Bradford’s City Park has won another award to add to its already-groaning trophy cabinet – this time from the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association.

And well deserved it is too. As the weather gets a little warmer it gladdens the heart to see people flock to the City Park and Mirror Pool to enjoy the fountains and sunshine – hopefully there’ll be more of that to come this summer.

The City Park is exactly what Bradford needs to bring people in to the city centre and offer those who work and shop here a brief respite from the hurly-burly of day-to-day life.

As calming as it is spectacular, the Park with its 100 fountains is a natural focal point for the city centre, and the sight of children splashing about in the Mirror Pool surely quiets even the most ardent critic of the money spent on this facility.

With work on the Broadway shopping development continuing apace, it really feels as though big changes are afoot in Bradford city centre, and the City Park proves that people will come into Bradford if the impetus is there.

It is something that must be built upon, with extra effort being put into attracting quality shops to the empty units dotted around the city centre and steps being made to ensure that there is a good mix of retail, leisure and dining to make Bradford an unbeatable destination for people both from our district and from further afield.

Bradford, like Rome, won’t be rebuilt in a day, but the success of the City Park, allied with existing developments and other ambitious plans recently discussed shows we are going in the right direction.