It would be understandable if the cheers which greet the latest news about the Manningham Mills redevelopment are delivered with just a hint of cautious restraint.

On the face of it, the news is very good indeed. After being held up by legal doubts in Europe, the £4 million gap funding needed to get the project off the ground is now able to be made available by Yorkshire Forward in partnership with Bradford Council and English Heritage.

There would seem to be no more major obstacles in the way of Urban Splash's £18 million plan to restore the landmark South Mill and turn it into 370 apartments, various business units and a call centre which it is claimed could provide about 1,000 jobs.

With its chimney preserved and the building floodlit, Manningham Mills would be able to reclaim its place as a cherished monument to Bradford's past while fulfilling a prestigious new role in the city's future.

This is a hugely important project for Bradford, and particularly for Manningham, which would receive a terrific regeneration boost from the redevelopment of the mill. We must now all hope that the scheme goes ahead with the minimum of delay.

However, given Bradford's history in recent years of raised and dashed hopes over other major projects, Manningham Mills Community Association is probably wise to say that while it is encouraged by the news, it is waiting for the day when work actually begins on the site.

The time for the full-throated cheering will come when the builders and their cranes move in and the transformation of this sadly neglected architectural masterpiece starts in earnest.