Shaping our towns for the future
Biggest changes in 50 years
SOME OF the biggest changes in nearly 50 years are getting under way in Calderdale, which will transform its major towns.
Competitive bidding to the Government has successfully brought £36.6 million from the Town Fund to Brighouse (£19.1 million) and Todmorden (£17.5 million); £18 million worth of Future High Streets funding for Halifax (£11.7 million) and Elland (£6.3 million); and just under £2 million Heritage Action Zone funding for Sowerby Bridge, while £27 million from various funders is committed to a major flood alleviation scheme at Hebden Bridge.
Alongside major highways projects already under way including latest phases of the A629 work, this money will be spent over the next five years, said the council’s Cabinet member for Regeneration and Strategy, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot).
Elland will also see another major project when a new £20 million rail station is built there, with the first shovel expected to go into the ground on the scheme in spring 2023. That project is being spearheded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
There is some initial downside as such major schemes were disruptive while they were being built and communication will need to be clear as work starts projects, and through them.
“We are sorry about this, but it is really worth it – we are going to transform this place.
“We haven’t necessarily been clear enough and simple enough in saying ‘here are three things that are coming up’ and making you proud of your town,” she said.
Examples might be borough market transformation and new bus and rail stations in Halifax, or in Brighouse’s case road transformation, work being undertaken by the Brighouse Town Board – including big plans for the town’s market and a focus on industrial entrepreneurship and apprenticeships – and Environment Agency work which to help alleviate flooding at Clifton Beck – three big sources of funding, said Coun Scullion.
Amid ongoing things at Brighouse, promoting areas like the canal basin would be part of attracting people to visit – “it’s an undiscovered gem,” said Coun Scullion, one of the canals, rivers, reservoirs and hills that give Calderdale a tourism boost.
Kate McNicholas, the council’s assistant director for housing, economy and investment, said in Todmorden’s case the Town Board were taking the lead and aiming to deliver projects that would “make a significant difference”. At Elland, the railway station would be a ‘game changer’, she said.
Coun Scullion said good quality, reliable, rail and soon, and ultimately to be electric, buses throughout Calderdale and serving its rural areas would also be key, both within the borough and with neighbouring areas and across county borders,
We haven’t necessarily been clear enough in saying ‘here are three things coming up’ and making you proud of your town
for example Greater Manchester.
“I think its really important that we have an idea of what the connectivity is, and the hubs – people travel in to Calderdale to work and travel out,” she said, with the new Calder Valley Line Community Rail Partnership set up between Calderdale and Rochdale Councils to apply pressure for improvements including line electrification.
The council’s corporate lead for major projects, Rob Summerfield, said Future High Streets funding included money for Halifax Borough Market, developing it as a place to establish a business, and building on its history as a community hub.
What unites the packages are goals of ensuring Calderdale’s towns are prosperous, strong and resilient – not just economically but also protected as much as possible from flooding and meaning responding to the climate emergency- reducing inequality across the borough and promoting local sources of food, said Coun Scullion.