Bradford City Centre Regeneration

[J.A.W]

i am so apalled and disappointed about the odeon plans - theres only 1 out of 3 that keeps the beautiful and valuable towers and that one is a spanishy childish mish mash that belongs in disney. i tell you - if that is built it will be demolished within 20 years if not less. I wouldnt consider demolishing the towers - they are a valued landmark by us Bradfordians if not the council, and the WHOLE biulding is vastly superior to any of the proposals, and could be easily restrored - interior reconstructed for a meaningful attractive use, there is a great big wasteland across the road staying empty and scruffy in prime land, where they can develop, but why knock down something so perfectly iconic to US so it can be fully appreciated again and im talking about it all not just the towers - they would look crao standing there alone with a primary coloured lego invading their well deserved environment they could knock some windows into the palin brick walls, and have a nice civilised courtyard in the middle or something - the interior is so flexible if you cleared the cinema stuff out

[Val Verde]

Oh dear i am speechless about the plans for the Odeon. Whilst those buildings by Carey Jones appear of a reasonable quality it is no substitute for what is a landmark building in Bradford city centre which although derelict at present could be refurbished although radically but still keeping some features such as the refurbishment of the Odeon in Leeds into Primark and it could be used by the people of Bradford as opposed to property investors. Bradford Civic Trust or whoever is responsible for heritage issues in Bradford should certainly campaign to save this building as it would be an act of vandalism to flatten such a prominent building which would be akin to demolishing the Corn Exchange in Leeds for a multi storey car park and it is crazy how a building that defines Bradford could be demolished for something that could be built anywhere (although with yellow brick cladding ). When is the Odeon planned to be demolished?

RIP: Odeon Cinema Bradford 1928 - 2006

[J.A.W]

Unfortunately Bradford council is Bradford council - its no leeds with its organised and appreciative heritage body - its too determined to compete commercially and livivng all my life here - bradford council works for tself - not bradfordians - and it wouldnt hesitate to flatten the troublesome 'uneconomic' odeon building (like it did to kirkgate market or the arcade) for something that brings in more commerce.
Im glad that other people seem to be equally sceptical about the disgraceful options put forward. its sad that bradford puts all its effort into a ludicrous and impossible and very unpopular alsop masterplan thats so incredibly nonsensical and when it comes to the really important issues of preserving the actual spirit of the city, its all too quickly rushed through with very little thought and consultation so we end up with yet another glossed over series of regeneration opportunities that in Bradford council style - are either monotonous but lucritive insensitive developments or disgustingly inappropriate and childish fantasies
Bradford does have a rich past that is supposed to enrich our city, but it is being wiped out in place of monotonousisation and faceless international and meaningless CRAP

[Dan B]

Originally Posted by Da Bomb

Looking at the proposals for Highpoint only fills me with great disappointment as I feel it is very much an opportunity missed.

With its elevated position it can be seen from all gateways into the city centre.

I personally think that this building should be completely demolished and replaced by a tall iconic building of considerable quality.

What on earth are the BRC thinking of re-cladding the single worst building in the whole of Bradford!!!

I think the Bradford locals should be asking the BRC for an explanation for some of the proposals being put in place.

I really think Bradford is just one tall iconic building away from people to start standing up and taking notice of what’s going on in the city and putting it well and truly on the map. Until that happens there isn’t much hope I’m afraid.

Just bringing us back to the Highpoint development for a second. I think these two would've been more the thing you're thinking of Da Bomb, far better designs:


I like this one, looks a bit fantasy land-ish, but not Alsop-ish (God No!). The windows don't look so defined, and maybe white stone or sand stone would texture the building a bit more. The Glass arcade by it looks a nice idea, bringing back the arcade to Bradford.


As for this one, it fits in well with the rest of the building and the roof adds an interesting feature, almost reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House.

They are both preferable to this one:

Which by comparison is particularly unimaginative. Still though, anything's an improvement.

[J.A.W]

is this highpoint in place of the brown concrete corduroy building opposite morrisons?

[Da Bomb]

Originally Posted by J.A.W

is this highpoint in place of the brown concrete corduroy building opposite morrisons?

Yepo!

As for the other designs Daniel they are a little better, but i think they should be replacing this building with something in the 20-30 stories range. A real beacon for the new Bradford.

