Work finally underway on £50m scheme dogged by problems

By the end of next year the town should boast a multi-screen cinema, bowling alley, bingo hall, cafs and restaurants and a hotel.

Over the years the scheme was dogged by red tape, bad luck and controversy with Calderdale residents resigned to visiting Huddersfield, Bradford and Leeds for entertainment.

From the beginning, town-centre traders were alarmed at the prospect of losing the main shoppers' car park and gaining unwelcome competition from the "megastores" which were a key component of the original scheme.

In 1995 there was an exceptional level of interest from developers in the 3.4-acre site, according to chartered surveyors Donaldsons.

But rather than just shops, they said it would be better suited to a combination of offices, leisure, bulky retail goods and residential use.

The Royal Fine Art Commission said the scheme needed more refining before it could be said to enhance and preserve the character of the town-centre conservation area.

Soon after, the Government gave the go-ahead for the scheme which the Town Centre Forum said would propel Halifax "into the premier league of shopping towns by the year 2000".

But as the deadline approached the design was amended to incorporate proposals to move the town's ambulance station on to the Burdock Way roundabout.

The whole Broad Street scheme collapsed in 2000 when the developer, Trinity Developments Ltd, went into receivership.

After a four-year gap, Miller Gregory, of Leeds, was appointed as the new preferred developer for the site but 10 months were wasted as the council waited for Government permission to sell the site at less than the commercial rate to help cover the development costs.

Frustratingly for all concerned it turned out that such approval was not required and questions were asked about the council's judgment.

In 2006, it was proposed that the Netto supermarket should be incorporated into the scheme, along with 76 apartments, potentially leading to a public planning inquiry, although these proposals were subsequently dropped.

By the end of 2007, the first of four "anchor tenants" had been signed up and the council was under pressure to drop its demand for a 15 per cent share of any commercial profits in the venture.

The following year planning permission was granted and there was talk of providing replacement council offices and possibly a library on part of the site – talk which ultimately foundered.

Preparatory work on the Broad Street Plaza started in spring when the decorative cherry trees surrounding the site were felled.

Initially there will be little to see as underground surveys are carried out but over the coming weeks 150 men and machines will move on to the site. The project will be built by Marshall Construction, of Elland.

It means the end of car-boot sales, traditionally held on Broad Street car park, and which have now been switched to North Bridge Leisure Centre for the first time.

The leader of Calderdale Council, Janet Battye, (Lib Dem, Calder), said: "It really is very good news and the arrangements that have been made should be very solid and should work out and add to the vibrancy of the town centre.''

Gregory Group boss David Brimblecombe added: "When it opens next year, the development will deliver a destination leisure location for Halifax."