Enterprise corridor ‘one of region’s most exciting new visions’

A 20-YEAR plan to build an enterprise corridor close to Huddersfield town centre has been hailed as “one of the most exciting economic development opportunities in the Yorkshire region”.

The scheme, which covers the area between Huddersfield station and the John Smith’s Stadium, aims to bring highly-skilled jobs and high-quality development to the area, building on the opportunities generated by the new National Health Innovation Campus and the TransPennine rail upgrade.

The masterplan outlining the council’s ambitions was discussed by the council regeneration scrutiny panel after the approval of a draft by Cabinet last December.

Coun Graham Turner said: “The beauty of this is we’ve never as an organisation had long-term visions. This is a longer-term plan and looks forward to the future. There are no shovels going to go in the ground immediately. It frees all that corridor up, down to the stadium.

“What we’d like to see is highskills, high-quality development tying in possibly with the university’s health campus.

"We will be using the planning system to ensure we don’t end up with low-end retail jobs on this site. This will be for high-end dedicated skills and hopefully betterpaid jobs.”

At the heart of the development lies Huddersfield University’s £250m National Health Innovation Campus. The campus’ Health and Wellbeing Academy is due to open in 2024 and will be followed by five more buildings where specialist training and facilities will be delivered.

The area encompasses several other key areas including the George Hotel, Northumberland Street and John William Street. However, funding for the council’s £18m plans for Huddersfield Market at Northumberland Street was recently denied by the Government in the second round of levelling up.

Another major scheme influencing the wider masterplan is the £1.5 billion TransPennine route opgrade. This aims to improve travel times and transport links between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.

Improved transport links for cyclists and pedestrians have also been considered, with a new crossing proposed across the Broad Canal to improve connectivity and integrate into the wider active travel network.

The council is currently in talks with key landowners.