NEWS that Kirkgate Shopping Centre will be demolished to make way for a “city village” has met with a mixed reaction.

While the city’s Civic Society called the news a “pleasant surprise,” one Conservative Councillor has described the proposals as “nonsense.”

And another Councillor said city centre housing could reduce demand to build on green spaces elsewhere in Bradford.

On Monday afternoon Bradford Council announced that it had purchased the Shopping Centre for £15.5m.

Anchor tenant Primark will move to the former Debenhams unit in Broadway in the coming years, and Kirkgate would then be shut and demolished.

In its place a development of homes and green space would be built – part of the Council’s plan to create a “city village.”

Following the announcement, a Bradford Civic Society spokesman said: “The news will come as a pleasant surprise for many, as Kirkgate has always been one of the most divisive buildings in Bradford.

“Based on some of the discussions and debates we’ve hosted over the years, Bradford Civic Society welcomes the plan.

“Whatever people’s views on the style of architecture, Kirkgate has been a big part of Bradford life for many decades now, and it is very representative of a particular era.

“That said, times change, trends change, and it’s clear to many people that Kirkgate in its current form is unsustainable, and numerous towns and cities across the UK will be wrestling with the same challenges.

“Bradfordians will no doubt be very interested in what will replace the Kirkgate Centre, and the Civic Society looks forward hosting more debates and discussions over the coming months.”

However, Councillor Mike Pollard (Cons, Baildon) reacted to the plans with scepticism, saying the proposal would make sense in London or New York City, but not Bradford.

He said: “Some of the Labour Executive’s adventures in the commercial property market are really exciting, but for all the wrong reasons.

“The Council is now indulging in another of its rather unconventional ‘invest to demolish’ schemes, which in this case will create a 1.2 hectare open space with an attached land ‘value’ more akin to what you’d expect in Mayfair or Manhattan, but not, by any stretch of imagination or expression of civic pride, central Bradford.”

Referring to the cost, he said: “£15.5 million is just the start – the total cost of this nonsense will be very significantly more than that, for reasons that no doubt cannot yet appear from under the convenient comfort blanket of commercial confidentiality.

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“With their extravagant City Centre capital schemes to be supported by a Revenue Budget which is already under dangerous stress currently, in large part down to Council’s own failings rather than lack of Government funding, Labour are in danger of creating a dysfunctional three ring circus.

“It looks as if the trapeze artist has missed the safety net, the tamer has been mauled by his lion and the clown is even less funny than usual.”

“Expansive civic vision is fine, but not in the context of an increasingly difficult battle against the risk of civic bankruptcy.”

Councillor Matt Edwards (Tong), leader of the Green Party on Bradford Council, said: “There isn’t exactly a long queue lining up to buy an under-capacity, aging shopping centre and we are worried that £15.5 million is a lot of money to pay for a building that the Council ultimately intends to knock down.

“Bradford Council like many councils is having to make tough financial decisions at the moment following over a decade of cuts from central government and we are not entirely convinced this deal offers good value for money for taxpayers.

“But we completely agree that a drastic changing in thinking is needed in the city centre and the plans for a City Centre Urban Village could be transformational for Bradford – if done right.

“Plans for a thousand homes with green space in the centre would dramatically free up the demand on green spaces on the edges of our district.”