The district’s newest parish council held its first meeting after the election of 11 councillors.

Trident Community Council was set up after the regeneration area was approved, but the elections were only held this month.

The new council covers the Bradford Trident area, including Park Lane, Marshfields and West Bowling.

It will continue the work of the regeneration company, formed in 2000. It was given £50 million to deliver the Government’s New Deal for Communities by 2010.

The area has been split into six wards, with two community councillors each. The wards are Holme Top, Marshfields, Melbourne, Parkside, Ripley and Woodroyd.

Not only is it the district’s first inner-city parish council, it is one of the first in the country to adopt the name community council after changes in the law.

Eleven community councillors have now been elected – some unopposed, with one seat in the Parkside ward still up for grabs.

The councillors are: * Holme Top: Yasmin Begum and Balaal Hussain Khan * Marshfields: Taj Mubarik Salam and Shah Mohammad Khokhar * Melbourne: Munawar Khan and Sadaqat Ali Khan * Parkside: Niaz Hussain Ali * Ripley: Zamurrad Khan and Shahzada Meer * Woodroyd: Ilyas Khan and Habib Rehman.

At the first meeting Councillor Salam was elected chairman and Councillor Meer vice-chairman.

Coun Salam said: “It is a great honour to have been elected, not only for the community council but also to be its chairman. I am sure the council will bring many benefits to the area.”

The council now hopes to draw up a community plan for the area in consultation with local residents and businesses – a new ten-year blueprint for the area.

It will have an input into planning applications and will supply directors to Bradford Trident which will carry on the work of the New Deal for Communities programme when government funding ends next March.

Parish, town and community councils can set a precept – a charge on top of Council Tax that residents pay – to cover their costs, but Bradford Trident has offered to pay these.