[J.A.W]

But i love that building! It may be the the most insensitively brutal object for miles, but its so impressive, its just temporarily out of fashion - in a couple of decades wed wish it was there again, theres so much about it that is superior than any of it's replacement options, like its stone-coloured concrete - needs cleaning thats all, its geometry is satisfying and dramatic and the architecture is quality just in its fashion - black spot of 30 or so years. Im telling you by 2030 itd be listed. i arent joking - we criticise bradford council for demolishing the old market back then, but as we dont have foresight we cant see that we are doing the same thing. We do need to demolish lots of bad qaulity 60's and 70's developments because they were nasty and cheap, but this is an satisfying quality landmark, that needs a good scrubbing and 20 years to be appreciated. But these relacement designs seem as rushed and cheap as the hated 60s stuff demolished around broadway. I can think of acres and acres of wasteland on prime sites begging to be developed, not demolishing good examples of architecture. When we're adjusted to mid 20th century design, the current tower will be more highly valued than the Kohinoor building nearby or even the odeon as an interesting building from the past in need of protection.

[J.A.W]

i sound like a crackpot dont i

[Dan B]

Originally Posted by JOliver

I tried to remember what the question were, and all of them - if I am correct - were of very generic type, i.e. "do you think design is important", I should have felt something was way dodgy in it back then, but it was my first "public consultations" experience.

Anyway, life goes on. After all, if a super-casino decision goes for a pair of cowboy boots, is there anything left to be surprised?

Here's the form, it's very non specific, you can't exactly vote on it. If they'd have provided 4 options: entirely new (Pivot), some element of the original building (New Victoria Place, just barely!), Retention of Odeon Towers (Casa Mela) and Complete Renovation (New Victoria Concert Hall, as suggested by B.O.R.G.) with the ability to actually vote, fair would have been fair. However the way they've gone about it is far from democratic for instance jumping the gun with an initial vote in the T&A, not allowing the mention of renovation before the council had even discussed it. There are many more of these instances mentioned on the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group website: http://www.kingsdr.demon.co.uk/cinemas/borg.htm

One thing that surprised me was that the leaflet actually had a picture that cast the Odeon in quite a good light:



If you notice how pristine the white stone and green turret are here. The brick needs cleaning though, but wouldn't be difficult. The ground floor needs some work though, perhaps glass with white stone pillars intersecting it would look good and where the Board is, put a high and welcoming arch way.

Originally Posted by J.A.W

i am so apalled and disappointed about the odeon plans - theres only 1 out of 3 that keeps the beautiful and valuable towers and that one is a spanishy childish mish mash that belongs in disney. i tell you - if that is built it will be demolished within 20 years if not less. I wouldnt consider demolishing the towers - they are a valued landmark by us Bradfordians if not the council, and the WHOLE biulding is vastly superior to any of the proposals, and could be easily restrored - interior reconstructed for a meaningful attractive use, there is a great big wasteland across the road staying empty and scruffy in prime land, where they can develop, but why knock down something so perfectly iconic to US so it can be fully appreciated again and im talking about it all not just the towers - they would look crao standing there alone with a primary coloured lego invading their well deserved environment they could knock some windows into the palin brick walls, and have a nice civilised courtyard in the middle or something - the interior is so flexible if you cleared the cinema stuff out

I agree with you mostly here, although I feel they could tone down the Casa Mela by using Stone for the material design. I think it was that it would have Festival Colours on the 'inside' and a more modest and respectful sandstone from the out. The front meeting space thing could also have been improved with the same white stone as on the turrets and changing those purple, yellows and pinks into meer illuminated lights. I think it could've of looked classy, but still the original odeon building is still the most impressive. Rather than a courtyard, I'd maintain it's basic original structure, using it as a concert venue with 3,000 seater capacity, which would speak volume to acts who might normally overlook Bradford as a place to perform. The rather unconvincing and frankly baffling proposal to do up St. Georges is just silly, it has bad acoustics, only 1,500 capacity with no where to expand. With the Odeon, St. Georges could focus on classical or acoustic music, comedy acts and other events that don't really involve modern instruments. The Odeon apparently has brilliant acoustics as I heard from some people at the Odeon debate.

Mentioning that, it was interesting to watch, Maud Marshall got increasing angry and short tempered and very cold the whole time, whereas the main representative for BORG, John Pennington was well humoured and an excellent orator (he by the way, saved the Midland Hotel from demolition).

