Titanic Spa in Huddersfield to launch new complex at Humber Bridge creating 160 jobs

Huddersfield-based Titanic Spa plans to build the complex, costing between £16m and £20m, on Humber Bridge-owned land close to the Country Park.

Around 40,000 people would be expected to visit every year.

The bridge board’s chairman Coun Sean Chaytor said the intention is to make it “environmentally-friendly and a good neighbour to the local community”.

He said it would boost tourism by getting more visitors, who currently come to Hull to visit the Deep aquarium to stay overnight.

The spa will have a pool and “sizeable” reception area on the ground floor, treatment rooms on the first floor, accommodation on the second and a restaurant, bar and Infinity pool on the top floor, he said.

Coun Chaytor said most of the jobs would be for youngsters aged 18 to 24, giving them a “start in life”.

“It is a major investment by a regional operator in creating a major tourist attraction in the Humber sub-region which will involve investment in excess of between £16m and £20m and at least 160 jobs, potentially 200.”

He said it would offer an alternative to the “solidly booked” spa at Linthwaite for people living in York and on the south bank of the Humber.

The development is planned to fit in a small copse close to the former tourism information centre and have around 160 car parking spaces. However Coun Chaytor said there would also be opportunities for people to travel by train to Hull and Brough and be picked up from the station.

The company has a spa in a restored textile mill in the Linthwaite valley, which was named World’s Best Luxury Eco-Spa in the World Luxury Spa Awards 2018. It was unavailable for comment on Monday.

The project comes four years after East Riding councillors rejected £25m plans for a spectacular glass lift ride to the top of the bridge, as part of a scheme including offices and a hotel.

A planning application has yet to be submitted to East Riding Council, but it could be up and running by 2023, Coun Chaytor said.

Hessle ward councillor David Nolan said “in principle it sounds like a good idea”.

Liberal Democrats had opposed the previous scheme for offices, which would have involved closing off the bridge slip road.

Coun Nolan said: “It builds on the tourism offering in the area including the Country Park, the foreshore and newly-reopened Black Mill and beings in jobs. A spa complex is a logical tourist fit for the area and a win-win.”