City Plan is the delivery plan and framework for partnership working to achieve a decade of regeneration and economic growth in Bradford City Centre. It was endorsed by the Council’s Executive on the 10 February 2015.

The report of the Strategic Director, Regeneration (Document “K”) outlines the successes of City Plan to date, restates its objectives and outlines the Council’s draft priorities for 2017 – 2019.

Recommended –

Members are requested to note progress with the delivery of City Plan.

(Nick Ackroyd – 01274 432272)

‘City Plan’ was the delivery plan and framework for partnership working to achieve a decade of regeneration and economic growth in Bradford City Centre. It had been endorsed by the Council’s Executive on 10 February 2015.

The report of the Strategic Director, Regeneration (Document “K”) set out the progress made since the adoption of the City Plan in February 2015.  It explained that a review of the objectives and priorities was now in progress, in order to ensure that they remained valid in the light of the changes in the City Centre and other wider regional and national influences, and outlined the emerging areas for action and the proposed next steps.

Photographs to illustrate some of the successes of the plan were displayed.

In response to questions from Members, the Strategic Director, Regeneration explained that:

·         A senior officer workshop had reviewed the existing priorities and the next stage was to hold a wider discussion with other sections of the Council involved in delivery of the priorities.

·         It was accepted that the timescale for the review was tight. The consultation would not be as extensive as for that for the original City Plan but would include significant stakeholders who had contributed to the delivery of its objectives to date.

·         The Odeon project was moving forward. The Council was working closely with an Events Company and the process was at the business plan/finance raising stage. It was hoped that negotiations would be successfully concluded by the end of the year.  If an agreement could not be reached the Council would have to re-consider its position and consider all options.  There were deadlines in place.

·         The ‘Top of Town’ area was not as healthy as it had once been and this locality was a clear priority.

·         Cities evolved over time and the Authority had to deal with that.  It was known that the Broadway development had impacted on other areas and a lot of work had been/was being undertaken with independent businesses particularly in respect of the ‘Top of Town’.  Increasing the amount of residential use in the city centre was also a priority.  There was no ‘Plan A’ or ‘Plan B’ but rather an evolving programme of activities.

·         The Council was well aware of concerns in respect of anti-social behaviour and its effects on the City Centre.  Action had recently been taken by the Police which had resulted in a significant reduction in the numbers of street drinkers and rough sleepers.  An Alcohol Prohibition Order was also being implemented in public areas.  Work was being undertaken with the Council’s partners on this issue and it was considered that there had been a significant improvement.

·         A lot of work had been done to promote Bradford as a Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) stop and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority was supportive of the creation of a station in Bradford; work was progressing in respect of how/where this might be implemented.

·         It was accepted that there was a need to attract people from outside Bradford to work in the City Centre and a number of projects to provide new office space were in development with that aim in mind.  The majority of the offices vacated by Council staff moving into the City Centre had been sold on to the private sector.

·         Information on the total number of retail units within the City Plan area could be provided after the meeting.

·         There had been a significant increase in the numbers of people living in the City Centre.  Although this may not compare particularly favourably with cities such as Manchester others such as Wakefield had a similar experience in this regard.  There was a target of 3100 units within the Plan which covered the period 2014 to 2030.

·         It was considered that there was a need to redefine the City Centre and what appeared within it.  It was believed that retail was a social activity and thus would continue to thrive notwithstanding the changes that had occurred in shopping behaviour.  There was a need to bring services into the centre and a number of projects were on-going to achieve this aim.

·         The City Centre was being reviewed and the role and function of some areas may change as part of this exercise.

·         The’ Next Actions’ would be agreed and a report was anticipated to go to the Executive in Summer 2017.

·         Bin stores had recently been installed at the bottom of Ivegate.

Members made the following comments:

·         The Odeon was a ‘fly in the ointment’ for the regeneration of the City Centre and deadlines for action should be in place and applied.

·         The improvements in terms of the prevalence of anti-social behaviour in the City Centre should be publicised to combat the public perception.

·         It was of concern that the City was behind others in terms of the numbers of people living in the centre.

·         The challenge was to do something different, particularly in light of the change in people’s shopping behaviour; it was not considered possible to regenerate a specific area of the City Centre and then to replicate this in another area.

·         Was it time to redefine the City Centre and how far it extended?

·         A report should be submitted to this Committee for consideration prior to submission to the Executive.

The Portfolio Holder was in attendance at the meeting and commented as follows:

·         He was concerned at the suggestion that all Broadway had done was to move retail from one part of the City Centre to another.  The majority of the stores in Broadway were new to Bradford and the development was a move in the right direction and a huge net gain to Bradford.  It had also  assisted in the progression of other projects such as the Digital Exchange.

·         The delay to the Council’s Core Strategy was a concern in respect of the effect on delivery of the City Centre Plan, particularly if this proved to be on a longer term basis.

·         Planning rules had been relaxed to encourage City Centre residential occupancy above retail units at ground floor level.

·         Bradford had had to deal with a different economic situation in comparison with other cities.

·         The NPR link could help in the future.

·         He considered that the ‘Top of Town’ area would be struggling regardless of the Broadway development. The loss of Morrisons had caused a huge problem.  Longer term plans for this area were under consideration.

·         The Plan did not propose another Broadway development but aimed to support existing retail and attract new providers across the City Centre.

Resolved –

That the progress made with the delivery of the City Plan be welcomed and that a further update be included within the report to be submitted to the Committee on City Centre Regeneration at its meeting to be held on 8 March 2017.

ACTION:       Strategic Director, Regeneration