SIR - Bradford Centre Regeneration has announced that Marc Cole (Director of Regeneration) is leaving for a senior position in Nottingham. Great news for Marc, not so great for BCR and its still yet-to-be realised schemes.

So what are future generations to make of Marc Cole's legacy? Never mind the thirty-odd projects still on the drawing board.

Apart from hiring consultants, previewing bold new visions in the T&A, "welcoming" any support from diverse sources such as the College or taxi drivers - what has BCR actually done? The fact is after three years BCR has failed to lay a single brick in Bradford and any talk of investment is still "potential".

At the Odeon public debate John Pennington spoke of people like BCR, who in the past came to Bradford promising great things before leaving town with nothing achieved.

Marc Cole's defection to Nottingham demonstrates what was suspected all along - money obviously talks louder than any long-term commitment to a city he pledges to regenerate.

I pray that his successor is a Bradfordian with enough courage to advise Maud Marshall what is really wanted for this city... saving the Odeon for starters!

Mark Nicholson, Clayfield Drive, Bradford

  • Maud Marshall, chief executive of Bradford Centre Regeneration, said: "Sadly Mr Nicholson must be walking around with his eyes closed if he believes that BCR hasn't yet laid a single brick' in Bradford.
It's hard to miss the numerous cranes which now dominate the skyline and the high number of developments currently under way in the city centre.

If it wasn't for the intervention of BCR backed by its partners Bradford Metropolitan District Council, English Partnerships, Bradford Vision and Yorkshire Forward, much of the private investment the city is now enjoying would not have materialised.

BCR has worked tirelessly to promote and package Bradford as a city full of investment opportunities and has provided millions of pounds' worth of direct investment to enable many schemes to actually get off the ground.

These include £5 million towards the development platform which aided the creation of the Broadway development, purchasing the former Furniture City building to aid the development of the Channel Urban Village, and perhaps most significantly for Bradfordians, a £3 million contribution to the restoration of Eastbrook Hall.

It is precisely because of the extensive regeneration to date that Marc Cole has been appointed as the new chief executive of the Nottingham regeneration initiative and I wish him well."