HC Deb 11 April 2000 vol 348 cc29-36WH 12.29 pm
Mr. Marsha Singh (Bradford, West)

I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the regeneration of the magnificent, historic Manningham mills. It is a pleasure to have the debate under your guidance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is an equal pleasure that my hon. Friend the Member for Streatham (Mr. Hill) is the Minister who will respond to the debate. I assure him that if he gives me something today, the best wishes of my colleagues, my constituents and other citizens of Bradford will ensure that his career not only flies but soars. I am sure that he is far too sensible to fly too close to the sun if that happens, and will avoid the fate of Icarus.

The regeneration of Manningham mills is vital and urgent, because the fabric of the building is deteriorating day by day, and if nothing is done the point will come when the mills cannot be saved. Delay is a deadly enemy and may prove the mills'nemesis; I cannot stress that enough. We are near the point at which we will not be able to save the building, which would be a disaster not only for the mills but for Bradford and the pride of Bradford. It deserves to be, and must be, saved.

The mill was commissioned by Samuel Cunliffe Lister, Lord Masham, was built between 1871 and 1873 and is one of the most remarkable buildings not only in England, but in the world. The chimney is 249 ft high and dominates the Bradford skyline, as the mill once dominated Bradford's economic, social and political development. Its scale is immense, with 16 acres of floor space and a facade that is 1,050 ft long. I am not an expert on architecture, but I am informed that it is monumental, and that the style derives from the Italian renaissance, with an emphasis on proportion and symmetry, and has elements of the baroque that lend drama to the structure. Sounds wicked, innit?

The mill has a special historic significance to the Labour movement and the Labour party. In December 1890, Lister imposed wage cuts on his workers, which led to a bitter five-month strike. I want to quote a short account of the end of that strike, which will have a resonance for the modern Labour movement: The strike was now gaining a stronger hold. By March 3rd the number of strikers totalled over 4,000 and production was brought to a standstill. On Thursday, March 26th, a procession through Bradford followed by a public meeting was attended by 20,000 people. Sympathy for the strikers was growing. A few days later, on Easter Monday, March 30th, crowds of similar numbers again gathered to protest. The climax was near. It started on Sunday, April 12th, 1891. Drew approached Bradford's Chief Constable, the Mayor and the Town Clerk to advise them that the Bradford Trades Council had arranged for Ben Tillett, the leader of the London Docks Strike in 1889, to speak at St George's Hall. He requested permission to hold an overflow meeting on open space next to the Hall. The Watch Committee refused. Nevertheless, the meetings went ahead. One of the speakers at the outdoor meeting was Haydn Saunders, a member of the Socialist League and a Walsall Councillor. He stood on a bench to address the crowd and was promptly arrested. He was taken to the police station and placed in the charge room but was not charged. It was apparent that the Watch Committee and the police were reluctant to have their actions discussed in court. The following day, April 13th, things took a more serious turn. The Times carried this account of that Monday evening: As was feared, the disturbances which commenced yesterday afternoon became serious during the evening, so much so that throughout the whole of the night the town was one scene of disorder and uproar. The military had to be called out, and the Riot Act read by the Mayor, Mr E W Hammond. So it was that, at 5 minutes past 9 o'clock that evening, 106 rank and file of the Durham Light Infantry arrived in the town centre from Bradford Moor, each having 40 rounds of ball cartridge. They paraded the streets with bayonets drawn and charged the people in various directions. This proved ineffective and a baton charge by the police was deemed necessary. As a result of the evening's violence, many were injured and 10 men were arrested.

The strike began to change the course of the Labour movement. While it was going on, W. H. Drew was discussing with Fred Jowett and other colleagues how they could challenge the intervention of the police. Drew said: Labour must take political action to gain control of the police force. It's the only way to protect the civil liberties of the working class and ensure a fair deal. Although the strike failed, it was of immense significance: it led directly to the founding of the Independent Labour party on 13 January 1893. Among those present at the founding conference were George Bernard Shaw, Keir Hardie—the first socialist Member of Parliament—and Fred Jowett, who became a Minister in the 1924 Labour Government.

In addition to its historical impact on Bradford and the Labour movement, the mill's economic impact on Bradford was immense. At its height, it employed more than 7,000 workers. Many of Bradford's newer population started their working lives in the mill. They owe it a great debt. Sadly, the textile industry was hit by various recessions after the second world war and jobs were lost steadily.

Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley)

Bearing in mind what my hon. Friend has just said about this enormous landmark in Labour's history, once he has achieved his aim and that wonderful building is refurbished and brought back to life, could we have a plaque to commemorate the sterling work of those early pioneers of Labour's history, particularly in relation to the Manningham mill strike?

Mr. Singh

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, which I will remember and perhaps propose at a later date. As I said, the textile industry was hit by various recessions and jobs were lost steadily. The recession of the 1980s hit the mill hard, and in 1997 Lister called in the administrators. Over the past two decades, various schemes have been proposed to rescue the mill and bring it back into use. Sadly, all the schemes have proved entirely worthless.

However, in 1996, local people formed the Manningham Mills Community Association, and through their efforts part of the mill has been rescued for community use. They also launched an intensive consultation exercise, and in October 1998, the community association launched its plan, entitled "Community Regeneration and Manningham Mills".

Things have moved on since then. In December 1999, a trust and a shadow board consisting of effective and able people were formed. I had the pleasure of chairing the meeting and launching that shadow board. It is hoped that the trust board will be formalised in September. In addition, a business plan has been drawn up—which I have seen—that shows that the mill can become self-financing. Both the private and public sectors have shown considerable interest in using the mill. However, the real problem preventing that interest from being realised is the state of the building, which is in a rapid process of deterioration. A lot of essential work needs to be carried out to make the mill safe for use and to weatherproof it. Until that has been done, none of the interest expressed in using the mill will come to fruition.

My local paper had an editorial—it seems to have gone walkies for the time being—that emphasised the point that the mill is suffering from all kinds of dilapidation, and we must deal with that soon. The cost of making the mill weatherproof and safe for use is estimated at about £3.5 million. We have been negotiating with Yorkshire Forward, the local regional development agency, which has taken over the grant-making role and responsibility for such work from English Partnerships.

Yorkshire Forward has been cautious, but encouraging. I understand its caution, because £3.5 million is a large amount of public money. It wants either the council or the private sector to take ownership of the mill. It has yet to accept that the trust is the most appropriate body to take the mills forward. The council has been positive but does not want long-term ownership of the mills. I understand and support the council's position. It should have a facilitating and enabling role.

Making the mills viable would pose enormous problems for the council, which would have difficulty raising funds from other sources. That is precisely where the trust would be the more appropriate body. As for the private sector, no one has yet made a realistic proposal for the purchase of the mills. There has been, and is, a great deal of interest in making commercial use of the mills, but not in taking ownership and responsibility, on account of the amount of money and work needed simply to make them weatherproof and safe for use.

A private partner can be found, but the money is needed first. No one seems able to resolve that chicken and egg problem. We hope that the debate will help. The logjam needs to be broken, because it is leading to inordinate and damaging delay. Each day of delay leads to further deterioration. If it is decided later that the mills need to be saved, the cost will be even greater, because the time will soon come when it will not be physically, practically possible to save these magnificent mills.

No one denies that £3.5 million is a great deal of money. However, we ask for a hand up, not a handout. Perhaps it is a bit of a handout, but I stress again to my hon. Friend the Minister that it will be a hand up, and that if we are given the money we can save the mills. I make a pledge: given the interest already shown by the public and private sectors, the vigour of the trust board members and the sheer will and energy of the people of Bradford, if we are given the money we will make the mills financially viable. I ask my hon. Friend to break the logjam immediately. Let us stop the delay, and, literally, the rot, and get on with the task of regenerating Manningham mills.

We need a positive, proactive approach and we need to take decisions urgently. My plea today is even stronger because Bradford has lost its assisted area status. Therefore, a ministerial statement is even more important for the regeneration of the local economy in my constituency and in Bradford generally. Today's business plan shows that the regeneration of Manningham mills is commercially viable. We can make a success of it.

Regeneration of the mills would benefit the local community and my constituency, and would be a major step in Bradford's regeneration. It would be a clear signal that Bradford is moving forward economically and looking to the future. The city is bidding to be the European capital of culture in 2008—something that I warmly welcome and wholeheartedly support. The mills could become a major focus of cultural activity in the district. They are an architectural and cultural achievement, a monument that encapsulates the reason for Bradford's existence and reflects the historical changes there in the past 160 years.