As for other places to site this development, I could think of many: last remaining bit of Broadway where Arndale Hose is, opposite City Hall where the Hilton Hotel, Sick inducing carpark and some other office building currently is, the other side of Thorton Road where that expanse of car parks is as J.A.W mentioned, preferably along side the pedestrianisation of this part of Thorton Road. Though my preference would be the current site of the Car Dealership, which interestingly is disregarded as existing by the New Victoria Plan:



See to the left of the picture, it has two tall-ish long buildings. They are not currently there. They know something we don't? If this is more damned apartments and offices it'd be an utter waste of space.

Originally Posted by J.A.W

But i love that building! It may be the the most insensitively brutal object for miles, but its so impressive, its just temporarily out of fashion - in a couple of decades wed wish it was there again, theres so much about it that is superior than any of it's replacement options, like its stone-coloured concrete - needs cleaning thats all, its geometry is satisfying and dramatic and the architecture is quality just in its fashion - black spot of 30 or so years. Im telling you by 2030 itd be listed. i arent joking - we criticise bradford council for demolishing the old market back then, but as we dont have foresight we cant see that we are doing the same thing. We do need to demolish lots of bad qaulity 60's and 70's developments because they were nasty and cheap, but this is an satisfying quality landmark, that needs a good scrubbing and 20 years to be appreciated. But these relacement designs seem as rushed and cheap as the hated 60s stuff demolished around broadway. I can think of acres and acres of wasteland on prime sites begging to be developed, not demolishing good examples of architecture. When we're adjusted to mid 20th century design, the current tower will be more highly valued than the Kohinoor building nearby or even the odeon as an interesting building from the past in need of protection.

I n the words of John Mackenrow: ''You Cannot Be Serious!''

[J.A.W]

Originally Posted by Daniel Brassington

''You Cannot Be Serious!''

of course I knew someone would say that
but im afraid i am in all sincerity, but i shant go on about that i dont think - as much as orwell's bradfordian ministry of love is my frend - its an embarrasing one

[Dan B]

Originally Posted by Val Verde

Oh dear i am speechless about the plans for the Odeon. Whilst those buildings by Carey Jones appear of a reasonable quality it is no substitute for what is a landmark building in Bradford city centre which although derelict at present could be refurbished although radically but still keeping some features such as the refurbishment of the Odeon in Leeds into Primark and it could be used by the people of Bradford as opposed to property investors. Bradford Civic Trust or whoever is responsible for heritage issues in Bradford should certainly campaign to save this building as it would be an act of vandalism to flatten such a prominent building which would be akin to demolishing the Corn Exchange in Leeds for a multi storey car park and it is crazy how a building that defines Bradford could be demolished for something that could be built anywhere (although with yellow brick cladding ). When is the Odeon planned to be demolished?

RIP: Odeon Cinema Bradford 1928 - 2006

I know, it's quite rediculous isn't it? I came past that Odeon a while ago (although didn't know what it was) but it certainly looked worth keeping, and with the Bradford Odeon being even more imposing and grand, I can't believe they're so desperate to get rid of it, of course it's better suited to a Music Venue than a shop or department store. Indeed these buildings despite the 'faithful' sandstone, are of a 'put 'em anywhere' variety, and that one on the end looks plain horrible from Thorton Road, being even more of a souless modernist block.

The building will begin demolition in summer 2007 if we can't do anything to save it, a real shame and a missed opportunity to reinvigorate the music scene, they've had past glories (The Cult, Terrorvision, Smokey) the most they can muster now is the bassist from Franz Ferdinard, whereas Leeds have The Kaiser Chiefs (while I don't personally like them, they do raise the profile) the Leeds Festival, Frequent gigs at Millenium Square and a proposed 12,000 seater Arena. It's really not proportionate.

Originally Posted by Da Bomb

As for the other designs Daniel they are a little better, but i think they should be replacing this building with something in the 20-30 stories range. A real beacon for the new Bradford.

Hmmm, 30's unlikely, at the most 22 is what your aiming for with two polar opposite towers (in design that is: Spiral Tower and Manchester Road Development). But still this is a height improvement and the building is very visible from everywhere. As for the other designs, I really like them, it's nice to see some new buildings which aren't your usual nothing but glass design. With the storeys you'd suggest, some typical glass thing would be all the more likely. A good compromise between Glass and other materials such as stone is what we should be aiming for. The Gatehaus is a good example.

