Funding blow leaves Waterfront project on ice

Mar 20 2009 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THE future of a multi-million pound regeneration project in Huddersfield is hanging in the balance.

Developers behind the £175m Waterfront Quarter scheme were dealt a massive blow yesterday when funding for the central part of the project was thrown into doubt.

The plans include flats and offices on land off Chapel Hill and Manchester Road, on the banks of the River Colne.

But the whole scheme rests on a new £70m campus for Kirklees College being built on the site.

However, funding body the Learning and Skills Council has revealed that 79 college building projects, including Kirklees, have been put on hold because of a shortage of cash.

Government ministers are expected to meet the LSC next month to decide the fate of the schemes.

David Armitage, chairman of Ramsden and Colne Developments, which is behind the Waterfront Quarter, said it would be a disaster if the college did not get approval.

He said: “The likelihood is the whole scheme would collapse.”

Building at the Waterfront was expected to start early this year. It was anticipated the buildings would be fully occupied by July, 2011.

But the LSC has had to freeze funding following an overload of bids for money for college building projects.

Mr Armitage branded the organisation “incompetent.”

He added: “It would be an absolutely massive blow if this did not happen.”