Bradford Property Forum members happy at progress of relationship

Bradford Property Forum said it would seek further meetings with the Australian shopping centre giant and would invite a representative of the company to a future meeting to work towards a shared vision of revitalising the city centre.

Members of the property forum, along with Bradford Council, Yorkshire Forward and the Fabric arts organisation, have been in close contact with Westfield in relation to the establishment of a temporary urban garden at Broadway – the site of the mothballed £320 shopping development.

The newly-created footpaths that criss-cross the city centre site are now open to the public, although the official launch of the Bradford Urban Garden is not until Friday, July 23.

Andrew Mason, chairman of the property forum, said: “A few months ago we were all a bit disheartened with what was going on with the Westfield site, with all the hoardings surrounding it.

“But it was a great chance to make contact with Westfield over the idea of a Bradford Urban Garden.

“To start with, they were not particularly responsive – we wondered if they’d gone back to Australia.

“But after a few pointed e-mails, we got their attention. They sent a director up and agreed to part-fund it (the Bradford Urban Garden).

“During a site visit, it was evident that they were actively engaged with Bradford and on-board with what the city wants. They were aware of the need to open up Little Germany to connect it with the rest of the city.

“That’s a job well done and the grass is growing.

“We are very keen to secure further meetings with Westfield.”

Mr Mason said the property forum was also keen to work more closely with the district’s MPs to enable greater joint-working between business leaders and politicians on regeneration issues.

He said: “We have met with local MPs because we want to forge closer links with them. We want to try to get all the MPs to play nicely together for the good of the area.”