It is imperative that Bradford Council does not give up on seeking funding to allow the city’s magistrates’ Court to move from its current location as part of the ongoing development of the area around City Hall.

The original scheme for the City Park and the ‘business forest’ overlooking it, of which moving the court was an integral part, has already been substantially scaled down from the dramatic waterside setting originally planned to the much-smaller mirror pool and fountains that are currently being erected.

It is reassuring to see that the old police station is at last to be demolished, but at the same time, that will leave the magistrates’ court looking out of place and isolated alongside the City Park.

It is not difficult to make a case that the court, and its clientele of varying degrees of guilt or otherwise, has no place in this long-awaited and much-vaunted development.

It is supposed to be an urban park area that will be attractive and welcoming to visitors, providing a city centre location that can offer leisure and entertainment activities. The courthouse, with its flow of criminal defendants, will obviously not sit comfortably with such a development.

It was always intended to be moved as part of the scheme, and if that doesn’t happen, it will do nothing for our city’s reputation as a place where we only ever seem to do half a job.

Exchange Court needs the fourth side to complete it, and the location next to the Crown Court is absolutely perfect for the magistrates’ court. That will allow the Business Forest to make the best possible use of its City Park location to entice new quality businesses to the city and to act as a beacon for growth and regeneration.

Without this happening, this £25m-plus scheme to transform the area in and around Centenary Square will never fully achieve its potential.