Bradford’s bid for £24.5 million to fund the Park at the Heart was described as "excellent" by the Big Lottery Fund despite losing out to the eventual three winners.
The bid had "an overall assessment rating of excellent" and was found to be “fundable” with a “realistic and achievable” budget by judges. The eventual decision came down to those schemes they "preferred to award grants to."
The bid was marked against seven programme priorities, with four programme priorities being judged as "excellent" and three being judged as "good."
The bid got the highest possible grading for the ways in which it would transform and revitalise the community, offer inspirational design and demonstrated that it would meet an identified need.
The letter from the Big Lottery Fund, which was sent to the Chief Executive of Bradford Council, Tony Reeves, along with an assessment report, said: "This (report) shows that your project was recommended as being fundable to the programme and also shows how strongly your project scored against some of the programme criteria.
"As discussed the Committee were not presented with any ranking of projects by the programme team, beyond an identification of which projects were being recommended as either fundable or not fundable under the programme. It was then the Committee’s role to decide which projects it preferred to award grants to."
Head of the Bradford district's regeneration, Coun Andrew Mallinson, said: "This strong feedback is testament to the hard work of the bid team and the real enthusiasm of the people throughout the district.
"While we were of course disappointed not to win the funding, there is a real commitment to deliver this project for the people of Bradford, and we are now working to take it forward."
The City Park plans for a stunning 10 acre ‘Park at the Heart’ of Bradford was one of over 300 projects from across the UK which applied to the Big Lottery Funding, making it down to one of nine schemes the lottery committee identified for further consideration.
It featured a mirror pool forming the civic centrepiece and infrastructure to hold major public events beside the Grade-I listed City Hall, along with children’s play areas, quiet spaces for reflection, and bars, cafes and restaurants.
Only three of the shortlisted 23 Living Landmarks projects were successful in receiving funding.
The iconic development had received overwhelming support from over 31,000 residents and city leaders are determined to make the scheme a reality for the people of Bradford.
Bradford Council along with its funding partners, Yorkshire Forward, English Partnerships and Bradford Centre Regeneration have all agreed to fund the developing of the scheme through to the detailed design stage. Funding options to implement the scheme are being explored.
Below shows how Bradford’s City Park bid fared against each of the seven Big Lottery Fund Living Landmarks' programme priorities:
1. The project meets an identified need and has clearly defined outcomes and benefits - Excellent.
2. The project will inspire both the general public and their communities through unparalleled community involvement in planning and development and have the widest public support - Good.
3. The project has strong stakeholder and partnership involvement and has been developed strategically through integrating and supporting wider local, regional and national strategies - Good.
4. The project will transform and revitalise communities and the physical environment - Excellent.
5. The project will offer inspirational design solutions that respect and enhance the physical environment and the community - Excellent.
6. The project promotes sustainability through lasting improvements to the physical environment and quality of life - Good.
7. The project is committed to learning from past experience of projects and ongoing monitoring evaluation - Excellent.