£25m bid launched to create new town centre cultural quarter

Plans have been unveiled to secure £25m of funding to create a new cultural quarter in Huddersfield town centre.

The proposed cultural quarter will comprise a new library, art gallery and museum, as well as a new live music venue.

Kirklees Council is bidding for the funding from the Government’s High Street Fund to deliver the new cultural and arts quarter, which will be situated around the Huddersfield Library and Queensgate Market area of the town centre.

If the bid is successful, the plans would deliver an improved Huddersfield Library and Art Gallery, a new museum alongside the Lawrence Batley Theatre and new 700-1,000 capacity live music venue.

The council is aiming for this project to  increase footfall and boost the night-time economy in the town centre. The cultural quarter would also form part of a Huddersfield Town Centre Masterplan, which is currently being drafted and is set to be revealed in spring, 2019.

The council’s Cabinet has recently allocated £45m to regenerate Huddersfield and Dewsbury town centres, as well as a further £25m to support other projects which will help redevelop the whole of Kirklees.

Further funding has also been secured from the West Yorkshire Transport Fund for several different transport-related projects, totalling over £150m of investment.

Councillor Shabir Pandor, leader of Kirklees Council, said: “It’s clear to see that we are an ambitious and innovative council that is investing to ensure Kirklees is a great place to live, work and do business.

“It’s crucial that we get this right and in order for a modern day town centre to thrive it needs to have a more diverse offer. We recognise that in an age of online shopping, people want to have experiences in their town centres and culture is at the heart of this.

“The future of our town centres is a huge priority for us. Whilst we’re bidding for funding for Huddersfield in this case, we’re working on a range of projects to improve our other town centres too.”

This latest funding round of the Government’s High Street Fund closes on 22 March.

Councillor Peter McBride, cabinet member for economy, added: “Our ambition for Huddersfield Town Centre will be captured in the emerging masterplan which we’ll be sharing in the coming months. However, we cannot miss out on what could be vital funding.

“Clearly, this is not the only project identified in the masterplan but bringing better experiences to the town centre is crucial to increasing footfall and attracting more visitors. Town centres have changed and we can no longer rely on retail alone.

“We want our town centres to have something for everyone, including families, and this would be a huge step forward.”