It has long been felt in Bradford that the city has had to play second fiddle to other areas of Yorkshire which are considered to have greater needs. Grants have gone to places like Sheffield, which is in the doldrums following the collapse of the steel industry, or large parts of South Yorkshire which has lost the employment mainstay of mining.

But Bradford, too, is hardly a boom town. It has had its own problems with the decline of its staple industries. The city has also lain in the shadow of Leeds, which has managed to present a more glamorous image to help to attract far greater investment for regeneration.

Despite the fact that this is Britain's fourth largest metropolitan district in terms of population, and one of the few which is actually growing, Bradford still seems unable to make its case heard. Until community leaders get to grips with this issue it has to be down to individuals to shout their case.

The new regional development agency for Yorkshire - dubbed Yorkshire Forward - is giving ordinary people a chance to do just that and help it to draw up a Regional Economic Strategy for the next ten years. A task force visited Newlands yesterday to look at what has already been done there. And today we publish a coupon giving readers a chance to suggest what needs to be done to help their area and the whole city.

It is worth sparing a few minutes to complete it. Bradford needs as much input as it can get, from as many individuals as possible, to help to steer it to a better future.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.