HCS left deeply disappointed as Kirklees councillors ignore advice over controversial planning application

The derelict former Huddersfield Infirmary. Photo by Andy Hirst from AH! PR.

Huddersfield Civic Society have sent this out to the media 

Kirklees councillors have agreed to allow a new Lidl supermarket on Huddersfield ring road against advice from their own planning officials.

The decision for the development of the old Kirklees College site had been deferred amid concerns the developers were doing very little to protect or enhance derelict and decaying listed buildings on the high profile plot.

Huddersfield Civic Society has long voiced concerns that the Grade II-listed former Huddersfield Infirmary has been allowed to go to rack and ruin and has swiftly condemned the controversial decision by Kirklees Strategic Planning Committee.

It is understood developers Trinity One LLP now want to demolish the old college and some of the infirmary buildings to make way for the supermarket and then market the rest of the site in the hope another development company will buy it.

The application was initially submitted in 2018 but was deferred in November 2021 following concerns raised by Huddersfield Civic Society and others to give time for the applicants to prepare a plan to make emergency repairs to the old infirmary and a timescale as to when it will be fully renovated.  

The former infirmary is on Historic England’s Buildings at Risk register and failure to properly re-use the listed buildings would be in breach of Kirklees Council’s own policies regarding its Local Plan for developments across the area.

Huddersfield Civic Society chairman David Wyles said: ‘It is very disturbing to see the officers’ recommendation rejected. This is a building of regional importance and, while we hope an Urgent Works Notice will be implemented without delay, this does not bring about full restoration and the listed structures remain at risk without any timescale or plan for their full restoration.

“We are likely to see a supermarket of little architectural merit being completed with the remainder of the site left vacant, unloved and possibly sold off. Is this really the best we can achieve for a site so prominent and important to the town’s history and heritage?”

The Kirklees Strategic Planning Committee report states: “Officers are of the opinion that the changes since the committee in November 2021 do not improve the public benefits in any demonstrable way from that previously set out in the November 2021 report.”

The developers will be able to demolish some listed buildings and make the old infirmary watertight, but officers say this doesn’t go far enough and these properties should be fully redeveloped for housing, retail or leisure.

They add in their report to the committee: “Once demolition takes places and the urgent works have been completed the site does not have any further planning requirements for any construction works to take place. Overall, this is a disappointing outcome for this application which should result in the reuse of a brownfield site and protect and reuse an important listed building at the expense of demolition of a number of listed buildings. Therefore, in officers’ opinion, the public benefits do not justify the demolition of listed buildings proposed in this application.”

Huddersfield Civic Society has previously brought to Kirklees Council’s attention poor security around the listed buildings with clear signs of vandalism and theft.
​
Surveys by Kirklees officers identify a growing number of problems including all visible lead missing from the roof, external damp suggesting parapet gutter lead has also been stripped, portico roof leaking badly, vegetation growth on roof, open and broken windows.