In which David Ward MP is revealed as a bit of a numpty

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Commenting on Westfield and specifically on the remarks to the Sunday Times of Stephen Lowy from that business, David has this to say:

“It’s regrettable a highly-paid executive would engage in such loose talk. But fortunately I don’t believe his remarks reflect the position of the company.”

So who is Stephen Lowy?

Steven Lowy was appointed Managing Director of Westfield Holdings Limited in 1997 and currently serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Westfield Group. 

More to the point, Stephen is the son of this man, Frank Lowy:

Frank Lowy is the Chairman and co-founder of the Westfield Group.  Having served as Westfield's Chief Executive Officer for over 50 years, Mr Lowy assumed a non- executive role in May 2011.

So the son of the main man - and a main board director - says that Westfield might want to sell their Bradford "development" and David Ward, the local MP doesn't "believe his remarks".

One has to smile!

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Westfield - a response to a commenter

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An anonymous commentor (why the need to hide - I'm not going to eat you for heaven's sake) has a bit of an ill-informed go at me. I've fisked the comment - not a regular habit here but I thought worthwhile on this occasion:

"I've just read your piece in issue 7 of Bradford Howdo? magazine, headed with this quote 'Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits'"

The original piece on this blog was titled:

...and sometimes I sits and thinks (this time about Westfield and Bradford)

Quite apt really, because you haven't actually ever done anything to help the regeneration in Bradford.

Here’s a selected few things (from memory) I've had a hand in:

• Secured the restoration of Manningham Mills
• Improvements to Manningham Park
• The rescuing of Eastbrook Hall
• Robert’s Park, Saltaire
• Bradford International Markets Festival
• City Park
• Impressions Gallery & Gallery One
• Refurbishment of John Street Market
• Airedale greenways project
• Airedale Partnership
• Broadband enablement of the whole District
• Improvements to Keighley market

I find the disdain and apathy which oozes through in your piece, along with your derogatory use off the word 'agitators' to describe people who are sick to death of inept politicians and corporations who have destroyed a section of Bradford, deeply offensive.

While I suspect the “offence” here is pretty false, I’ll take the sentiment as honest. But “disdain” and “apathy” aren’t sentiments I recognise from my thoughts – do people really think we are less frustrated, less concerned, more unbothered about the prospects of development at Westfield?

But you're a councillor aren't you, so we shouldn't expect anything else.

Understand that people who have lived in Bradford are utterly disgusted with you, the councillors and the corporations who have decimated Bradford. And your snide use of descriptive language against people with a valid repulsion at what's happened is a disgrace.

I used the term “agitator” as an accurate description – it isn’t remotely snide. Here’s what I said:

I’m going to start with the unpopular bit – throughout the development the council has acted in good faith and has delivered on the promises it made to developers, Yorkshire Forward, the Department for Communities and Local Government, and through them the European Commission. Occupiers, agitators and those riding the bandwagon of local annoyance may wish it to be otherwise but councils are in the business of running local services not developing shopping centres.

 

How long has that hole has been there? Why is it taking so long?

Broadway was demolished in 2006 which makes the ‘hole’ about six now – far too long as we’re oft reminded. But, as I tried to explain, development is down to the developer. I guess we could discuss a “compulsory purchase” of the site – on what grounds I have no idea – which would be opposed, would cost a couple of million in legal fees and would leave Bradford Council owning the “hole”. Perhaps the agitators and occupiers have the £200 million needed to build a shopping centre and know lots of retailers who want to set up shop in the new centre?

Whole cities get rebuilt after the tragedy of war in a fraction of the time it takes to build a bloody shopping center (sic).

With billions in public investment. Bradford Council has quite significant reserves – around £180 million – but not enough to build a shopping centre.

You should be ashamed of yourself, but you're not are you? Like the council and Westfield you simply don't care.

When I became Executive Portfolio Holder for Regeneration in 2000, a friend remarked that Bradford was beyond redemption and I was wasting my time. I said then and still believe that we are better being condemned for trying to do something to improve our City than doing nothing. I’m proud of the efforts we made – including the hundreds of hours trying to get Broadway out of the ground. We might have been mistaken but it wasn’t because we didn’t care. I don’t think anyone holding the Regeneration Portfolio holder’s role before or since showed more passion or commitment to bettering the City than I did.

Obviously I can’t comment about Westfield. I hope they care but they may not – go ask them.

