Does Westfield's takeover of White City put Bradford's Shopping centre in jeopardy?

2.50.02pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 18th Aug 2006

Buildings in Broadway being demolished to make way for the new shopping centre

Councillor David Ward, Chairman of the Bradford North Area has called for an urgent report into the future of the development of Bradford city centre. His request follows the takeover by the main developers Westfield of the £1.5 billion White City shopping centre development in London. This will be the biggest shopping centre in London.

"This is clearly a huge expansion of the business portfolio of Westfield who has taken over the full responsibility for the remaining design and construction works for the White City project with immediate effect" says Councillor Ward.

"All of the staff are being transferred to Westfield in what is being reported as a 'surprise move'. It seems that Multiplex is making some major changes to its business plans following the publication of losses incurred at Wembley of £147m" said Councillor Ward. "Clearly this is a concern when our major contractor is taking over such a large project at the same time as they seem to be having difficulty in starting work in the city centre. You have to ask whether this move has put the future of the City Centre shopping complex in jeopardy. I shall be asking the Director of Regeneration for an immediate report on the situation."

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, who leads the Regen 2000 Steering Group which invested a significant amount of money in the project, said "I am seeking urgent talks with the Director of Regeneration. Starting construction work on this project in Quarter 2 is a key performance indicator for the Steering Group. Clearly any further delays are extremely worrying but outside of the direct control of the steering group. I am already disappointed that the investment has not yet realised the anticipated number of jobs, training or trading opportunities that a development of this magnitude should have realised. I have spent some time examining the community benefit achieved by Islington council from the development of the Arsenal stadium, a new waste transfer station health facilities, over 2000 new homes of which 25% are for key workers, environmental works, the establishment of a community development trust, public art, a new nursery, local procurement of goods and services clauses to name but a few. The work done by Islington Council seems to make the benefits obtained by Bradford Council look a bit tame. I shall be discussing this with the Director."