Thursdays Letters: Sorry saga has turned a great city into a laughing stock

A number of questions have to be asked, but as has been so typical of our city in recent years, I suspect that no acceptable answers will be forthcoming.

That the Bradford Centre Regeneration (BCR) company spent so much money on operating costs, without there appearing to be sufficient checks on what was achieved, tells us much about our City leaders.

That the council allowed the Broadway shops to be demolished without a cast-iron guarantee that the replacement development would be provided within an agreed time scale is scandalous.

Why have heads not rolled within the council in this regard? The subsequent "hole in the ground" has made our city a laughing stock.

The council has totally ignored what the people of Bradford want in connection with any regeneration, allowing BCR and the thankfully soon-to-be- defunct Yorkshire Forward to act on their own agendas. This was particularly the case with the Odeon Cinema building which most Bradford residents wish to see preserved, and certainly not be replaced by the totally unacceptable new Victoria Place proposal, which would do nothing to complement the adjacent Alhambra Theatre, which the Odeon most certainly does.

There is still time for our council to act in this regard, but one has to doubt whether it is willing to do so. How nice it would be to give the people what they wanted for a change.

And what has been achieved? A City Park that few want, and for which the justification was that it would attract 2.2 million visitors per year to Bradford.

That works out at over 6,000 people per day every day of the year. Now, just who will come to Bradford for that alone?

As I said earlier, will heads roll, or will our council leaders at last give ratepayers what they want? I won't be holding my breath.

From: Bob Watson, Springfield Road, Baildon, Shipley.

From: Ann Petherick, Scarcroft Hill, York.

THE tragedy of the failed regeneration of Bradford city centre, so vividly described in your reports, is actually even greater than you suggest.

All the failed developments involved new-build. One proposal involved destroying one of the city's well-loved landmark buildings which in another city would be treasured, to replace it with a bland set of buildings. And when I listened to the then Yorkshire Forward boss Tom Riordan speak, about five years ago, he waxed lyrical about a bog-standard shopping centre, with which Bradford was to try to compete with Leeds.

But Bradford does not need to compete with Leeds. Despite all the damage of the last 50 years, Bradford still has the finest Victorian city centre outside Glasgow. Yet most of these buildings are empty above the ground floor, or totally empty & neglected.

Why is there never any mention of restoring and re-using existing buildings, only of new developments? The answer is that only new-build developments at high rents generate sufficient profits to attract outside developers. Highly-paid consultants therefore spent tax-payers' money chasing those developers, who were only ever interested in using Bradford to make money for their shareholders. And now the developers have gone.

This was not regeneration: it was merely property development. Genuine regeneration would involve sensitive and on-going renovation of Bradford's unique heritage, allowing opportunities for those of all incomes to live in the city centre, providing for small businesses to establish and grow, and creating a city centre which all can be proud of instead of ashamed.

Bradford's assets and advantages are unique, and their recognition is long overdue.

From: Lorain Edward, Otley Road, Menston.

HOW to solve Bradford's regeneration woes? Turn it into the antithesis of a circus.

Imagine the posters advertising a city in ruin:

Come and see how not to run a city centre!

Be amazed at council incompetence!

Be astounded by half baked projects!

And don't miss the piece de resistance – a great big hole where a shopping centre should have been created!

Instead of trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, Bradford could rebrand itself as the city where others can learn by its mistakes.

I'm sure it would be a big attraction!

Lib Dems' love affair will end in rejection

From: Ken Capstick, Gisburn Road, Wakefield.

A RECENT opinion poll highlights perfectly the problem now facing the Liberal Democrats, with Labour on 40 per cent, the Conservatives on 36 per cent and the Liberals on a miserable 10 per cent; they have clearly slumped in popularity in eyes of many voters.

Sharing a pad with the Tories has put them in a position where they are struggling to keep their virtue and with opinions polls such as these the price of that lost virtue is increasing by the day.

The last thing the Liberals need now is a General Election, whereas the prospect of that might not bother David Cameron unduly. How can the Liberals stand up to the Tories in these circumstances? How can they prevent the worst aspects of Tory policies, or any aspects at all for that matter?

The horrible truth is that they cannot and are condemned to support whatever the Tories plan to implement – when you sup with the devil and all that.

It appears from these polls that a large proportion of the electorate is sticking with the Tories, for the time being at least, but is deserting the Liberals with a vengeance.

It is as if many people expected the austerity measures from Cameron and Osborne to go much further than they promised they would during the election and just accept it, but not so with Clegg and Cable. Expectations of them, it seems, were far higher.

Illicit relationships often find one party condemned much more than the other. In the world of such relationships, the less assertive party usually bears the brunt of any scorn being poured and is more likely to be condemned and judged much more harshly.

The more assertive party gets away with it with a shrug of the shoulders and a comment like: "What do you expect if it is put on a plate for them?"

It usually starts innocently enough with some subtle seduction here and there, a few promises and over-the-top compliments, well meant at the time, and one thing leads to another as they say.

Now the Lib Dems are being well and truly shafted. If they threaten to walk away, Cameron can simply say "Go-ahead see if I care, you know where the door is."

