The district of Manningham stretches from Bradford City Centre in a north westerly direction for almost a mile. Developed largely during the Victorian era and with a population of some 28,000, the area forms a substantial and distinctive section of Bradford’s inner city.

Some surviving early cottages and farmsteads give a hint to the area’s early rural character which the district retained until the 1830’s. During the 1840’s the expansion of Manningham began in earnest. To the south, the middle classes spread out from the city’s northern boundary into such developments as the elegant Eldon Place and the more prosaic Hannover Square. To the north, around the old centre of Manningham, land was being bought by early building societies to provide the working classes with a better environment. Over the next fifty years development proceeded apace, with possibly the finest development being Blenheim Mount (1865). A strong characteristic of this area is the good tree cover remaining in the gardens of the more substantial properties, and Manningham Mills, the largest and most imposing of the Bradford Mills, remains a major landmark on the city’s skyline.

A considerable part of the traditional housing stock remains today, within five Conservation Areas. The nature of the residents, however has changed dramatically — over 50% now belonging to the ethnic communities. Problems manilest in the area include high unemployment rates, large household sizes and low investment levels in both land and property. A lack of understanding of planning and conservation legislation and a general wariness towards Council officers are also particularly evident. Little direct funding for projects is available from the planning budget, the emphasis being on assembling grants from other departments or organisations. A flexible improvement strategy is based upon the Council’s Section 10 submission to English Heritage backed up with a frankly ‘opportunist’ approach in response to private sector interest.

One initiative, over the past year, has been

Halifield Road, within the Eldon Place

Conservation Area. Built between 1848 and

1852 by the Halifield Building Club, these terraces of two bay houses have become increasingly attractive to the commercial sector. Initially several owners were encouraged to stoneclean their buildings, benefitting from a 75% grant made available through the DoE’s Urban Programme budget. This was closely followed by an invitation to consider Section 10 grant towards repair works. There is little doubt that the cleaning works were instrumental in giving the owners the confidence to proceed with Section 10 repair works.

By far the largest source of funding is through the home improvement grant system and Southfield Square is an early example of the Council’s efforts to renovate a historic housing area using a combination of home improvement grants and Section 10 funding.

The threat of clearance by the former Bradford County Borough Council engendered strong opposition by residents and so with the aid of the Civil Trust, the Council embarked, in 1980 on a scheme to regenerate the square, working closely with the resident group, and determined to use every means at their disposal to bring about wholesale improvements. A programme of improving the 26 dwellings acquired by the council included:

—guaranteed improvement grants at increased levels for structurally sound properties:

—improvement of those in the poorest condition by the council itself prior to selling on;

—declaration of a Housing Action Area;

—the subsequent offer of section 10 grant aid;

—a flexible mortgage approach;

—environmental improvement by relaying setts and rebuilding boundary walls;

—a commitment to CPO abandoned or derelict buildings and non-conforming users.

From a total of 77 properties some 70 have been refurbished and while it cannot be pretended that the renovation of Southfield Square has been easy, misunderstandings and disagreements on structural and contractual matters have been resolved and many lessons learnt.

The Council is also actively involved with the design and implementation of environmental improvement schemes using labour provided under MSC Schemes. A current project is the restoration of a large Victorian garden or “deli” serving eight substantial villas at Mount Royd. The benefits of the

scheme were immediately apparent, it would enhance the setting of the listed villas, restore a feature of historic interest and help to maintain tree cover. The cost, estimated at some £1 1,000, is being met jointly by the owners and the Council through its Community Programme budget. Again English Heritage have indicated that they may be willing to consider a Section 10 grant towards the scheme.

Notable among the other bodies assisting the process of regeneration are the Local Housing Associations who have undertaken some excellent refurbishment schemes.

Planning control in an area like Manningham is never going to be easy. Two particular problems arising directly from the Asian culture have been the desire to paint external stonework and the proliferation of dormer windows resulting from large families needing to use the roof space for living accommodation, something which was encouraged, in the early years, by generous grants from the Housing Department. The development of oversized dormer windows has, unfortunately destroyed many a fine terrace in Bradford. In an effort to control both problems the Council has been successful in introducing Article 4 directions. Efforts to achieve a high standard of development are not helped by language barriers and a general lack of understanding of planning and conservation policies. However the Council have recently committed £ 10.000 to the production of a series of leaflets in the five main Asian languages which will outline the planning and conservation policies and invite closer co-operation with council departments.

Resourcefulness and flexibility will continue to be the key in the search for solutions to the problems of an area like Manningham. Staff resources dictate that it will only be possible to manage a limited number of Council led schemes in any given period and the strategy must be responsive to opportunities that arise through private sector interest.

Alastair Pott, City of Bradfbrd MDC

Victorian Heritage Saved

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