Never miss a thing from across Yorkshire! Get the biggest stories direct to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

One of the biggest and boldest transformation plans for Huddersfield town centre has been revealed.

Kirklees Council's highly anticipated masterplan proposals to install a new 'Cultural Heart' into Huddersfield, upgrade the train and bus stations and revamp the dingier parts of the town centre were launched this evening.

The bold project, set to be worth £250m over ten years, will see six areas of the town centre lavished with regeneration cash and will also result in the demolition of the Piazza shopping centre.

The six areas earmarked in the plans are:

The train station area

St Peter’s Gardens and Northumberland Street

The Kingsgate and King Street vicinity

New Street

The Civic Quarter and Huddersfield bus station

The 'Cultural Heart' from the library to the university

While the first five zones mainly revolve around improved landscaping and aesthetics, it is the last that is the most profound in terms of re-shaping the town centre.

To create the Cultural Heart, council chiefs have revealed they have purchased the Piazza shopping centre buildings in order to knock them down.

This will allow their vision of connecting the library, the Lawrence Batley Theatre and Huddersfield University with one big public space.

Artist's impressions show the transformation would see a modern extension to the library and a new high-rise building on the site of what is now Market Hall car park, that could be a hotel, a youth zone or a new car park.

The Grade 2 listed Queensgate Market building is safe from the bulldozers but will be re-purposed. It is being considered as the site for a new 700-1,000 capacity live music venue, which will also include studios and tuition spaces and is planned to be completed by 2023.

The council says the hundreds of millions needed will come from national government, private investors, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and from its own budgets.

Clr Shabir Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council, said: “We’re committed to seeing our economies thrive and these plans set out how Huddersfield will become a vibrant, family-focused town centre with something for everyone to enjoy.

“Town Centres are changing.

"While we remain committed to ensuring we have a good retail offer throughout Kirklees, more people are now shopping online and the challenge is to develop a different kind of offer to encourage more people into town centres.

"This means having culture and leisure offers such as theatre, cinema, art and live music.

“The extra visitors will boost business for the existing, diverse local restaurants, bars and cafes in Huddersfield and encourage new ones to open.

“We’re ambitious for Huddersfield Town Centre and for the whole of Kirklees and planning is underway to regenerate our other town centres.”

Deputy Leader and cabinet member for economy, Clr Peter McBride, said: “Huddersfield is a remarkable place to live, work and invest but it has even more potential and with this Blueprint for the town centre, we’re aiming high.

“Huddersfield will be a family-friendly town centre that attracts people from far and wide with its famous Cultural Heart, a place with theatre, art, music and more all in one place.

“We want to better connect the town centre, making it easier for pedestrians and cyclists and improved train and bus stations with better facilities will make Huddersfield a key destination.

"More town centre homes will add an energy to the town centre.

“The Huddersfield Blueprint is our vision for the future of the town centre but we want local people to help us shape it.

"Please take the time to see the plans in full and take part in our consultation when we launch it.”

The plans are subject to a three-month consultation and engagement period which will begin in the coming weeks.

This will involve an online platform as well as face to face interviews with residents and a drop-in shop in the town centre.

To view the plans and to read more about them, visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/HuddersfieldBlueprint