A new growth plan for the Bradford District is “not about what the Government can do for Bradford, but what Bradford can do for the rest of the country.”
On Thursday evening Bradford Council launched a ten-year growth plan titled ‘Built Different: Bradford 2025-2035’.
The plan details how the District could grow over the next decade, and push to become one of the UK’s “core cities.”
The document details seven “game changers” that will help achieve that goal, including the planned tram system between Bradford and Leeds, the City Village development and a new city centre rail station.
The launch event was held at Bradford Arts Centre – a venue that itself has seen huge regeneration in the past few years.
The “game changers” included in the plan are:
- Southern Gateway, a 126-hectare site between Leeds Road and Manchester Road, that will deliver 2,500 new homes, business sites and “mixed-use neighbourhoods.”
- The proposed new Bradford city centre rail station, which the report says will support up to 27,000 jobs.
- Mass Transit: a proposed tram line between Bradford and Leeds.
- City Village: a development of up to 1,000 homes in Bradford city centre.
- Towns Transformation Programme: investment and renewal across Keighley, Shipley, Ilkley and Bingley.
- Airedale Hospital Rebuild: a £1bn rebuild of the Steeton hospital.
- HyBradford: developing clean energy capability, including a 24MW green hydrogen facility at Birkshall targeted for 2027.
Among speakers at the event were Henri Murison, Chief Executive of Northern Powerhouse Group and Tom Riordan and Tom Riordan, Northern Growth Envoy and former Chief Executive of Leeds Council.
Mr Murison said the growth of Bradford was in the national interest. He pointed out that high levels of deprivation in the District was a huge drain to the public purse, and reversing Bradford’s fortunes would help turn things around.
He said: “This plan is about changing the reality of those growing up around the District.
Investing in Bradford would benefit the whole country, and Mr Murison said: “This is not about what the Government can do for Bradford, it is what Bradford can do for the rest of the country.
“This is Bradford taking its future in its own hands.”
Cllr Hinchcliffe said: “People have seen a massive amount of development across the District over the last 10 years, and they want to know ‘what next?’
“This tells everyone what is next – this highlights the seven big developments people will see coming out of the ground.
“It continues the pipeline of new investment. A lot of the money for these projects is not coming from the Bradford District, it is coming from the private sector or National Government. It shows Bradford is a place where people can see massive potential, and will want to invest in.”