[J.A.W]

Any mention of economic viability makes me SEETHE - our medieval cathedrals cost thousands of pounds a day to keep them in good nick, ...you know, .. i say no more.

im going to start writing letters - it will probably be useless, but ive got almost a year to try my personally best effort. I hope i shant be alone in at least trying

[Rob]

Originally Posted by J.A.W

But i love that building! It may be the the most insensitively brutal object for miles, but its so impressive,

Interesting taste in 'impressive' architecture, you realise you may be in a bit of a minority there.

[Dan B]

Originally Posted by J.A.W

Any mention of economic viability makes me SEETHE - our medieval cathedrals cost thousands of pounds a day to keep them in good nick, ...you know, .. i say no more.

im going to start writing letters - it will probably be useless, but ive got almost a year to try my personally best effort. I hope i shant be alone in at least trying

Economic Viabilty hate those words, crystalised very powerfully in Falling Down.

I think I'll join you in writing letters, I think I can make quite a strong argument as I've been doing a little research into some of the 'cooler' gig venues in the country, I noticed a few similarities in them:

Brixton Academy:





Wikipedia Entry:

''Carling Academy Brixton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Brixton Academy)
Jump to: navigation, search

Carling Academy BrixtonThe Carling Academy Brixton is a large music venue in Brixton, South London with a capacity of 4,921. It was built in 1929 and opened as one of four Astoria cinemas. In 1972 the Astoria closed and the building was used as an equipment store by the Rank Organisation.

It re-opened as a music venue in 1983 and was called the Brixton Academy, a name that it kept until mid 2004 when it was renamed as the Carling Academy. It is currently run by the Academy Music Group and hosts a range of live acts and club nights.

As one of the biggest non-arena venues in London it attracts many big names and has seen many famous bands perform there. The venue has also been voted venue of the year several times in the annual NME awards. However, it should be noted that Carling sponsors the NME Awards and so the legitimacy of this award is questionable.

The nearest tube and train station is Brixton.

Trivia

The record for the band with most consecutive appearances at this venue is currently held by The Chemical Brothers who made 6 appearances in 2005. Massive Attack, The Clash, The Prodigy, Bob Dylan and Hard-Fi have all played five consecutive nights at the venue.''

BUILT IN LATE 20'S/EARLY 30'S, ART DECO STYLE, FORMER CINEMA!!


London Astoria:



Wikipedia Entry:

London Astoria
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
London Astoria
Venue
Location: Soho, London
Spaces: 1
Layout: theatre style
Promotions: G-A-Y
Licensing
Capacity: 2,000
Licensing authority: Westminster
Business
Opened:
Owner: Mean Fiddler

The London Astoria is a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road in London. It has been leased and run by Mean Fiddler Music Group since 2000.

It opened as a Crosse & Blackwell pickle factory and has been a music hall and a theatre. It is now exclusively a music venue with a capacity of 2,000. The Astoria is connected to the Mean Fiddler such that the two venues can function as a single venue where needed. By far its busiest nights are the G-A-Y promotions.

It has played host to many up-and-coming bands, such as Radiohead's performance for MTV in 1994 and the grunge band Nirvana in 1989, as well as world famous bands wishing to play low-profile shows, including The Rolling Stones in 2003, and Oasis's first performance of their 2005 tour. Blur also played a five-night residency in 2003. The venue plays host to the popular nightclub G-A-Y, which sees many celebrities visit and perform music for the assembled crowd.

Mean Fiddler acquired the lease for the London Astoria in May 2000, 'securing the future of live music at one of London’s most famous rock ‘n’ roll venues.'


However, the Freehold was recently [late June '06] sold from Compco Holdings property group Derwent Valley Central for £23.75m, who plan to convert the site to a combination of shops, flats and offices to raise money during the Olympics. It will continue to be rented to the Mean Fiddler group for £1m per year until 2008.

BUILT IN LATE 20'S/EARLY 30'S (well I assume from design), ART DECO STYLE, FORMER THEATRE!!

(Though it looks like this one's under threat for shops, flats and offices. Sound familiar?)

Manchester Appolo:







Wikipedia:

Manchester Apollo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Manchester Apollo is a concert venue in Manchester. The venue sits in between Manchester's two other major venues (the MEN Arena and Manchester Academy), being smaller than the Arena but larger than the Academy.

