For thousands of Bradford City fans, the news that the new kop will be built next season will have been the cue for great rejoicing. City chairman Geoffrey Richmond was right when he said that if councillors had turned down the proposal, they could have put a question mark over the whole future of the club.

Bradford City means a great deal to a huge number of people. Understand-ably, they do not want anything to get in the way of its continuing success.

On the other hand, the homes of the residents of Rock Terrace mean a great deal to them, too. Despite the financial settlement which they now consider they have no choice but to accept, many of them feel they have come out the losers - at least as far as the local environment is concerned.

Most of us buy our homes partly on the basis of what is around them. If the environment changes, we might not find them as easy to enjoy as we did. There are plenty of people around Bradford district who surely understand that well enough, because they will have had to learn to live with new building on their own doorstep. The people of Rock Terrace will now have to learn to live with a large new kop at the end of their street.

Perhaps they can console themselves with the thought that the councillors, faced with a tough choice between two valid arguments, took the decision which could help Bradford City - and consequently Bradford itself - to future glories in which we can all share.

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