Council urged to U-turn on regeneration plans

An event held in the Piazza arts space Huddersfield

Kirklees Council has been urged by a think tank to reconsider plans to demolish the Piazza area of Huddersfield town centre.

Same Skies has published research saying the Piazza Arts Centre generates at least £400k a year for the town.

The council's £210m Our Cultural Heart project would see the area replaced with a new venue, a multi-storey car park, a food hall, a museum and a gallery.

David Shepherd, strategic director for growth and regeneration at Kirklees Council, said the new offer would "boost the local economy and attract visitors from near and far".

However, Same Skies has claimed that instead of going ahead with the planned demolition, renovating the remaining Piazza buildings as a venue for the arts, community groups and new business start-ups could prove a more cost effective option.

Andrew Wilson, co-director of Same Skies, said: “Our latest figures show how the Piazza Arts Centre could be a national success story for Huddersfield.

“Its success is down to the architecture of the Piazza which has proved to be a revolutionary design for an arts, culture and business start-up venue."

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the Our Cultural Heart project had already been scaled back and phase two faced "years of delays and uncertainty"

"Our continuing research demonstrates there is a viable, cost effective alternative."

However, Mr Shepherd said the development would create "a vibrant culture, art, leisure and nightlife offer to boost the local economy and attract visitors from near and far".

"In order to bring this vision to life, the existing piazza will be demolished to make way for the area’s new offering, which will include a food hall, museum and art gallery, and a modern, community library, events square and urban park," he added.

Plans scaled back

Over the past four years, the centre has been home to numerous activities including Worst Album Covers, the town’s most successful art exhibition which gained national media coverage and has gone on to tour venues around Britain.

It has also housed Dark Horse theatre, a theatre company for adults with learning disabilities and the Ame music venue which has attracted performers from all over the world.

Since the initial plans were announced, Kirklees Council's plans for the Cultural Heart have changed due to financial constraints.

In June last year, it was announced that the museum and gallery would be housed together in the former library building at Princess Alexandra Walk, instead of separately, as was originally envisaged.

The art gallery and museum are expected to be delivered in later phases of the plan, between 2026 and 2030, along with an urban park, live entertainment venue, car park and a Queen Street development whose use remains uncertain.

Phase one is expected to be completed by Winter 2025.