The head of an organisation which will spend millions of pounds breathing new life into Manningham today gave the message that people wanted to draw a line on the past and forge ahead.

Jacek Piergies, known as Jake, who has taken over the £36,000-a-year job as chief executive of Manningham and Girlington Single Regeneration Budget partnership, says the community is looking ahead with optimism.

He was a leading figure in the Keighley SRB and its major prospects and said he was delighted to take over the top job in area which was moving forward.

He added: "I feel the riots are in the past. People want to move forward. It was a blip in the history of Bradford."

He said he was committed to working closely with Yorkshire Forward to find ways of increasing the £9.8 million SRB award.

Mr Piergies stressed the regeneration of the derelict south wing of landmark Manningham Mills was also high on the agenda as an issue to tackle for the benefit of Bradford.

He said: "We want it to play a positive part in the regeneration of Manningham. It needs to be brought back to life playing a part in job creation and business stability.

"I am also very determined that we should put ourselves forward as best we can for the European Capital of Culture bid."

He believes the area has one of the best gateways into Bradford with Lister Park and Bradford Grammar School and wants to take advantage of it.

Young people are also at the fore of projects planned to revitalise the tired streets - because they are seen as the key to the future.

Mr Piergies said major projects are going strong, including the Manningham Project which helps young people to find jobs through a wide range of initiatives including contact with employers, the Home Study project and an innovative scheme for helping people to set up small and medium businesses.

Mr Piergies said they also believed the provision of information technology was vital, and they were working closely with schools, particularly in early years reading projects.

Next on the list is the setting up of a business forum and 50 companies have already said they are interested.

Mr Piergies began his career with the London Borough of Lambeth as an environmental health officer. He worked for Rotherham and Craven district councils before coming to Bradford environmental health department in 1983.

He managed Bingley, Ilkley and Keighley environmental health offices before becoming part of the working group which submitted a bid for Single Regeneration Budget funding for Keighley in 1992.

He later became project manager of the SRB schemes, heavily involved in housing and urban village schemes.

The East Parade/

Cameronian Court urban village development won an award of merit from the National Home Improvement Council.

Other major projects include the renovation of the former Keighley work house and one of the town's architectural treasures, the Royal Arcade.