The Manchester Apollo was originally built as 'ABC Cinema Ardwick' in 1930. It was designed by architects Peter Cummings, Alex Irvine and R Gillespie Williams. It's original purpose was as a cinema and variety hall. It was opened by famous 1930s actress Margaret Lockwood. It has been known as the Apollo Theatre and latterly as Labatt's Apollo and the Carling Apollo, Manchester but it has recently reverted back to 'Manchester Apollo'.

Locally known as 'The Apollo', it is a listed building with a standing capacity of 3,500 (2514 standing, 986 seats). It also hosts seated events to a capacity of 2693. Split into two levels, the upstairs contains permanently fitted seating, whereas the larger downstairs can be altered to suit the event; both levels view a single concert stage. The venue has no air conditioning apart from in the 'Whiteroom' hospitality area (accessible only by those who have a Whiteroom credit card) and can get uncomfortably hot in warm weather. The Apollo operates a no smoking policy, although you can still smoke in all areas outside of the auditorium itself.

The Apollo hosts a large number of primarily popular music based concerts and other events throughout the year. The venue can feel more intimate than the MEN Arena for both fans and artists, and recent years have sometimes seen successful bands perform at both the Apollo and the Arena on differing dates to create different atmospheres and reach different audiences.

It has a distinctive red ceiling and raked floor giving an excellent view of the stage from anywhere in the auditorium. Merchandise is sold in the lobby, whilst there are three bars. The ground floor has two bars one off to the left hand side of the stage and one at the rear. There is also a bar on the second floor.

Concert management and advertisement is handled by Live Nation, and first aid cover is provided for all its events by St. John Ambulance.

BUILT IN LATE 20'S/EARLY 30'S, ART DECO STYLE, FORMER CINEMA!!

Also note the latter of these is of around the same size of the Odeon, and that none of these buildings are either as impressive or imposing as The Odeon or New Vic can and should be.

I think I'll make a BIG mention of this when I write a letter. Maud Marshall says how Bradford is thinking like a small city when it doesn't want this new development. Just look how much an impact it would make if it could play with the big guys, that'd be a statement if I ever saw one and could even reverse the trend of the exodus over to Leeds for the mid-size venue Leeds lacks (as it will get the Arena I'm sure). Also note how Leeds has no venues of this kind or concert venues for that matter (for now anyway), if you ignore the Univeristies, it has none.

Could put Bradford ahead, which is the least I could say for a few offices, apartments and cafe/restaurant thingies.

Wouldn't this be a better future for Bradford?



BUILT IN LATE 20'S/EARLY 30'S, ART DECO STYLE, FORMER CINEMA!!

[di Livio]

It would certainly compliment the Alhambra next door, and the Pictureville Cinema.

[Dan B]

Originally Posted by di Livio

It would certainly compliment the Alhambra next door, and the Pictureville Cinema.

Exactly, and of course already does, why take it away? By the way, which one's the Pictureville Cinema, I've gone in the place and watched films there, but don't know which one it is from the outside. Might it be the one with the green or copper roof? If so I see your point.

[The King]

to demolish this building would be a crying shame as this building could be incorperated and if done right would be one of the countrys finest examples of old and new fusion of a building development, just like the light in leeds. to loose this building would be nothin short of a scandal with so much unused space in bradford to demolish a building of such merit would be such a shame.

[Da Bomb]

The former Odeon building would make an aswesome live music venue with a little TLC.

[Bradford Lad]

The Odeon was once an impressive building but now i do feel the New Victoria Place development will act as major catalyst for Bradford reestablishing itself as a major economic driver for the region. I do believe that heritage should be preserved, for example St Georges Hall, the City Hall and the Waterstones are impressive buildings which is testament to the Bradford's former glories but new developments which are sympathetic to the older built environment can and will help to create a vibrant city centre.

[di Livio]

Interesting read in today's Daily Mail (not exactly a publication i would want a subscription for). It's the usual characterisation of Bradford as a problem city. The guy comes across as a bit of a prick actually, with his day return London journalist style.

Apartheid Britain
by GEORGE ALAGIAH



11:23am 21st August 2006

Forty-odd years ago the playground at St John's College in Portsmouth was the place where I learned how to become British, but today, for tens of thousands of immigrant children, school may be the very place that prevents them from becoming British. Could it be possible that the very isolation of thousands of immigrant children in education breeds an indifference, even contempt, for the nation outside their enclave? Certainly, if you want to understand the mentality of the enclave, there is no better place to go than Bradford.

