Residents in Huddersfield are hopeful that the feeling of community remains amidst new investment into the town. Huddersfield was once voted England’s second-worst town, beating out contenders such as Luton, Slough and Liverpool.
The town’s high street has been notoriously empty over recent years. Economic troubles and the rise of online shopping has made it increasingly harder for many shop owners to justify investing in a person-facing store.
Kirklees Council decided to make a stand against the poor reputation of the town centre with the Blueprint Project, which aimed to renovate and reestablish the wider area through several sources of funding. The project has seen some success, the most recent of which is the expansion of Kingsgate with ‘The Light’. Opened to acclaim from residents, many enjoy its “large array of activities” and the “fun atmosphere that had been missing around the area”.
One patron of The Light said “I appreciate that there’s a cinema here now, it means I don’t have to trek over to the other end of town just to see a movie I like.”
With the success of The Light, many are looking to the next development in the Blueprint revitalisation to change the wider landscape of Huddersfield’s town centre and high street.
Huddersfield’s Cultural Heart scheme
One such development is the £200m Cultural Heart scheme, aiming to bring a massive community centre to Huddersfield, specifically renovating the Queensgate Market and Huddersfield Public Library to allow for a more communal, trendy area alongside the construction of a food hall and a bigger museum space.
The scheme has left residents feeling both excited and wary for the future, with another resident saying, “I like it, but I don’t know if it will contain the same community, that’s what makes that open market downtown so special, and it feels like this’ll lose that.”
For more information on the Blueprint Project check the website