£2m boost for town’s Waterfront Quarter

Kirklees Council has awarded a £2m contract to Clugston Construction Ltd to undertake preparatory and landscaping works on a three-acre site in readiness for commercial development from 2012.

When complete, the land, which already has outline planning permission for four buildings containing offices, shops, restaurants and bars, will be offered for sale to developers.

The council’s lead Cabinet member for regeneration, Peter McBride, said: “With work starting on the next phase of development, I am delighted to see that Huddersfield’s Waterfront Quarter is gaining considerable momentum.

“Construction of the new Kirklees College campus is right on schedule, with students expected to move in next year. And, as work on the site has progressed, it’s now easy to see how attractive the waterside location will be to other investors and developers.”

Work on the land being prepared for the second phase of development has begun with demolition of redundant industrial buildings.

It will also include significant upgrading of a section of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal which runs through the site.

The schedule of works, funded jointly by Kirklees Council and regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, includes the creation of a new lock, landing stage, and passing place, as well as exposing a stretch of the canal which currently passes through a tunnel.

A towpath for pedestrians and cyclists will be formed between Chapel Hill and Manchester Road at Longroyd Bridge. The improvements are expected to be completed by April 2012.

A scheme of highway works in Chapel Hill will follow later that year.

The final stage will be the creation of flats on land currently owned by Sellers International.