IT WAS the kind of conversation I'd had in a hundred taxis in a hundred foreign cities. 'Park Grove Hotel, please.' 'Park Hotel?' 'No, no — Park GROVE Hotel.' 'Grope Hotel?' 'NO — GroVVVVVe Hotel! With a V!' 'Don't know V. Where is V?' Life as a foreign correspondent had been punctuated by these sometimes comical, always infuriating encounters with drivers who could barely find their way out of an airport car park, let alone the destination I had in mind. In this case, though, I wasn't on assignment in a strange land, and it wasn't an airport.

It was Bradford railway station, though it was very quickly beginning to feel like another country.

'What about your controller, maybe he'll know.' I pointed to the two-way radio through which a voice was blaring out instructions in a language I couldn't understand. Every now and then I'd catch the odd place name in English. 'OK, OK, I ask.'

I couldn't be sure if the driver was asking the right question until he got to the name of the hotel. This time he had it bang on, but the controller's reply made me feel like I was heading into my own version of Groundhog Day. 'Park Hotel?' 'Give me that thing,' I shouted.

It was late at night and I was very tired.

'Look, I've already explained it to your driver and shouldn't have to explain it to you. The place is called Park Grove Hotel and I've showed him on the map that it's somewhere off Keighley Road.' 'Is it near the Mitsubishi garage?' 'How the b***** hell should I know? I'm here for the first time and if I knew where the hell the Mitsubishi garage was I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you over a microphone, would I?' 'Please don't be using dirty language.'

'You're a fine one to talk about language. Some plain and simple English would be nice.' Well, that was what I wanted to say but I didn't.

Instead I apologised. It occurred to me that I should treat this a bit more like one of my reporting assignments abroad. Over the years I had come to realise that in most countries — especially Muslim ones — the casual swearing we take in our stride is considered deeply offensive.

'Look, all I know is that it's opposite the Bradford School of Management.' 'Oh, you should have told the driver. Everybody is knowing the management school.' So it was my fault. At least we were on our way. Now I could do what I had always done on assignment.

Taxi drivers are often the reporter's first source of information in a foreign land — and survival in a strange and often dangerous place is about making friends. This wasn't a war zone, but it was beginning to feel quite strange. In any case, old habits die hard. 'So how long have you been a taxi driver?'

'Twenty-seven days,' he said with a brevity and accuracy at odds with everything else that had happened that evening. I could see why finding the hotel had turned out to be such a palaver. 'Have you just come to England?'

'England very nice.' 'No, I was asking whether you have just come to England. Where were you before you started driving this taxi?' 'I work in textile.' 'In a factory?' 'Yes.' 'How long were you working in the factory?' 'Fifteen years.' 'Fifteen years! You mean 15 months.' 'I no understand.' 'Have you been in Bradford for 15 years? You came here in 1990?' 'Yes.'

'Fifteen years very long time. If you came here 15 years ago, why you don't speak English very good?' By now I had slipped into the broken English that had become like a second language on the road. 'English no good. All mans in textile is Asia. Speak Pakistan language.' This was why I had come to Bradford. It was the first inkling that what many said about the place was true. Countless newspaper articles, academic theses and government reports had alluded to the way in which Bradford's Asian community had evolved into a world of its own. Now I had some first-hand evidence.

Here, the ring road around the city is like a boundary. The inner neighbourhoods are almost entirely peopled by Asians, while the whites live outside. The division is accentuated by the relative prosperity of the two groups. Some of the outlying villages are amongst the wealthiest 50 per cent in the country. Yet nine out of ten of the city's 24 council wards are in the poorest 10 per cent.

That there should be such a distinct division of a city along ethnic and racial lines a generation after Britain began a legislative programme to bring about exactly the opposite outcome is staggering. Has Bradford grown apart despite multiculturalism — the principle behind every race-related law since the Race Relations Act in 1967 — or because of it?

Has institutionalised tolerance for diversity led to institutional indifference to separation? These questions are important because Bradford in the North-West and Tower Hamlets in the South are merely two examples in a pattern of urban settlement that is as prevalent as it is alarming. In Halifax, in Luton, in Southall, in Leicester and so many other cities where immigrants have settled, there is a version of separate development.

