The future looks bright for Batley

Labour candidate for Batley and Spen Jo Cox organised a forum for residents to discuss how they could help improve the town.

Guest speakers, including historian Malcolm Haigh and Batley Business Association chairman Andrew Marsden, shared their ideas at Batley Town Hall on Tuesday.

“Batley has suffered enough and it is time to start fighting back,” said Mrs Cox.

“I wanted to start the conversation about how we stop the decline and start to rebuild our town centre.

“What is clear is that we need a shared vision for the future of Batley, what we want our town to be.

“I was worried initially it would be a negative, backward looking exercise with a lot of finger pointing but nothing could be further from the truth.

“It was a positive, optimistic and forward looking discussion.”

Mrs Cox will now look at creating a steering group to take the project forward and start to implement some of the ideas.

She will also be asking residents for their views to find out what they want from their town centre.

“The fortunes and future of our town centres is a major issue for people across Batley and Spen,” Mrs Cox said.

“What is clear from the meeting on Tuesday is that by working together we can improve our town, protect our assets and services, and make Batley town centre a better place.”