A regeneration chief has poured cold water on suggestions that another use should be found for the dormant Broadway site following further delays to Bradford’s long-awaited shopping development.

The city centre site, owned by Westfield, is the proposed location for a £320 million shopping development but, on Saturday, the Telegraph & Argus revealed construction work would definitely not start this year.

As soon as news of the delay broke, T&A readers started putting forward their ideas for alternative uses of the site.

One that quickly gained momentum on the T&A website forum was that the site should be used as a new sports stadium to be shared by Bradford Bulls and Bradford City.

Many posters suggested the multi-million pound Sporting Village, proposed for Odsal, should instead be built on Broadway where it would enjoy the benefits of good rail and bus links.

Meanwhile, Bradford Rail Users’ Group (BRUG) said the site ought to be used for a cross-city rail link connecting Bradford Interchange and Forster Square rail stations, bringing the advantages of through trains to the city.

Phillip Ferriby, chairman of BRUG, said: “Now would be the ideal opportunity to go for the cross-city rail link because there’s nothing happening on the Broadway site at the moment.

“The rail link would be a great thing for Bradford. I know Westfield would want lots of money for the land and it would be a dear project, but worthwhile doing it.”

Councillor Adrian Naylor, Bradford Council’s executive member for regeneration, said Westfield had already spent more than £80 million on the site.

He suggested Westfield would probably want to recoup the money if the site was sold, and there would then be the added cost of reversing the underground preparatory works already carried out.

Coun Naylor said: “We are talking about a delay to the shopping centre. We don’t know how long that will be but we are asking Westfield to clarify that.

“If we moved the Odsal Sporting Village (OSV) to that site, where would we put the shopping centre the city needs?

“The Broadway site is nowhere near as big as the Odsal site, so I suspect it wouldn’t be big enough and wouldn’t have enough parking. It would be far more expensive to build the OSV there because we don’t own it.”

Asked about a rail link, Coun Naylor said: “The problem is that that would be in the transport budget and it’s going to be years away from getting funding approval. You would have a shopping centre before you could have a rail link.”