Report of the Manningham Mills Consultation
November 2013
This was the first open consultation event that has been held to gauge interest in
a voluntary sector bid to develop the land at the back of the existing Manningham
Mills – The Silk Warehouse and the Velvet Mill.
Around 50 people dropped into one or other of the sessions, listened to a short
presentation and engaged in round table discussions using maps of the site.
There was a lovely buzz as people chatted and
swopped ideas, and other maps and papers that
people had bought with them. There was a high
level of interest and energy and most people
wanted to be more involved in developing up
these ideas to the next stage - so a good first
step.
There were many ideas for what to do with the
site – here is a summary of some of them:
»» To develop the site for the benefit of local
communities and attract people from further away;
open it up to the local community; make it an
integrated site under the banner of ‘grow your own energy, food, business, health’
»» Community energy schemes, ground source
heat pumps, solar panels, biomass plants to heat buildings, and a swimming pool
»» To create a green area in a densely built
up part of Bradford - space to sit out,
growing space, wildlife space, trees and
bushes, orchard, woodland area, outdoor
wild and conservation area, outdoor
playground, scented areas for sight
impaired folk, schools could use space as
outdoor classrooms, community gardens,
mulberry orchard for making silk, woodland
adventures, outdoor cafe, walled garden
space, a nature centre
»» To get healthy, a running track, a bike track for people (children and adults) to learn to cycle, a
link through to Lister park, and a cycle workshop; outdoor gym equipment, outdoor and indoor
sports spaces, children’s play area, climbing walls, zip wires, martial arts centre, therapy centre, a
ski dome, cricket pitch, archery, outdoor sports – Kaboli, wrestling, volleyball, netball, basketball,
Tai Chi. Outdoor gym and adventure playground, a swimming pool on the site heated by ground
source energy. Community kitchen and well being centre, Credit Union, Food Bank