It surely wasn't inevitable that multiculturalism would lead to this phenomenon. At its best, multiculturalism helped protect immigrants from racism and so helped them to reap the rewards of hard work. Multiculturalism created the social space in which so many of us have prospered.

If some have been left behind, it is partly to do with their own preference for hanging on to an identity which has more to do with the home they have left than the home they are supposed to be making here in Britain. Multiculturalism was the perfect excuse for those who wanted to ring-fence their communities.

In continuing to exert control over their communities, these most conservative elements within the immigrant communities could exploit the ample opportunities afforded under multiculturalism — most notably the public funding of difference in the name of diversity.

However you define it — whether you call it segregation or isolation, whether you think people live in ghettos or enclaves, whether you think it all comes down to race or poverty — one thing is clear: it is happening. You only need to take a walk in any one of the places I have mentioned (and that list is by no means com-plete) to know that for hundreds of thousands of people the great dream of multiculturalism is not working.

Under the banner of diversity we have consigned too many people to an also-ran status. They are trapped on the outside track while the rest of us make progress on the inside one.

RIZWANA Mahmood knows all about separate development. As a child she crossed the divide on a daily basis. She is the product of a brief experiment in bussing Asian children from Bradford's city centre to schools on the outskirts. The word bussing brings to mind images of frightened black children running the gauntlet of an angry white mob in America's Deep South. But it happened in West Yorkshire, too, and — incredible as it seems — for one little girl it was a lot of fun. What's more, to meet her today is to question the hoary old convention that bussing is always bad, that it flows from a racist philosophy, and that anyone who endured it must be damaged for life.

There are many ways to describe Rizwana, but damaged is certainly not one of them. I'm not sure what I was expecting when we met, but even at 100 yards I could see that this woman broke the mould.

Something about the way she waved at me — the sheer abandon with which her arms semaphored above her head — told me Rizwana Mahmood had something I hadn't yet encountered on the streets of Bradford. The Jewish might call it chutzpah, I'd call it confidence.

She stepped round her bright blue (brash would be another description) 4x4 and shook hands. She was dressed in jeans and a short jacket, and her eyes sparkled. 'I remember the bus to school so well,' she said. 'It was the A56A. My mum would give me about 20 pence every day and before getting on the bus we used to nip into the sweet shop. We had to finish all the sweets on the journey because we weren't allowed to take anything like that into school.'

What the bus gave Rizwana, and eventually her brother as well, was the opportunity to mix with white children, something that was denied to thousands of children then and still is today.

'It was scary at first. I remember it being quite daunting. But quite quickly I made friends. You know, kids are kids.'

She still has the 'memories' book she began writing as a teenager, noting down some of the seminal moments in her young life.

On the face of it there is nothing extraordinary about the things she remembers, until you realise that the generation of children who attend Bradford's inner-city schools today couldn't even begin to comprehend what Rizwana is talking about.

'My best friends were: Gary Hay-lock, Shawn Holdsworth, Fiaqa Iqbal and Fatima Patel. I had the best time of my life with these four although sometimes I ended up having major fights with Fiaqa and Gary.'

There are schools in Bradford now where it would be virtually impossible for any child to list both English and Asian pupils among his or her friends.

In 2005, there were 38 primary schools in which children from ethnic minorities made up over 75 per cent of the school roll — often the figure was as high as 98 per cent.

In some schools the only English children left come from families that are so dysfunctional they are unable or unwilling to take the trouble to relocate their children.

Here's another entry from Rizwana's school diary:

'The best part of school was Christmas. I loved Christmas time, when Santa came to our party and gave us presents. I loved rubbing my face on his pretend beard.'

It's difficult to imagine any latter-day Santa being allowed to be that intimate with a child these days — that too has changed. More importantly, the extent to which Christmas is celebrated varies from school to school.

While many of the predominantly white schools have studiously broadened their religious education to include non-Christian religions — marking Diwali and Eid-ul-Fitr is commonplace — the Asian-dominated schools have not necessarily gone the other way. They have become de facto faith schools.

Yet Rizwana is no less a Muslim today for having accepted the odd present from a make-believe Santa when she was a child. What she gained was an experience she could share with millions of other children in this country.

Friendship at school spilled over after hours. She was invited to the homes of her white friends and they came to hers. Her parents' openness to this kind of experience was in stark contrast to the attitude of some of their Pakistani neighbours.

