Kirklees Council’s Cabinet has approved a £100million investment which will help deliver key town-centre regeneration projects as part of the Huddersfield and Dewsbury Blueprint plans.
In June 2019 the council launched its Huddersfield Blueprint plan and followed this up in February 2020 with the unveiling of its Dewsbury Blueprint.
The council has been working to bring both visions to life and an update on progress and an overview of the next steps was presented to Cabinet on 22 September 2020.
Cabinet Members voted to back the transformational funding plans for both town centres.
For Huddersfield, up to £75million will be invested to deliver a number of key projects. This will be allocated towards a new Sound Space music venue, improvement works to the public realm, a new multi-storey car park at Market Hall, repair works to the George Hotel which will become a new National Rugby League Museum, refurbishment of shopfronts and more.
Projects in Dewsbury will have £26million allocated. This will help to deliver the refurbishment of Dewsbury Arcade which the council has now purchased, public realm and shopfront improvements, public art projects, help to refurbish the library building, new street lighting and more.
The council will continue developing and delivering these projects and work will also continue to plan other significant regeneration plans for both towns.
In addition to this £100million investment, Kirklees Council is looking to secure a further £18million in match funding to help deliver both Blueprint plans, with bids also submitted for additional grants.
Read the full Cabinet report on the council’s website.
Councillor Peter McBride, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “When we launched our plans for Huddersfield and Dewsbury town centres, our intention was to get to work and bring them to life and this level of investment shows that we mean business.
“Our Blueprint visions are long-term and on a large-scale. This investment is just the start of an incredibly exciting regeneration journey for our town centres with further plans being worked on.
“We can now begin to develop and deliver these key projects and start to create the thriving town centres local people and businesses deserve.
“I would like to thank all the thousands of residents who took the time to view our plans for Huddersfield and Dewsbury and shared their thoughts with us as part of the consultation period. Something that remains important to us moving forward is working with local people to make sure we get this right for them. As we move on to deliver individual projects, we will continue to ask for your input so we can shape our future together.”
You can read more on the Huddersfield Blueprint and Dewsbury Blueprint on our website.