If people are to respect the place where they live, it's important for them to feel that they have a stake in it. Too often, particularly on Council estates, tenants can feel alienated. The estate is not somewhere they belong, simply somewhere they stay, with decisions affecting them being taken elsewhere by remote officials and politicians.

The pioneering new scheme under which tenants will become equal partners with Bradford Council is an interesting experiment which, hopefully, could change all that. Once again the rest of the country will be watching Bradford, the first metropolitan district in Britain to take on board a new Government initiative to give residents a major role.

It makes a lot of sense to involve tenants in this way. The people who live on the estates are the ones in the front line. They know the problems from first-hand experience, and often have common-sense views on how to deal with them. And as the people who pay the rent, they also have a right to a say in how that revenue should best be spent to improve conditions.

However, if the partnership is to succeed there will have to be extra effort put into avoiding the factional bickering which can complicate community efforts in some areas. Tenants have the best chance to make a positive difference to their lives if they can pull together.

Here is a real opportunity to engender commitment and a caring attitude among residents to the place where they live, and to encourage that elusive sense of belonging that can make all the difference.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.