The mills rank as one of the greatest achievements of Victorian industrial architecture, challenged perhaps only by the Albert docks in Liverpool. They are probably the finest textile mills that have ever been built. Although their roots are in the past, their biggest impact could yet be in the future. Will my hon. Friend the Minister help me to save the past and safeguard the future?

12.45 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Mr. Keith Hill)

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West (Mr. Singh) for raising the important issue of the regeneration of Manningham mills in Bradford. I welcome the opportunity to respond to the issues that he raised. I reassure him, as I do my hon. Friends the Members for Bradford, South (Mr. Sutcliffe) and for Keighley (Mrs. Cryer), whom, I am glad to see in the Chamber, that—notwithstanding my London links—nowhere could be closer to my heart than the great city of Bradford. We have already been reminded of the historic associations of outstanding Labour party figures from Bradford and London.

It is important that, when appropriate, we make best use of the marvellous buildings that form a key part of our industrial heritage. West Yorkshire—and Bradford in particular—has some fine examples of redundant mill buildings that have had new life breathed into them. Examples of successful conversions that readily spring to mind are Dean Clough mills in Halifax, Salts mill at Saltaire, the old wool merchant buildings in Little Germany near Bradford city centre and Carlisle mills in Manningham, which is a thriving business centre. I understand that, in another part of Bradford, at Little Horton, the old Douglas mill is being looked at in the context of the new deal for communities programme. More generally, Bradford's rich and diverse social and built environment is a key strength that can help to revitalise the district and bring back the prosperity of its Victorian heyday.

I am keenly aware of the history and grandeur of the Manningham mills grade II star listed mill complex and of its prominent location in the city. As it has dominated and graced the skyline of Bradford for more than 125 years, I fully understand why the Manningham Mills Community Association wishes to protect and promote its use. I am also aware of the report and proposals for the use of the mills that the association published in March last year.

Although the community association's report paints a vivid picture of the massive challenge in successfully regenerating the complex, it is evident that the association is bringing significant local commitment and enthusiasm to the search for new uses for the mills that can sustain their life in the millennium. I am impressed by fact that the community achieved, via a 72-hour challenge in 1997, a complete voluntary makeover of the ground floor space of the south mill. The association is also active in ensuring that local people have a say in the plans to develop the mills and that the building is kept on the agenda for local policy makers and the media.

Although Manningham mills are an important focus of the local community, I am pleased that much good work is being done in the wider area around the mills by the Manningham and Girlington regeneration partnership. The partnership is currently delivering a seven-year scheme, which has attracted nearly £10 million from single regeneration budget funding to revitalise the area. The current financial year is the third year of the programme. It is expected to be matched by £12 million of public and private sector leverage. We welcome that level of financial input.

The programme will play a vital role in regenerating the area surrounding the mills. It has a challenging agenda, aiming to raise the level of education attained by the area's young people, which, in some cases, is less than half the national average, and to reduce by half the level of unemployment among young people, which is currently 30 per cent. Achieving those aims will be crucial to revitalising not only the Manningham area, but Bradford as a whole.

A key strength of the Manningham and Girlington regeneration partnership is the way in which it puts young people at the heart of the scheme and engages their active involvement. A youth partnership has been established; it has four places on the main partnership board and has real responsibilities for funding and programme management. Projects include community policing, help for young drug users, and new training and work experience opportunities for the young employed, including customised modern apprenticeship schemes in construction and health service occupations. I am sure that those projects and others like them will go a long way to tackle the problems facing the neighbourhood.

The Manningham mills complex is split into two distinct parts: the south mill and the north mill. The north mill has a variety of uses already and is not part of the current discussion. However, the south mill has been vacant for many years and various proposals have been made for its development, all of which have proved unsuccessful, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford, West pointed out.

Most proposals made for regenerating the south mill in the past have been instigated by the private sector. However, because of the complex's sheer size—38,000 sq m—and the extent of its dilapidation, the private sector has been unable to raise the necessary finance and the proposals have failed. If local regeneration is to work, it is essential that the private sector is fully involved and committed as an active partner. Construction firms can target local people for training and jobs and, if the Manningham mills complex is to succeed, I would like to see a focus on local labour and supply chains. Banks, and agencies such as the Prince's Youth Business Trust, can help people with self-employment. Digging into the potential of the community brings out great entrepreneurial spirit, which can spark ideas to breathe new life into community facilities.

