Breathe new life into this gem of a former church

Micky Stewart, former cricketer, George Chakiris, actor, Russ Abbot, comedian, Begley Jr, actor, Mickey Rourke, actor

David Copperfield, magician, Neville Southall, former footballer Richard Marx, singer/songwriter, Anthony, musician and actor, pop singer SURELY the lovely former St Andrew’s church on Leeds Road could make an ideal recycling and upcycling centre for locals and environmental charities.

Its location is ideal - next to Kirklees Council’s materials recycling facility for furniture/ electronic waste/white goods etc and also their incinerator operated by SITA which diverts 50,000 of tonnes of household waste from landfill serving the 150,000 households across the Kirklees area by burning the waste and, as a by-product, generating electricity for 15,000 homes.

BBC1’s current afternoon TV series Money For Nothing highlights how discarded household items can be recycled - presenter Sarah Moore intercepts items from waste tips and gets them refurbished, even making a profit.

Kirklees Council’s leader David Sheard and chief executive Jacqui Gedman might beneficially watch Money For Nothing and apply the lesson to St Andrew’s - now opposite a Premier League Football Stadium with VIPs passing from all over Britain. What better opportunity for an ethical environmentally friendly business which perhaps a millionaire footballer from Huddersfield or elsewhere could sponsor.

A Kirklees compulsory purchase order could secure the building for another joint venture with SITA. Kirklees Council showed enterprise and vision 25 years ago in developing the £100m Kingsgate shopping centre in partnership with the Sheffield-based Henry Boot Group. I was in the team, helping assemble the site and as a by-product cross-subsidised the adjoining theatre.

Now St Andrew’s offers another smaller challenge for a Kirklees-led eco-friendly initiative.

St Andrew’s merits attention by Kirklees Council - it’s an architectural gem listed nationally for its architectural importance and so demolition or alternative use would require Kirklees Council’s consent. It was designed by the Victorian architect William Henry Crossland, a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott who designed the Foreign Office in London and St Thomas’ church in Huddersfield, Royal Holloway College, University of London; Rochdale Town Hall and St Peter’s church in Birstall.

With such a pedigree, Kirklees Council surely cannot turn its back on St Andrew’s?