New doubts over Bradford as Odeon scheme collapses

The Homes and Communities Agency said it was terminating its agreement with developer Langtree Artisan Ltd for the project after the firm failed to comply with its terms.

The collapse throws fresh doubts on the future of the building, which has been the subject of a “Save The Odeon” campaign in Bradford and which would have been demolished to make way for the development.

In a statement today the Homes and Communities Agency, a non-departmental body charged with funding new affordable housing in England, said: “The developer wanted more time to market the scheme to potential occupants but the HCA was not prepared to consent as it would change the terms of the development agreement and perpetuate the uncertainty over the building’s future.”

It added: “The HCA and Bradford Council will now work together to determine other means of securing a commercially viable outcome for the site that meets the regeneration objectives of the Council and the people of Bradford.”

The collapse of the project is understood to surround a contractual stipulation giving the developer an eight-month countdown to demolition, during which it had to prove it had tenants and finances in place.

The agency’s regional executive director David Curtis said: “Since assuming ownership for the building a year ago, we’ve been working hard to look after the building, remove potentially fatal asbestos and resolve the complex legal issues surrounding the plans for its future.

“We know the Bradford public has been frustrated at the uncertainty surrounding the building – and we’ve been frustrated too. When it was clear that the developer wasn’t prepared to meet the obligation to commence with the New Victoria Scheme we decided to terminate the agreement.

“We haven’t taken this decision lightly and it won’t be a simple task to resolve the building’s future. But we’re determined to secure a viable outcome for the site and we’ll work with at the Council and local community to find a solution that meets their ambitions for the city centre.”

The Odeon building was earmarked for demolition more than ten years ago but its future has sparked a fierce debate in the city, with campaigners battling to save it for possible renovation.

Bradford Council leader Dave Green said today: “I am pleased that we have closed this particular chapter on the Odeon which gives us the opportunity to rethink the future of the building.

“We will be speaking to the Homes and Communities Agency about all the issues relating to the Odeon, including future ownership. What I hope they will agree to is that we can now go out to all those groups and individuals who have indicated that they have viable and sustainable alternative plans for the building to ask them to bring forward their business cases so they can be reviewed and we can assess whether any can be progressed.”

The centre of Bradford has been blighted by failed regeneration projects in recent years, with work on a proposed Westfield shopping mall yet to begin, despite bulldozers clearing the site nearly a decade ago.

Bradford West MP George Galloway said he was “delighted” that the Odeon development had been cancelled.

He said: “The people of Bradford have roundly rejected the destruction of the Odeon. This is a tribute to all who have campaigned so hard for so long to save the Odeon.

“There are many who are responsible for this fiasco. I have written to the Prime Minister and the Communities Minister, Eric Pickles who was a Bradford councillor for many years, demanding a public enquiry into the regeneration debacle which has not only left the Odeon shrink-wrapped and in an appalling condition, but which has given us the Westfield hole.”

Mr Galloway tabled an Early Day Motion in the Commons calling on the government to “put in place a strategy to secure the investment needed to make Bradford a great city to live and work in again”.

Bradford Council has already indicated it cannot afford to buy and develop the Odeon, and doubts remain about its structural condition.

The building, along with an Odeon on The Headrow in Leeds, was vacated in the 1990s when a new suburban multiplex cinema opened between the two cities. The Leeds Odeon has been redeveloped into large retail outlets while the Bradford building has remained empty.

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