'We were looked on as sort of snooty. I think it was because my mum was educated and wanted us to be outgoing.'

Rizwana didn't say it in so many words, so let me do it for her — there was and still is a bias against integration within Bradford's Pakistani community. If it was understandable in those early days of immigration when the community was new, it is unconscionable now.

And yet it persists — a by-product of the religious and social exclusivity of the community coupled with a failure of the state to offer any viable alternative.

In 1975, the Race Relations Board decided that bussing Brad-ford's Asian children into white communities contravened the Race Relations Act. The board

argued that because children were only being bussed in one direction, it was being done on the basis of racial or ethnic identity rather than educational need.

But surely that was the whole point! The parents of white children out in the suburbs would no doubt have objected to their children being bussed into inner-city schools, which by definition were underachieving in the most significant area — language.

They would have been right, too. It wasn't their children who needed the extra help.

Bussing in Britain differed in one significant way from its more famous counterpart in America. There it was supported and pursued by liberals desperate to smash a hole through the colour bar that still survived in the South.

It was opposed by the redneck racists who saw it as yet another assault on their way of life. Here it was the other way around. In Britain it was the left that opposed the policy and social conservatives who were its proponents.

The fact that it was a policy designed to integrate immigrant children was lost in the whirlwind of political correctness that swept the country in the Seventies and Eighties.

The Left's response was a knee-jerk

reaction to the fact that those who called for action were often white families in areas with growing numbers of immigrants.

In those early days of multiculturalism, immigrants who complained were deemed to have a grievance, but white families who voiced their fears ran the risk of being labelled racists.

Some of them no doubt were, but there was a wilful refusal to accept that for many white parents the rapid recasting of their communities presented a genuine challenge for which they were ill-equipped and unprepared.

It shouldn't be so difficult to understand what these people were thinking. Immigrants need only to look back at the history of the countries from which they came to get an inkling of what it must feel like to be confronted with foreign customs and ideas.

After all, what was it that our parents and grandparents most despised about the British colonialists who lorded it over vast tracts of Asia and Africa? The land-grab aside, wasn't it the way they never really bothered to learn our languages, eat our food or wear our clothes?

Rizwana's story alone is not an argument in favour of bussing, nor do I think it was the best way of

dealing with the problem. Children should be able to get everything they need from an education — whether it is academic excellence or social interaction — from their local school. That is how you build cohesive communities.

But what Rizwana's story does show is it will take some other, equally radical form of social engineering to break down the separate development of children.

Without reforms to the admissions system, schools will continue to replicate the social mix — or lack of it — of their catchment area.

For her own part, Rizwana considers herself lucky to have gone to school in those years. What bussing gave her was a glimpse of a world beyond the geographically separate and psychologically blinkered community she lived in.

Once she'd seen what was on offer outside, she wanted more. But it wasn't the bright lights and loose ways so feared by the Pakistani community's elders that enticed her — it was the notion of opportunity.

The idea that you could aspire to something more than merely repeating what the previous generation had done.

'Bussing gave me the ability to interact,' she says. 'It's given me tolerance. It's given me a bigger

picture and the skills to communicate. Kids today don't have that — we're failing them.'

The extent of that failure became obvious in devastating form on July 7, 2005 when four young men, three of whom grew up a short drive away from Bradford, in Leeds, targeted the capital's transport system.

Whatever else motivated the suicide bombers, an alienation from the country in which they lived must surely have been a factor.

The bombers may have had British passports, they may have had Yorkshire accents and worn the street garb of all urban youth, but just how British did they feel?

More importantly, did we, in Britain, set any sort of standard, demand any sort of behaviour, offer any form of encouragement that might have enticed them away from the savage influences of those who persuaded them to turn the capital's trains and buses into charnel houses?

We need to re-examine multiculturalism, the policy that has underpinned race relations in this country for the best part of 40 years.

We need to accept that a part of the way in which it has been implemented may have delivered something we never envisaged or intended. Otherwise, we risk a backlash that might unhinge everything that has been achieved since modern immigration to Britain began.

ADAPTED from A Home From Home by George Alagiah, published by Little Brown, on September 7, at £17.99. ©2006 George Alagiah. To order a copy for £14.99 (plus £1.95 p&p), call 0870 161 0870.