Huge £26m Dewsbury regeneration plan given the go-ahead

In February 2020 the COuncil unveiled its Dewsbury Blueprint plan

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.

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.

For Huddersfield, up to £75million will be invested to deliver a number of key projects.

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.

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.”