Clegg, even if he wanted to, cannot get out of this relationship or even exert any influence.

The Tories are having their evil way, getting what they always wanted from the very beginning and the electorate seems to be saying to the Lib Dems: "You should have known what you were getting into, you gave up your virtue too easily, you have made your bed and now you are going to have to lie on it but don't expect any sympathy from us."

Fee rises dash hopes of young

From: Micha Kirkbride, Public Relations with Marketing Student, Leeds Metropolitan University.

I AM a first-year student at Leeds Metropolitan University and I wish to comment on the rise in tuition fees that has shocked the country's future students.

As a student myself, I know that if I was asked to pay at least 9,000 a year, I would not have been able to come to university. I would probably be stuck in a dead-end job with no prospects.

I know that university is not everyone's dream and it is not the only road to becoming successful, but surely the Government realise that they are taking away the chance and dream of gaining a degree for a lot of people?

I am not going to pretend I am an expert on politics, but I do know that when the new Government came into action, everyone expected change; change that would benefit the country, and raise the morale of Britain.

I also do not agree with the violence that the protests have caused and I think that if students continue to cause violence and disruption, then it takes away the importance of the message we are trying to deliver.

I think that it is important to recognise that not all students are trouble-making protesters and we do not approve of the violence. I hope that the country will still support students and the minority group who have promoted the disruption have not spoiled and tarnished the message we are trying to get across.

I hope that this letter encourages the readers to support the students in Britain and not think of us all as advocates in the disruption that has already been caused by the student protests. Please do not stereotype us all and maybe, if the protests continue to be calm, the Government might realise how outrageous it is what they are asking potential students to pay for an education.

Christmas just won't stop

From: Barbara Harrison, Parkside Avenue, Queensbury.

WILL there ever be an end to the celebration of Christmas?

Christmas cards and trimmings appeared in the shops in September and now, the middle of January, garden centres are still trying to dispose of their Christmas ornamentation instead of having seasonal plants such as winter pansies and primulas that I would like to add to the violas now in flower in my garden.

On January 17, I spent many hours in the garden tidying up and removing some dead foliage, sitting on the garden seat with a coffee, enjoying the spring-like weather whilst it lasted (today is cold and frosty) and planning improvements to the garden during the summer months. I do not want to read that Christmas has come early – December will do for me!

Crude TV 'comedians' are beyond a joke

From: Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

WHAT has happened to humour? Night after night TV channels allow people called "comedians" to take over our screens.

Unfortunately the majority are neither comedy people nor are they funny – they have lost the art of wit without being smutty.

They should be, at best, lowered to the bottom of the bill, as a two-minute fill-in so that the audience can run to the toilet to do what they do when feeling sick.

Do these people, certainly not comedians, really believe they are funny by being rude, crude and bereft of talent?

It is time these people be removed from the celebrity list and ordered to take a rest until they cleanse out their vile mouths.

Jimmy Tarbuck, Bruce Forsyth and Ken Dodd are still among the funniest without having to dig in to the mire.

From: Jim Pike, Nursery Close, Leeds.

IN the aftermath of the Miriam O'Reilly affair, following her unfair dismissal from Countryfile, it is to be hoped that the BBC, recognising the large and growing numbers of older viewers, will see fit to employ older, more experienced and thoroughly capable female presenters.

But I wonder if the BBC will in fact decide that they must have young and nubile dolly birds in front of the cameras, and therefore it is worth the occasional pay-out on the rare occasions when someone takes them to court and wins?

If this is in fact the case, then it is up to the courts to demonstrate to the BBC that this policy can be very expensive indeed.

Rule of law over family loyalty

From: Dr Hilary Andrews, Nursery Lane, Leeds.

I READ with alarm that some mothers say they would never give up their child to the police if they knew he or she had committed a grave offence because of the sentence given to student rioter Edward Woollard, 18. This young man, eligible to vote, marry and make all his own legal decisions, behaved in a truly reprehensible way and narrowly avoided killing a policeman, or even one of Woollard's fellow tuition-fee protesters.

He is described as an intelligent, caring young man with a bright future ahead of him. Sadly his lack of restraint in this protest, which he must have known would be futile, casts serious doubt on this future. However strong feelings are, the law must be upheld.

Tea potty

From: Frederic Manby, Gargrave.

While not wanting to pour too much lukewarm water on the publicity jaunt by Betty's in a tea caravan across the USA to promote a better understanding of tea in the land that had the most notorious Boston Tea Party – if the van makes it back in one piece they could do well to educate our cross-Channel European neighbours.

Tea, typically Liptons, is on sale in supermarkets, but the normal bar will serve it, US-style, alongside a cup or pot of warm water. I drink Ricard instead.

Euro saviour

From: Ivor Jones, Shireoaks Road, Shireoaks.

FOR keeping us out of the euro (Yorkshire Post, January 11), a bronze statue of Jimmy Goldsmith should be erected on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. If Churchill can stand on a plinth for saving his country, why not Jimmy for his efforts?