So now we know. If Bradford councillors decline to step in and put a stop to it, the distinctive building known variously as the New Victoria, Gaumont and Odeon will be demolished and a mediocre-looking structure which could be part of any modern city or town centre anywhere will go up in its place - unless, of course, the second part of the plan fails to go ahead for some reason, or is delayed, and Bradford is left with another big hole in its cityscape!

The councillors' involvement in deciding on the eventual planning application will be the first brush with democracy for this project, which has so far been driven by "the market".

The nearest it has come to it has been a "consultation" during which Bradford people were presented with three options (which didn't include keeping the present structure) and were asked for their views on them, but were not invited to say which they preferred. It wasn't a vote.

Nevertheless, 221 went ahead and expressed their preference for the scheme which would have retained the twin towers.

No chance. Unspecified "structural issues" have apparently ruled that out. Instead the scheme preferred by the "panel of experts" is the one that a mere 87 people said they liked best.

Those who are guiding this project through with such determination perhaps haven't appreciated the reason why so many Bradford people, mostly of the older generations, have such a passionate, stubborn, even obsessive attachment to the Gaumont and its towers.

It's more than a building, or a place which as the city's main entertainment centre for decades holds so many fond memories for them. It's a symbol of the Bradford that most of them (of us) grew up in, a Bradford which has changed in recent decades almost beyond recognition.

These older, indigenous Bradfordians have seen what they once felt to be their city steadily slipping away from them, architecturally and culturally. Some much-loved buildings of the past have long-since vanished: Swan Arcade, Kirkgate Market, Rawson Market, Busby's store Brown, Muff's (Rackham's) stands empty in Market Street. The home-grown Sunwin House, the "Co-op Emporium" of precious memory, has been taken over by a national store chain.

Apart from City Hall and the Cathedral (and Eastbrook Hall's facade which is painstakingly being taken apart to be reassembled as the front of a new development in Chapel Street), only three city-centre icons remain to serve as reminders of what once was: the splendid Wool Exchange, the Alhambra, and the Gaumont. The loss of any of those would hack through a major strand that binds people to their past.

And that's why the prospect of its demolition has provoked such anguish and anger.

Even though at present no-one has come forward with a commercial scheme to restore the Gaumont and turn it into the concert hall and performing-arts centre it could be, and though it seems unlikely that the money to achieve that could be found in the foreseeable future, a lot of people would prefer to see it preserved in its present unused state in the hope that one day its time will come.

For them, its demolition would be a loss too far. And that's why they're making such a fuss about the plan to flatten it and the way they believe it's been forced on the people of Bradford.

Need for objectivity

The move towards separatism in the name of cultural diversity rolls relentlessly on. Its latest advocate is Mary Fitzpatrick, the BBC's newly-appointed "editorial executive of diversity", who wants to see more "cultural accuracy" among reporting staff.

She's affronted by white reporters reporting from non-white nations, particularly in Africa, and on the home front wants non-white reporters to handle stories about non-white Britons.

You get the impression that in her ideal world, journalists would be fully matched according to skin tone and culture to the people they are interviewing or reporting about. As she puts it: "I would prefer to see somebody who understands that culture, understands what's going on and can say Look with me, because I'm part of this'."

How insulting to the many television and radio reporters (not only the hugely respected heavyweights like John Simpson and Orla Guerin) of various shades and cultural backgrounds who are currently doing a fine job of reporting a whole range of national and international events and issues.

We don't want reporters who can say "I'm part of this," which suggests a dangerous degree of subjectivity. We want reporters who are impartial and objective and capable of putting their professionalism above whatever background they happen to come from.

Tears of a clown

I've never really rated Emmerdale very highly as far as serious drama goes, tending to regard it as a bit of a pantomime - with Viv Windsor as the Wicked Witch and the Dingles as the Ugly Sisters and Brokers' Men all rolled into one.

However, the storyline about Alice Dingle's death has brought out the best in the cast members who play that dysfunctional family. As so often in British soaps, when they're given a strong plot and good writing the actors and actresses raise their game and come up with something exceptional.

James Hooton has been particularly impressive as the grieving Sam, with Steve Halliwell, above, as the usually blustering Zak showing us his softer side and Jeff Hordley even making the greasy, thieving, bully-boy Cain behave nobly - though not for long.

Well done, Emmerdale. I reckon these episodes will guarantee a few honours in the British Soap Awards.