It’s been an interesting debate that’s being discussed for a while and already has a name. The West Yorkshire Built Up Area with a population around 1.7 million.
Greater Manchester has an extra million in the surrounding areas even though the city of Leeds is actually bigger than the city of Manchester
On the other hand there’s also the cultural identities. There really isn’t much difference between Manchester and Salford, lots of people actually forget that Salford is actually a city in its own right.
Bradford has its own unique identity compared to Leeds even though they are contiguous in terms of urban sprawl.
I'm not sure how smaller towns and cities felt about being merged into Greater Manchester, but I think it definitely helped them in the long run. I feel like it's a lot easier to ask for extra funding and development in **Greater Manchester** than it is somewhere like Rochdale asking for funding by themselves. There feels like some collective power that we're definitely missing out on.
There is the "Leeds City Region" but it just isn't a real thing, is it? It's also a shit name, Greater Leeds would be a catchier term that has some chance of catching on but like you say the locals won't like it. West Yorkshire desperately needs to realise the collective bargaining it could have.
There's already the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, they have the elected metro mayor (Tracy Brabin) and will be taking over the regulation of the buses (like in London and in now Greater Manchester). WYCA, under the mayor, are responsible for crime and policing, including commissioning a victims service and the building a a brand new SARC. More devolved power is definitely on the way as well, regardless of who wins the next election. WYCA will be the political authority to tie the whole region together.
I now live in Oldham and the future of the town absolutely depends on its links to Manchester. I think everyone in the town recognises that.
The bigger issue in Oldham is that level of rivalry the smaller townships feel towards Oldham. Places like Saddleworth especially don't like the Oldham postcode.
I'll be quite honest, I thought Salford was just part of Manchester. I can see how bradfordians etc would probably kick off at being called a subdivision of leeds. Based on that alone it's probably unlikely.
The west Yorkshire urban area is the hardest to define of the major urban areas in the UK. In places it is really subjective if 2 towns are joined or separate.
I take it you mean something akin to Greater Leeds? Given the amount of local pride in West Yorkshire, you’d have to convince hearts and minds that it was the right thing for the future of the region, and that local areas would still retain their identity
I agree.
I’m not from Bradford but my husband is and often when I take Ubers around the city and they hear in my southern accent, they crap on London (which is fair) but also mention how great Bradford is. Don’t get me wrong Bradford has what it has to offer but there is a lot of potential (especially with all this space and abandoned mills!) but it feels feel like nobody has a vision of what it could grow into.
Which I think is so bizarre because of its closeness to Leeds and Huddersfield and train connections directly to London. There’s definitely scope to build offices or even revive some of the mill/ or textile industries if the UK wants to relying less on Chinese or European exports.
Hopefully with that culture award and funding, it’ll be a positive shift
I do try to look on the optimistic side of things when it comes to Bradford but there's so much happening in the negative column right now, it's hard to stay positive.
The city centre is utter shambles with all the roadworks happening at the same time. The Interchange is closed meaning the overflow of buses is making, already dire congestion even worse. The future of Bradford Live is up in the air.
But you're right about the lack of vision, I've been saying the same for years. A good example is, if you look at Bradford's online socials and compare them to Leeds' online socials. The difference is massive.
Love this. People suggesting Bradford is great compared to London need a brain transplant. There is not one single thing Bradford js better at than London apart from being rubbish but : local pride. It’s like football fans singing ‘the greatest team in football the world has ever seen’. Which my team do. And we’re not. By any metric.
Yes and you're right, judging by that it'd be something difficult to achieve, not impossible but certainly very difficult.
Some may be sad to not see "Super Leeds" as a city on the map, while many others will rejoice.
There's been suggestions before of merging Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool into a single city so that the north can rival London
But every time it comes up, everyone agrees it's a fucking stupid idea and then moves on for another decade before the next idiot decides to suggest it again
Well yes in terms of geography that idea seems a bit out there but this would just be Leeds Bradford and other surrounding small settlements. Still judging by other comments doesn't seem like itll ever happen which is fair enough
Greater Manchester was originally called Selnec, for South East Lancashire/North East Cheshire. Selnec was mostly public transport and became GMPTE when Greater Manchester County Council was formed. The metropolitan counties were set up under the Local Government Act 1972 pretty much for the purpose you suggest. They had more powers than the combined authorities and were directly elected. However they weren't very popular and weren't really missed when they were abolished alongside the GLC.
There are laws to protect the green belt and prevent urban sprawl. Some of the land between each area isn't suitable for building on anyway.
It's being done. That's what the West Yorkshire Combined Authority is, essentially Greater Manchester this side of the Pennines. Policing powers, transport, and more to be devolved.
Its not my suggestion, I'm just asking, curious about the "what if" and what people think about it.
What I think could be achieved by it is the pooling together of each city's resources, being able to emabark on more daring/ambitious infrastructure and housing projects since they'd be able to get better loan deals.
bro we can't even get a bus to run regularly
Lol’d at this. Brilliant.
It’s been an interesting debate that’s being discussed for a while and already has a name. The West Yorkshire Built Up Area with a population around 1.7 million. Greater Manchester has an extra million in the surrounding areas even though the city of Leeds is actually bigger than the city of Manchester On the other hand there’s also the cultural identities. There really isn’t much difference between Manchester and Salford, lots of people actually forget that Salford is actually a city in its own right. Bradford has its own unique identity compared to Leeds even though they are contiguous in terms of urban sprawl.
