IT seemed that in the 1990s, almost every waterfront in Britain was following the lead of London's Docklands and being redeveloped.

Yuppie flats in converted warehouses, coffee shops, wine bars and restaurants could be found the length of the land.

Worcester, too, aspired to move in that direction. Developers have, for example, had their eyes on the Diglis Basin for many years.

As long ago as 1991, the British Waterways Board revealed plans to revamp the area - but that attempt ran aground because of concern about road access.

But now, a decade later, the Board and Bryant Homes have decided the prize is worth another effort.

According to the Board's spokesman, Mike Tilt, the scheme would create a waterfront destination which would attract visitors and make Worcester people proud.

Diglis Basin badly needs such attention. It takes only a little imagination to see what could be delivered to the city by such a scheme.

But there still remains the major issue of how traffic will travel to and from the Basin.

The latest proposals include creating a link road between Diglis Road and Bath Road which, according to resident Graeme Clark, would mean people having to put up with lorries while the building work took place and increased traffic when new residents moved into the 550 homes proposed for the site.

Former city mayor Derek Prodger says the access road was a headache but he hoped that "with some common sense we may be able to resolve the problem".

Let's hope that it can, because a thriving waterfront will bring huge benefits to our city.