The next stage of the Canal Road Corridor, which could see £1.2 billion invested in the district, will be discussed at Bradford Council's Executive meeting.
Members meet on Tuesday 26 February to consider the feasibility of developing the corridor as a masterplan and creating a team to progress the scheme.
Should approval be given, it will see the corridor joining Airedale, Manningham and the City Centre as priority projects to economically regenerate the district.
The Executive will also consider creating an over-arching, Council-led team - called a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) - to guide and develop the masterplan.
The Canal Road Corridor has been independently assessed to have the potential to stimulate £1.2 billion of investment value on completion. The corridor could also see up to 8,000 new homes built on brownfield land close to the city centre.
Communities and Local Government are due to announce the outcome of the Leeds City Region growth point bid this month, and if successful, Bradford will be able to access a share of £174 million for enabling works.
The Local Authority Business Growth Initiative set aside £250,000 towards the continuous development and management of the project and on-going project costs could be met by three Joint Venture Companies (JVC).
The route has also been reviewed and modified, which will reduce costs and enhance the regeneration development potential of the corridor.
The cost of realigning the canal will be part-funded by the Connecting Airedale project because it will also benefit.
Approximately 40 per cent of the land in the corridor is owned by the Council and it is anticipated this would be used as equity to be used by the SPV and reinvested into the regeneration of the corridor.
An internal review identified four key issues:
1) The Council and its partners need to work to promote the Canal Road Corridor's regional status and integrate it with the district's other regeneration priorities;
2) The Canal Road Masterplan needs to provide a solid base for the development of the Local Development Framework;
3) The overall cost of the scheme and funding sources to finance it need identifying and stringently testing;
4) A time limit needs to be imposed to carry out the investigations into point three so the Canal Road Masterplan can be included in the Local Development Framework.
Bradford Council's Executive Member for Regeneration, Coun Andrew Mallinson, said: "The Canal Road Corridor has enormous potential and could make a massive difference to the Bradford district's economy and residents' lives.
"Delivering the project will be technically challenging and sets out a vision for completion in 15 years.
"It is an exciting project but there are a lot of hurdles to overcome and these will need to be carefully considered at the meeting."
Officer/Contact
Mike Cowlam
Assistant Director for Economic Development
Telephone: 01274 434223
Media Relations Officer
Duncan Thorne
Telephone: 01274 433526
Fax: 01274 432005
Email: press.communications@bradford.gov.uk
Date: 19.02.08