 (I won't be accepting any more Anonymous comments on this subject - if you've something to say, be honest about it and give your name)

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A quote from Westfield for us Bradford folk to ponder upon...

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I make no comment beyond; "hmmmm?"

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Westfield’s director of development, John Burton, said the company was “ready to spend £1bn on the site”, adding: “We have the balance sheet, the people and the ideas. I hope reality prevails.” 

Sadly the site in question is in Croydon not Bradford.

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...and sometimes I sits and thinks (this time about Westfield and Bradford)

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"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits." Satchel Paige

This lunchtime I was sat in the little temporary park that sits in part of what is now known as the “Westfield” development. The sun was shining, a few folk were taking advantage of the space to catch a tan and I was eating a ham and coleslaw sandwich. And thinking - would I have made the same decisions faced with the same situation again?

There’s a great deal of noise about this development – at the weekend some masked “occupiers” camped out in the ‘hole’ (as an aside “V for Vendetta” has a great deal to answer for mask-wise) and plenty of local agitators make random, mostly unsubstantiated allegations of corruption, incompetence or ignorance.

I’m going to start with the unpopular bit – throughout the development the council has acted in good faith and has delivered on the promises it made to developers, Yorkshire Forward, the Department for Communities and Local Government, and through them the European Commission. Occupiers, agitators and those riding the bandwagon of local annoyance may wish it to be otherwise but councils are in the business of running local services not developing shopping centres.

Around ten years ago, I sat in a series of meetings with the chief executive and chairman of Yorkshire Forward where, along with council officers, we argued that Yorkshire Forward should support the Broadway development (as it was then known) despite Will Alsop – creator of Bradford’s city centre masterplan – preferring to make the area another park. In the end, we won the argument and the scheme remained. Bradford went on to secure millions in ERDF funding to move the roads and sort out the services.

The demolition – following a long-winded compulsory purchase action – was entirely funded by the developer. And, if you think for a few seconds, this is why you can’t put on a penalty clause – all the scheme funding is from the developer so any ‘penalty’ would be pointless. You can’t penalise a developer for not developing. It’s a bit like me fining you for not putting up a house extension.

There’s also no point in an end date – at least not a short- to medium-term end date. Think again for a moment. With an end date the developer does not control the asset – they’re expected to spend a lot of money without the minimum assurance of owning the property at the end of the process. In the case of Westfield, the developer has spent many millions already – this would not have happened without allowing them to develop at their own pace. We would still have a set of tatty 1960s shops and offices, we would have no prospect of European funding for off-site works and we probably wouldn’t have a developer.

Maybe we were all wrong. Perhaps Will Alsop’s anti-development masterplan was the right thing to do – the current prospects for the retail industry suggest this might be the case. But back in 2004 the Bradford public’s repeated desire – expressed in surveys, letters, comments at meetings and countless informal encounters – was for “better shopping”. Imagine the response had we turned round and said; “sorry Bradford but you’re wrong, we’ll build a park not a shopping centre”! Not to mention the recipe for scandal as we tried (at great cost) to extract ourselves from a development agreement – for the record dating back to 1998 and originally between the Council and Caddick, the Leeds-based developer.

In a way, it would be good to have an enquiry into all this – I’m pretty confident that the agitators would be disappointed in what comes out. For my part, as I sat on that bench in the temporary park, I came to the conclusion that faced with the same situation and the same information, I would make the same decisions. We’d still have pushed for demolition, we’d still have acted quickly so as to secure ERDF funding and we’d still have encouraged a swift planning process.

In 2006 when I finished as Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, I left behind a development agreement with a strong developer, a cleared site, completed services and road diversions and a full planning permission.

All that remained was for the developer to build the shopping centre...

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Gerry Sutcliffes Guide to Regeneration: No 2

Seems that Gerry Sutcliffe, bumbling sports minister and MP for Bradford South has been caught out making up stories about developments in Bradford? Now Gerry has form on making sloppy, rather ignorant statements about development but this is his most strange comment - and he made it to Roger Owens, a highly respected former Morrisons director. To see Gerry placing his boots firmly in his mouth watch the first of these clips on North of Westminster's blog (another example of making stuff up btw). And then read the statement below from Tony Reeves, Bradford Council Chief Executive. What is the truth?

Tony Reeves, chief executive of Bradford Council, said: “There have categorically not been any discussions between Westfield and the Council about the Council buying back the Broadway site. The Council is asking Gerry Sutcliffe MP to clarify the statements that he has made today regarding the Westfield development in Bradford.”