 invited members, coincidentally the same number of people in David Cameron’s Cabinet. Perhaps aware of the tradition out of which BMG has emerged, its chairman Sir James Hill was at pains to point out it wasn’t intended to be a talking shop.

He said: “The concern was that there’s a plethora of groups within Bradford and we could be seen as just another one. We were a group that could meet and hopefully meet successfully with people that had something to tell us about Bradford.”

But telling means talking, and how often in the past has talking resulted in action? The “plethora of groups” referred to by Sir James were driven by a vision of making a difference to Bradford and its disparate communities.

Bradford Vision, for example, was a “district-wide local strategic partnership” with the express ideal of making Bradford “a successful 21st European city.”

It emerged from the ashes of Bradford Congress, another partnership, which had a presence from about 1994 to 2002. Bradford Vision was scrapped a few years ago by Bradford Council’s former leader Kris Hopkins.

Bradford Vision was a private company through which significant Neighbourhood Renewal Funding – about £13m – was channelled. It was created in response to central Government’s mistrust of the Council’s ability to manage community cohesion, regeneration and even education.

Kris Hopkins wanted these matters to be returned in-house and run by the Council.

He said in 2006: “The Council should be in there, leading regeneration. Bradford Vision and Bradford Centre Regeneration are excuses for the Council failing to deliver.”

The idea that any group, no matter how well-meaning and resourced, can make Bradford “successful”, “European” and “21st century” risks tripping over its own criteria.

Recession, public spending cuts and a change of political power usually make short work of good intentions. Besides, the fashion for ‘top-down’ solutions has long been over, as Bradford Vision’s second and last chief executive Elaine Applebee made plain at a housing summit in York last October.

She said: “You cannot have a sensible conversation about what the state needs to provide until you know what well-resourced families and communities can do for themselves.”

Corporate Bradford actually has a long-term strategy called 2020 Vision. It was formulated 14 years ago and had four key points. A summary of them may help future deliberations of the Bradford Matters Group and its various sub-committees: l Progress through partnership and co-operation with Leeds rather than competition, latterly via the Local Enterprise Partnership set up by the Coalition Government to bid for regional development money after they scrapped Yorkshire Forward.

  • Bradford’s cultural reputation to be enhanced by city-centre developments, City Park being the most recent manifestation of this policy.
  • Vibrant culture activity in an attractive environment in turn will regenerate central Bradford. The Westfield shopping mall should play a major part in this.
  • The resolution of city centre traffic problems by taking all through traffic out of it, the creation of park-and-ride schemes and increasing on-street parking for shoppers, day-trippers and residents.

The 11-page 2020 Vision document talked of economic, social and environmental improvements that would form a “virtuous circle” comprising a vibrant cultural scene and a unique shopping experience that would protect Bradford and its district from a “vicious circle of decay”.

That blueprint was the legacy of Bradford Congress. If the Bradford Matters Group helps make 2020 Vision a reality, it will indeed have made a difference.