You said, we did & FAQ
- The location of the loading bay on Victoria Street
- The removal of on-street parking negatively impacting disabled and elderly customers (and subsequently businesses
- Concerns an HGV ban would negatively impact businesses
- The council is still intending to remove the market hall but instead of a link road, the site will include electricity and water points for pop-up markets / festivals and set up so that the council can install electric car charging points in the future.
- The Huddersfield Road car park will increase its capacity to 27 vehicles including 3 disabled parking bays.
- This car park area and its link to Hollowgate will undergo public realm improvements including new seating, landscaping and opening up the view to the river.
- There will be wider footpaths on Hollowgate to improve pedestrian safety.
- The council will reconfigure the signals on Huddersfield Road at the junction with Victoria Street, amend the stop line, and widen footways. There will be new signal timing software to improve traffic flow at the junction.
- There will be widened footways on Victoria Street, with new loading bay and disabled parking facilities introduced for town centre businesses.
- New signal-controlled pedestrian crossing facilities on Victoria Street will be linked to the Huddersfield Road signals to better control the flow of traffic
- There will be a 20mph speed limit in areas of the town centre.
- The council will create a new car park off Huddersfield Road near Bloc café specifically for electric vehicles (including bikes) rapid charging points.
- The town will benefit from a new signalised crossing on Huddersfield Road next to the electric vehicle car park.
- reduce congestion
- improve journey times for all modes
- reduce the potential for accidents
- improve access for local residents and businesses
- enable access to employment and residential sites along the corridor
- increase the Gross Value Added to the Economy
What were the issues raised in the last engagement in January 2020?
Following both public engagement in 2019 and business engagement in January 2020 the following concerns were raised.
How we have changed the plans following the three engagement events?
The council is also in discussions with local groups about improving the River Holme in Holmfirth.
What do you hope to achieve by making the improvements?
In order for us to receive funding from the Combined Authority, we have to demonstrate that the scheme will:
Why can’t we have the Major Highway link road scheme?
The Corridor Improvement Programme budget for the Holmfirth scheme is only £3.9m. We cannot deliver a major scheme for this budget. We will, however seek to include the major scheme into the next round of funding for major schemes.
Timescales for delivery
When will work start on site?
There is still a lot of work to do before you see anything out on site. We have to do the detailed design, get planning consent, go out to tender and then award the contract.
We are hoping to start the road works (subject to approvals) in 2022 and be completed late in the year.
If there is a delay to this (or if we could make an early start) we will let residents and businesses know. Any changes to the planned start and end dates will also be provided on the council’s Major Transport web page kirklees.gov.uk/major schemes.
The funding and decision-making process
Who is paying for the improvements? Where is the money coming from?
The project is to be funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority through the West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund (WY+TF).
The council has to submit a business case to the Combined Authority for their approval for the scheme to proceed. If successful, we will receive the funding allocated to the scheme.
We WILL NOT be using Council tax or other council money. The funding of this scheme will not impact on other council services.
Can the money be spent on other projects?
The Holmfirth Town Centre Access Plan scheme has funding provisionally allocated from the WY+TF specifically for this scheme and therefore cannot be spent on any other proposals or schemes.
If the West Yorkshire Combined Authority do not accept the Business Case, then the scheme cannot go ahead, and the money earmarked for this project will be allocated elsewhere in the region, not necessarily in Kirklees.
What is the West Yorkshire Combined Authority?
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority was formed in April 2014 to be the driving force for economic growth across the Kirklees, Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale and Wakefield districts and the City of York Council area.
The Combined Authority brings together key decision-making powers into a single body. To find out more visit: westyorks-ca.gov.uk
What is the decision-making process?
An Expression of Interest for funding to develop highway improvements on this corridor was approved in 2017. This provided around £200,000 of funding to develop the project to the next stage – this is called the Outline Business Case (OBC). The OBC develops preliminary designs, undertakes traffic modelling work to determine a preferred option and estimates scheme costs, risks etc.
The OBC was submitted to the Combined Authority in March 2020, and approval to continue with the detailed design and apply for planning permission for the scheme was granted in June 2020.
When will you have the detailed design?
Following the approval of the OBC, work on the detailed design of the scheme and the preparation of the documents for the Full Business Case (FBC) is now underway.
