Many Bradford people were upset by the last Unitary Development Plan, which identified those areas and sites considered to be suitable for development either for industry or for housing. The general feeling was that the plan sacrificed far too much of the district's green fields and allowed the housing sprawl to eat away at large amounts of countryside. Too often, though, the objections came too late.

Now a new UDP is on the drawing board, and this one rightly promises to preserve green fields and concentrate on developing brownfield sites in and around the town and city centres. This time the Council seems determined to make sure that all those who want to have a say in the proposals are given an opportunity to do so at an early stage.

It is important that local people take full advantage of the chance to influence a plan which will serve as a yardstick for planning applications for the next 15 years. To help them, the Council is sending out a free news sheet to every home and is arranging a six-week consultation period during which communities and individuals will be advised as to the best way to make representations.

The draft of the UDP which will be published next month is only the first. Now is the time for as many people as possible to study it carefully and tell the Council what they think, rather than waiting until the final draft is published and then lodging objections at a stage when it will be far more difficult to change the proposals.