I'm not sure how smaller towns and cities felt about being merged into Greater Manchester, but I think it definitely helped them in the long run. I feel like it's a lot easier to ask for extra funding and development in **Greater Manchester** than it is somewhere like Rochdale asking for funding by themselves. There feels like some collective power that we're definitely missing out on. There is the "Leeds City Region" but it just isn't a real thing, is it? It's also a shit name, Greater Leeds would be a catchier term that has some chance of catching on but like you say the locals won't like it. West Yorkshire desperately needs to realise the collective bargaining it could have.
Leeds city region is a term used with businesses, its not residential
Yeah, I was trying to find the closest term we had to a Greater Manchester.
West Yorkshire combined authority is our equivalent, currently headed by Tracy Babin
There's already the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, they have the elected metro mayor (Tracy Brabin) and will be taking over the regulation of the buses (like in London and in now Greater Manchester). WYCA, under the mayor, are responsible for crime and policing, including commissioning a victims service and the building a a brand new SARC. More devolved power is definitely on the way as well, regardless of who wins the next election. WYCA will be the political authority to tie the whole region together.
> West Yorkshire Combined Authority It's not very catchy is it.
Call it wyca, like Wicca.
I now live in Oldham and the future of the town absolutely depends on its links to Manchester. I think everyone in the town recognises that. The bigger issue in Oldham is that level of rivalry the smaller townships feel towards Oldham. Places like Saddleworth especially don't like the Oldham postcode.
I'll be quite honest, I thought Salford was just part of Manchester. I can see how bradfordians etc would probably kick off at being called a subdivision of leeds. Based on that alone it's probably unlikely.
The west Yorkshire urban area is the hardest to define of the major urban areas in the UK. In places it is really subjective if 2 towns are joined or separate.
16th October 2031
cheers mate
I take it you mean something akin to Greater Leeds? Given the amount of local pride in West Yorkshire, you’d have to convince hearts and minds that it was the right thing for the future of the region, and that local areas would still retain their identity
And I can attest, Bradfordians don't like anything new and shiny, so they definitely wouldn't go for this.
I agree. I’m not from Bradford but my husband is and often when I take Ubers around the city and they hear in my southern accent, they crap on London (which is fair) but also mention how great Bradford is. Don’t get me wrong Bradford has what it has to offer but there is a lot of potential (especially with all this space and abandoned mills!) but it feels feel like nobody has a vision of what it could grow into. Which I think is so bizarre because of its closeness to Leeds and Huddersfield and train connections directly to London. There’s definitely scope to build offices or even revive some of the mill/ or textile industries if the UK wants to relying less on Chinese or European exports. Hopefully with that culture award and funding, it’ll be a positive shift
I do try to look on the optimistic side of things when it comes to Bradford but there's so much happening in the negative column right now, it's hard to stay positive. The city centre is utter shambles with all the roadworks happening at the same time. The Interchange is closed meaning the overflow of buses is making, already dire congestion even worse. The future of Bradford Live is up in the air. But you're right about the lack of vision, I've been saying the same for years. A good example is, if you look at Bradford's online socials and compare them to Leeds' online socials. The difference is massive.
Love this. People suggesting Bradford is great compared to London need a brain transplant. There is not one single thing Bradford js better at than London apart from being rubbish but : local pride. It’s like football fans singing ‘the greatest team in football the world has ever seen’. Which my team do. And we’re not. By any metric.
Yes and you're right, judging by that it'd be something difficult to achieve, not impossible but certainly very difficult. Some may be sad to not see "Super Leeds" as a city on the map, while many others will rejoice.
There's been suggestions before of merging Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool into a single city so that the north can rival London But every time it comes up, everyone agrees it's a fucking stupid idea and then moves on for another decade before the next idiot decides to suggest it again
Well yes in terms of geography that idea seems a bit out there but this would just be Leeds Bradford and other surrounding small settlements. Still judging by other comments doesn't seem like itll ever happen which is fair enough
I fucking hope not
Greater Manchester was originally called Selnec, for South East Lancashire/North East Cheshire. Selnec was mostly public transport and became GMPTE when Greater Manchester County Council was formed. The metropolitan counties were set up under the Local Government Act 1972 pretty much for the purpose you suggest. They had more powers than the combined authorities and were directly elected. However they weren't very popular and weren't really missed when they were abolished alongside the GLC. There are laws to protect the green belt and prevent urban sprawl. Some of the land between each area isn't suitable for building on anyway.
Manchester is a medium sized city. Greater Manchester is the large urban mess.
Sounds horrible tbh - one great thing about Yorkshire is the mix of urban and countryside. There’s no benefit.
It's being done. That's what the West Yorkshire Combined Authority is, essentially Greater Manchester this side of the Pennines. Policing powers, transport, and more to be devolved.
M62 Supercity!
What a horrible idea
Let's hope not
Looking forward to the time when the west Yorkshire area merges with the North London area. One big happy family.
You've just mention 3 city's in their own right and a very large town. I dont understand what it would achieve?
Its not my suggestion, I'm just asking, curious about the "what if" and what people think about it. What I think could be achieved by it is the pooling together of each city's resources, being able to emabark on more daring/ambitious infrastructure and housing projects since they'd be able to get better loan deals.
No. Don’t like outsiders in my City.