Bradford city centre could get its own dedicated ‘parish council’-style body to fight for the rights of its residents.

The idea for the new community council has come from Bradford-based not-for-profit organisation Neighbourhood Ventures, which believes people living in the heart of the city are being ignored.

Its chairman Jonathan Crewdson said similar residents’ groups had been set up in the past, but the Government’s Localism Act meant they could now have devolved powers rather than simply being lobby groups.

He said: “I helped a group set up the Bradford City Centre Residents’ Association. That ran for a few years, but it finally fell apart.

“They were basically banging their heads against a wall, not getting the Council to do anything.”

He said the group had come up with a manifesto containing ten things they wanted to improve around the city centre, from parking for residents to recycling collections.

He said: “The Council basically said no to everything and they lost heart. The idea behind this is to create a legal body, with legal powers, rather than simply a lobby group.”

Mr Crewdson said people sitting on a new community council could be residents, workers or volunteers in the city centre. They would be directly elected by residents, who would probably be charged a small precept in their Council Tax bill.

And he said the 2011 Localism Act meant such a body would wield real power.

He said: “The Localism Act gives them a lot of say over the planning process, over assets deemed to have community value. They can challenge the Council, they can create by-laws and they can appoint people to enforce the by-laws. They can apply for a lot of grant funding that the Council can’t touch.”

Mr Crewdson said the area was likely to include parts of the City, Manningham and Bowling and Barkerend wards, representing about 3,000 to 4,000 residents.

Neighbourhood Ventures is hosting a public meeting next Thursday from 7pm to 9pm at the Mabel Booth Room, Bradford CVS Voluntary Services Centre, 19-25 Sunbridge Road, Bradford.

For details, e-mail mail@neighbourhoodventures.org.uk.