City's new park to be completed by spring

The pedestrianised area will stretch from Bridge Street to Jacob's Well

Construction of a new football-pitch sized park that will replace one of Bradford's busiest roads is well underway and is expected to be completed by the spring.

Norfolk Gardens is being expanded across Hall Ings as part of the Transforming Cities Fund work that has already seen large parts of the city centre pedestrianised over the past year.

The park will include a stone mermaid sculpture, 20 species of trees and a series of "stepping stones".

Planting will also take place in the coming weeks and the park's designers aim to "reference the city's wool history", said Bradford Council.

The urban park will stretch from Bridge Street to Jacob's Well.

Landscape designers have also researched the natural dyes that have been used in the area for more than 150 years and chosen species of plants from which the local dyes were derived.

The colours chosen for the new planted area include claret, amber, red, and black which give a nod to the colours of many of the district's sports clubs.

It is expected the park will be completed by spring

The Norfolk Gardens memorial area will remain in the same place and a Covid memorial rose bed has been relocated.

A "pocket park" on the site of the former NCP car park is also being developed and will host the Tower of Now sculpture, a 49ft (15m) tall piece of art commissioned for Bradford's City of Culture year.

The previous government announced funding for the scheme as part of its Transforming Cities Fund package of work to make Bradford more pleasant for pedestrians in March 2020, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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