The impact on those living nearby
Will you be taking any land? Is my house at risk of demolition?
There are no proposals to demolish any houses.
Will there be any changes to on-street parking?
Parking on Victoria Street will be removed in order to widen the footway and improve the public realm in front of the buildings, loading bays and disabled parking will be provided instead. Some of the parking on Hollowgate will be removed to allow for footways to be widened to improve pedestrian access and safety. Improvements to the footways connecting the Huddersfield Road car park to the rest of the town centre will be made to offset the loss of on street parking. We are also creating an additional Electric Vehicle car park on Huddersfield Road at the side of the Bloc cafe.
Will any roadworks be carried out at night and what will you do to minimise any impact on residents?
The phasing of roadworks still need to be planned. Nearer the time of construction local residents will be provided with more detail about what will happen and when. If night work is needed, we will talk to residents to see what can be done to minimise the impact.
Will I be compensated if the road or improvements disturb my property or decrease its value?
In certain circumstances compensation can be paid for loss of amenity and value of property through Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973. Claims through Part 1 of this Act are valid after 12 months of the opening of the road.
Compensation is payable if it can be demonstrated that the road improvements have negatively affected the value of land and buildings. Land and property owners would need to submit a ‘Blight Claim’ to the Council if they consider that the improvements have negatively impacted on the value of land and buildings.
For more information on Blight please refer to Government website www.gov.uk/compensation-road-property-value
Noise and air quality
Will I be compensated if the road improvements increase noise levels in my property?
If noise levels are likely to increase above certain thresholds within 15 years of the completion of the road improvements, then the Highway Authority is obliged to provide noise insulation or provide a grant equal to the value of the noise insulation works.
Where noise insulation is needed we will write to property owners to make an offer of noise insulation works or a grant. A map showing all eligible properties will be published within six months of scheme completion.
If you feel that you may be eligible for noise insulation and your property is not shown on the published map of eligible properties then a claim for noise insulation can be made within 12 months of scheme completion.
Has any air quality monitoring been done?
Air quality monitoring has been carried out by Kirklees Council for several years; reports on air quality can be found at www.kirklees.gov.uk/pollution
Air quality measurements will also be undertaken at various locations along the corridor, to provide a baseline record of air quality conditions before any changes are made.
Will air quality be measured after the alterations?
With regard to Kirklees Council obligations, and as part of the planning application, air quality will continue to be measured on an ongoing basis.
Will the alterations result in a reduction in pollutant levels?
The improvements will contribute towards reducing pollution levels. Holmfirth does not have a declared Air Quality Management Area, although the alterations, together with improvements to vehicle emissions will, over time, result in lower levels of pollution.
Planning permission
Do you need planning permission to do this work?
Whilst some of the work is within the public highway and are classed as permitted development; we will require planning consent to demolish the market building and extend the car park.
Bus stops, pedestrians and cyclists
How will people who don’t own vehicles benefit?
Journey times and reliability should improve for all types of transport. For those on foot there will be widened footways and additional crossing facilities. New cycle facilities will be introduced including electric bike charging points.
Will existing bus stops be improved?
Yes, we will look at existing bus stops along the route and in the town centre to identify any improvements that could be made (new shelters, RealTime information etc)
Will there be a new bus stop outside my house?
The Huddersfield Road bus stop adjacent to the car park may be moved to accommodate the new car park exit. We would be happy to receive any comments which we can discuss with bus operators during the development process. Any changes to stop locations will be subject to separate communications and engagement with affected home and business owners.
Holmfirth Market
On 14th February 2018, the Council determined its Revenue and Capital Budgets for 2018-2020. One of the related issues concerned a recommendation to close Holmfirth Market as it was no longer financially viable in the market hall.
The Council ratified the recommendation but has agreed that the market will continue to operate in the market hall, whilst a new market license holder is appointed. The application process for the license to run the market is underway, and it is anticipated that the successful bid will be running a market elsewhere in the town by summer 2021.
The market hall building will still be demolished to make way for the proposals. The extended Huddersfield Road car park will have electricity and water supply infrastructure built into it to allow it to be used for pop-up markets and festivals.
Future updates
Will you keep me updated on progress?
We are not planning to keep individual contact details on file in order to provide updates on progress. Instead we will keep our web page kirklees.gov.uk/majorschemes updated and share updates elsewhere online and in the media.