‘moving here was the best thing i ever did’
CRIME IS NO ISSUE FOR RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS ON CROSS CHURCH STREET... BUT THERE ARE CALLS FOR A BOOST TO TRADE AND FOOTFALL
IT can be a little noisy at weekends but Richard Miles wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Richard, 64, is one of a small number of people who live in Cross Church Street, a busy thoroughfare in the centre of Huddersfield that historically has something of a reputation for crime and disorder.
Recent police data might suggest that crime is still an issue in Cross Church Street, but residents and business owners will beg to differ. Richard is delighted with everything that Cross Church Street has to offer, although he believes it already has more than its fair share of fried chicken takeaways.
Richard said: “I live on Cross Church Street and it can be a bit noisy on Friday and Saturday night - you can hear people. I tend not to come out and I don’t know if there’s any bother.”
Richard says it is an ‘ideal’ place to live as top-class cafes and restaurants are on his doorstep, although post-Covid he has noticed the area is less busy.
“The town centre is definitely a lot quieter to what it was pre-Covid. Not just Cross Church Street but the wider town centre.”
The Examiner caught up with Richard just after he emerged from Guzel, a familyrun Turkish cafe and restaurant in Cross Church Street, which he describes as ‘wonderful.’
He has enjoyed trying everything the menu has to offer and says he loves Turkish hot tea.
Speaking about living in Cross Church Street, he said: “I think it is pleasant. The people and the shopkeepers are very friendly. Moving here was the best thing I did.”
Ghassan Bateha, who is the manager of Ugarit restaurant in Cross Church Street, said a special cut-price menu had been brought in to encourage more custom because it was ‘quiet’ at the moment which he puts down to a hangover from Covid and the current economic situation.
And he says the number of Middle Eastern university students appears to have dropped, although he doesn’t know why this is.
“Life is not like before coronavirus,” says Ghassan. “It’s not like before. We used to have students spending money in the town - from Qatar and Saudi, the Emirates, Oman and Kuwait. They have moved to different cities. I don’t see a lot of them now. They are in Manchester and Leeds. They spend a lot of money.”
He believes the Kingsgate shopping centre should close much later than it does to attract more people into town. And he said the town centre would get a boost with the opening of a proposed new cinema and bowling complex at the former House of Fraser site in the Kingsgate Centre.
And he said parking issues were a major issue for traders who struggled with deliveries as traffic wardens handed out tickets for those who break the rules.
Dyari Rasul, who runs Istanbul Barbers in Cross Church Street, says the general ‘look’ of the street needs tidying up.
“The road surface needs to be tidy. Look at all the holes. And there are too many poles (signposts).”
Asked about crime, he said it wasn’t a problem and ‘it’s quiet.’
He wants more people to visit the street and sample the restaurants. “I use Guzel, Dixie, Ugarit and Veppura.”
He says the street could do with a boost. “It needs something for the day, something to bring people to the road.”
He said there were too many takeaways at present and a lack of parking had become a major issue.
“People don’t have the time to park far away and walk into town,” he said. “This is Huddersfield. It is not Leeds or Manchester. It is not busy.”
Several retailers say that business is quiet at the moment.
A woman who runs Rosiyak Kitchen, which sells food and drink and African-style cuisine said: “It’s changed since Covid. People have got no money. Everybody is complaining about the (cost of living) crisis.”