Huddersfield Civic Society’s Chairman’s update March 2022

One of the 200 lions in Huddersfield town centre which you can discover on a walk in April

Reminder: HCS AGM on Tuesday, March 29 at 7pm

I hope you will be able to join us at the Yorkshire Children’s Centre, New North Parade, Huddersfield for our AGM which will be followed by a presentation by Acumen Architects focussing on town centre residential developments, proposals and opportunities.

The AGM will last for around 30 minutes after which there will be a short break when coffee and tea will be available before the presentation by Acumen.
 
Discover Huddersfield Trails and Walks Programme 2022

There are two walks are scheduled for April and both start at 2.30pm.
Once again, former HCS chairman Chris Marsden will be leading a Lion Hunt, exploring some of the 200 lions to be found around the town centre on Sunday, April 3.

Then on Sunday, April 24, Dave Verguson will lead a walk-through Lindley’s story – one of Discover Huddersfield’s most popular walks.

Bookings for each walk will be available via Eventbrite no more than 14 days before each walk but hurry as the two walks in March were booked out within days of being made available. To view all the year’s walks, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/discover-huddersfield-guided-walks-programme-2022-120689.

Walks cost £4 per person and usually last 1.5 - 2 hours.
 
Other event dates for your diaries

Evening visit to Halifax town centre on Thursday, July 14.

We last visited Halifax in 2016 before the renovated Piece Hall was reopened. Our July walk will be led by Halifax Civic Trust Chairman Alan Goodrum and will last between 90 minutes and 2 hours, finishing at a local hostelry for supper.

Evening stroll around Kirkburton, 6.30pm on Wednesday, August 3.
Meet at Kirkburton Library for a stroll around one of Kirklees’ most interesting villages, led by members of Kirkburton History Group with supper back at the library at around 8pm.

Saving Our Heritage: Conservation of the former George Hotel and Estate Buildings. Monday, September 12.

This will be by Helen Walker, Head of Heritage, Bowman Riley Architects. It’s a joint presentation with Huddersfield Local History Society as part of the Heritage Open Days festival.
 
Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust, Thursday, October 13, Holy Trinity Church, Trinity Street, Huddersfield.

Presentation about the work of the Trust and the buildings it helps to protect.

Note: Invitations for all the above will be sent out a few weeks before the event.
 
Town Centre Blueprint

In my last update I mentioned that our early thoughts and concerns regarding the Cultural Heart proposals had been submitted to the consultants. These comments have now been posted in the HCS website ‘News’ section.
 
In addition, I have also been invited to participate in a new Huddersfield Partnership Group, to be chaired by Kirklees Service Director for Development, Joanne Bartholomew. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend the first meeting on the afternoon of March 29 but committee colleague Martin Kilburn will be attending in my absence. We will report outcomes from these meetings in future updates.
 
Planning Issues

Former Kirklees College and Infirmary Site
 
Despite our efforts and against the advice of their own officers, Kirklees Strategic Planning Committee approved proposals for the redevelopment of the former college site and Grade 2* Infirmary on February 24.
 
The officers’ report was damning about the deteriorating state of the Grade 2* Infirmary and ancillary buildings and their recommendation to refuse the application follows the deferment on November 18, 2021, which gave 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.
 
This is what the committee decided:
'Delegate to the Head of Planning and Development to approve, contrary to the officers’ recommendation to refuse, to include completion of the draft conditions and S106 agreement contained within the considered report.'
 
In a statement to the press, which you can also read in the HCS website’s News section, I said: “It is very disturbing to see the officers’ recommendation rejected. The Infirmary 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?”
 
Transport Matters

We still await updates on Kirklees Council’s various proposed road and cycle schemes which went to public consultation last year. We will publicise comments on the Huddersfield Civic Society website when there is news.
While we also await publication of last year’s public enquiry on the Transpennine Rail Upgrade, there has been a recent announcement by Network Rail of plans for a temporary station in March/April 2024 and again in April/May 2025 while major building work is undertaken at Huddersfield station.
 
The site chosen is nearly a mile away on the former Hillhouse Yard off Alder Street, a congested area on the opposite side of the railway from the waste management site.
 
Currently, committee colleagues Geoff Hughes and Chas Ball, working closely with Huddersfield Unlimited, are asking Network Rail and the West Yorkshire transport organisation to design safe and secure facilities at the temporary station and to provide better connections to and around town than just the currently proposed bus service, usually at 30 minute-intervals, to St George’s Square.
 
The Civic Society will continue to campaign for a quality, and properly connected, transport service during the period when the town’s station and main through rail service are rebuilt.

​Report by David Wyles, March 2022

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