Anyone who doubted that the long-awaited Broadway shopping development would have a positive effect on the wider regeneration of Bradford should take heed of some of the recent developments in and around the city centre.

The Westfield development is due to open later in the year, but already there are many exciting projects at various stages of development and completion.

These include the plans for the retail/leisure tunnels off Sunbridge Road, the renaissance that is taking place in the North Parade area, and the purchase of the shops around the Broadway building site to create a complementary retail offer to the shopping centre when it opens.

Now one of Bradford's more established shopping areas, the Forster Square retail park, has announced plans for a major revamp.

Forster Square is, for all intents and purposes, an "out-of-town" shopping centre in that people might drive there and away without venturing into the city centre proper.

But it is only a very short walk from the main shopping areas, and with Westfield just a few short steps from the Manor Row and the Forster Square rail station entrance, the stores there will be effectively brought much more into the city centre fold.

Perhaps, as part of the revamp, some scheme could be hatched to encourage shoppers at Forster Square to spend more time in the city centre, and vice versa - it would be to the benefit of everyone concerned.

Some work might need to be done with regard to the parking permissions on the Forster Square site to allow this to happen, but surely it would be in everyone's best interests to create as wide and as varied a Bradford city centre as possible.