New market 'has gone comically over budget'

The costs of the new market have risen sharply in recent years

A project to regenerate markets in Bradford has been called a "near comical example" of spiralling costs by councillors.

The Conservative group on Bradford Council expressed cynicism at a meeting to unlock further funding for the Darley Street Market scheme.

The cost of replacing the old Oastler and Kirkgate markets has now risen to more than £31m.

The Labour-run authority responded that it was "investing in regenerating the city" and needed money to fit out the new stalls.

A budget meeting today will see a vote on whether to release more funding.

A report said much of the work had been completed but the building cannot open until the fitting out stage was finished, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The amount of money needed was not disclosed but the report said it was essential to enable the market to open.

Bob Felstead, Conservative and Independent Group spokesman for regeneration, planning and transportation, said: "This is just the latest of many, many near comical examples of how the council's capital programme is being mismanaged on a massive scale.

"The half-empty One City Park, the completely empty Bradford Live and the never ready Darley Street Market."

He said when Labour had increased the original budget of £23.5m by £1.4m in early 2024 they were prepared to put it down as "one of those things".

"However, when only a few months later a further £2.4m was urgently required, it was clear to us that the situation was yet another example of gross mismanagement."

He said there was "no financial or any other form of control" of the scheme.

Describing it as a "debacle" he said it was unacceptable that a project due to be completed a year ago was "still subject to discussions part way into the City of Culture year, about what events can be hosted on-site".

'Building momentum'

In response to the criticism, Alex Ross-Shaw, portfolio holder for regeneration, planning & transport, said: "Bradford Labour has invested in the regeneration of our district against a backdrop of ruinous Conservative austerity that took £350m out of Bradford and offered little in return.

"So it's right we evaluate what has worked well and what we can improve on as we move to the next generation of projects such as City Village, which the government has just confirmed £30m for to help deliver 1,000 quality homes in the city centre."

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