Council to sell off more land to plug £47m deficit

Earlsheaton Cemetery Lodge in Dewsbury is one of the 17 assets the council now wants sell off

A cash-strapped local authority is planning to offload more of its assets in order to bring in £6m.

Kirklees Council was faced with a £47m black hole in its budget in 2023-24.

The authority has already raised nearly £1m after four assets were sold off in May and June.

Seventeen new assets have been earmarked for disposal including a plot of land at Grasscroft in Almondbury, despite several objections.

A council report stated one letter of objection was received from residents of Grasscroft and surrounding areas and included a petition signed by 36 people.

They have raised concerns about the site, which is an open space, being used for anything other than grazing land, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Other sites earmarked for disposal include a plot at Walkley Lane/Sycamore Industrial Estate in Heckmondwike, which was previously featured in a highways scheme as well as Earlsheaton Cemetery Lodge and land in Mirfield, Huddersfield and Holmfirth.

In the current financial year, the council wants to raise £6m from selling off property and land it said was surplus to requirements, with a £4m target set for 2026-27.

It has already auctioned off of the former Red House Museum at Gomersal, which sold for £650,000.

The Grade II listed property, which was once the home of Charlotte Brontë's friend Mary Taylor, was previously a museum which closed in 2016 and a plan to turn it into holiday accommodation and wedding venue fell through.

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