Perhaps one of the greatest impediments to regenerating the mill complex is the scale of the initial works required to arrest the deterioration of the property and to make it wind and watertight. Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency for Yorkshire and the Humber, and Bradford council have agreed that an attempt should be made to bring the complex into public ownership, to carry out works to arrest further deterioration and to create a development platform that could be offered on the market as a development opportunity. The necessary initial works—making the complex more attractive to the private sector—will require investment of about £3 million. By any measure, that is a substantial public investment.

To facilitate the process, the council would acquire the building from the administrator and carry out the necessary works to create the development of opportunity, with the assistance of 100 per cent. funding from Yorkshire Forward. The council and Yorkshire Forward have worked together for some time on the scheme. Various preliminary works have been completed, including a full structural survey of the buildings and a site investigation. A report has been completed outlining the works required, which include selective demolition to improve circulating space, new roofing to some of the better parts of the building, temporary roofing elsewhere, re-glazing and drainage repairs.

Mr. Singh

Most of what my hon. Friend says is true—the money is there—but the problem is that Bradford council does not want permanent, long-term ownership of the mills. We feel that the trust would be best placed to take over such ownership. That is a sticking point.

Mr. Hill

I assure my hon. Friend that I propose to talk about the trust in due course if I have time.

In tandem with essential work, Yorkshire Forward is co-ordinating a targeted marketing exercise to identify a developer or end user who would be prepared to formally commit to the continuing regeneration of the whole complex or a substantial part of it. Consultants hope to advertise in journals over the next month. Identifying a developer or end user must be an integral part of justifying major public investment. Putting £3 million into the complex, for it then to remain vacant and fall into disrepair again, would not provide the longterm sustainable future for the mills that we all want them to have. Also, testing the market's response would help to suggest any additional public funding that may be required to complete the complex's regeneration.

I am aware of the strong local feeling that the complex should not be allowed to deteriorate further; my hon. Friend expressed that eloquently. The concern is that regeneration should take place as soon as possible. However—very important—Yorkshire Forward has a public duty to ensure that it makes the most efficient and sustainable use of the public resources awarded to it. Alongside that, I understand that the recently launched Manningham Mills Trust, with which my hon. Friend is so closely involved, is finalising a business plan for regenerating the complex, albeit with the intention of calling on Yorkshire Forward to contribute the necessary funding for the plan. Yorkshire Forward has great respect for the trust and will give serious consideration to its proposals when they are finalised.

At the end of last year, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister was pleased to receive Yorkshire Forward's regional economic strategy to bring about such regeneration over the next 10 years. In that context, Bradford is facing particular challenges and opportunities and Yorkshire Forward is working in partnership with the city council and the private sector to inject confidence and investment into the city centre. Development proposals include assisting with site assembly and infrastructure works associated with the redevelopment and expansion of the retail area, and assisting with the mixed-use redevelopment of the Little Germany area of the city centre through site and building purchase and assembly. A new company, the Little Germany Urban Village Company Ltd., has recently been set up with the assistance of Yorkshire Forward to drive forward and oversee the regeneration of the area. Investing in the city centre and working closely with the single regeneration budget and other programmes is one way of ensuring that deprived local communities adjacent to the city, such as Manningham, have wider access to education and training initiatives.

In conclusion, I fully appreciate the issues raised by the regeneration of Manningham mills, in particular the need to harness the powerful presence of the mills, to find a committed developer and end user and—most important—to achieve all that by putting together a sustainable funding package. I can assure my hon. Friend that the Government are putting in place a range of policies to assist in the achievement of those aims as well as the economic recovery of the area.

The wider partnership in which the private sector is fully involved must be in the driving seat, with the aim of finding an acceptable and sustainable solution. I welcome the work that Yorkshire Forward, together with the city council, is carrying out to determine how that can best be achieved. The regional development agencies are already strengthening the power of the regions to become economic powerhouses in their own right. We need to get people off benefits and into work so that they can make a lasting contribution to their communities. We must constantly ensure that our programmes remain relevant to local needs and continue to create a real and lasting impact.

I congratulate my hon. Friend again on raising this important matter.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at three minutes to One o'clock.