Doomed Piazza offered temporary reprieve with short-term lets

SHOPS ON Huddersfield’s doomed Piazza shopping centre are set to reopen.

The site, currently scheduled for demolition as part of the socalled Huddersfield Blueprint, is winding down with many shops standing empty.

However some are set for a new lease of life, albeit temporarily.

The council-run arts website Creative Kirklees announced on social media: “As lockdown is beginning to ease the Piazza units are going to be reopening with a number of existing and new organisations and individuals!”

Kirklees Council said the decision on whether or not private businesses should reopen was down to the individual owners, and suggested they follow Government advice.

The authority announced last November that there was “little commercial demand” for space on the Piazza, which will be bulldozed as part of an ambitious £250m plan to reimagine the heart of the town centre.

It was encouraged to offer short-term leases on vacant units by Coun Richard Eastwood of the Liberal Democrats.

The Labour-led council has sought to populate the area, albeit on a short-term basis, by signing agreements with a range of organisations including Huddersfield New College, Yorkshire

Print Workshop and Dark Horse Theatre.

The agreements run for a maximum of three months.

Coun Peter McBride, the council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “The decision whether shops can reopen is not being made by the council.

“Shops in the Piazza and across Kirklees should make decisions on whether to reopen based on the latest Government guidance and their personal circumstances.

“As long as they can safely meet the requirements around hygiene and social distancing the council would be delighted to see shops open.”