The announcement that a new developer has been found for the prime Vicar Lane site in the centre of Bradford is excellent news. Eddie Healey's Stadium Group has a proven track record, not least in household-name projects like Meadowhall which has been so successful that, sadly, it has wooed shoppers away even from Bradford.

Hopefully, this new scheme will help to redress the balance - not because it is a retail project, of course, but because it will attract people from all around the district to come to Bradford for a quality leisure experience at the heart of the city.

Hopefully, those who come to enjoy the cinema, bowling, caf-bars and restaurants and health and fitness centre at Vicar Lane will then be encouraged to spend more time discovering the other things that central Bradford has to offer.

That should have the knock-on effect of creating a more family-friendly city centre and giving a major boost to the shops. There have been too many developments on the fringes of the city in recent years, luring people away from its heart. This new scheme is just what is needed to reverse that unfortunate trend.

We wish the developers well, as we do Sterling Capitol - another company with a strong track record - who have been chosen as the new developers of Odsal Stadium. Its scheme certainly seems to be more realistic than its predecessor. If both firms deliver the goods and stick to the timetable, they surely will have the support and gratitude of a city which has grown sick of delays and uncertainty over these important projects.

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