Kirklees Council have approved a £100million investment, which will help deliver regeneration projects for Huddersfield and Dewsbury.

In June last year the council launched its Huddersfield Blueprint plan and followed it up in February 2020, with the unveiling of its Dewsbury Blueprint.

As part of the project, Huddersfield has been allocated £75m for a range of projects including the ‘sound space’, to replace the piazza, which is set to be bulldozed ,a new multi-storey car park on Alfred Street, repair works to the George Hotel, in order for it to become the new National Rugby League Museum, as well as further refurbishment of shopfronts.

Projects in Dewsbury will have £26m allocated. This will help to deliver the refurbishment of Dewsbury Arcade, public spaces, and shopfront improvements. It will also fund public art projects and help to refurbish the library building.

In addition to this £100 million investment, Kirklees Council is looking to secure a further £18m in funding to help deliver both the plans.

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 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.”

In Huddersfield they want to create a cultural heart around Queensgate and the library building. The new cultural heart will include a library, art gallery, museum, and live music venue in the Piazza. This will be supported by restaurants and the Lawrence Batley Theatre.

Kingsgate cinema plans

To coincide with railway improvements the plans include a new Station Square that will provide an arrival space and new entrance to Huddersfield Train Station.

A new cinema and leisure complex is set to be introduced to the Kingsgate Shopping Centre to further drive traffic to the town centre.

In Dewsbury, the council plans to move over 750 staff to the town with them being placed in new or refurbished buildings over the next 5 years. To improve the transport for the region the town will get a new state of the art bus station.

Plans for the new bus station in Dewsbury

Following on from the Springfield Sixth Form Centre opening a few years ago the town hopes to reopen the historic Pioneer Higher Skills Centre to help attract students to study.

Perhaps the biggest development is the new neighbourhood of Daisy Hill, where funding will be used to develop new homes in the community, with Field House being a key part of the designs.

As well as making more parks to help the town become greener, the plans include space and funding for public art to go across the city.

The projects across both areas of Kirklees are described as an exciting regeneration journey and the blueprints show major changes in the works. The work will begin next year with a proposed completion date of 2024.