The jury’s out on new look St George's Square

Oct 24 2009 by Katie Grant, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

The jury’s out on new Square

Jude Dunkley, 51, NHS employee, Beaumont Park: “I think they should have kept the old Victorian lights, they were more in keeping with the Square.

“But the rest of it looks nice and I think it will bring a lot of business in to the town.”

Mark Scott, NHS employee, Kirkburton: “It’s a waste of money. The first thing that came into my head when I saw the water feature is that it looks like a big urinal.

“I think they should have left it as it was and spent the money on refurbishing other parts of town like re-doing the roads.

“The Square was fine as it was and it’s worse now than it was before.”

John McHugh, 61, driver, Newsome: “I think it’s absolutely wonderful and I’m very happy living with it.

“I can’t understand all the negative comments it has had.

“But in the times that we’re living in at the moment it does seem like a lot of money and there’s a concern that the taxi drivers could be parking over the new stone and oil is spilling on it.”

Amanda Crawshaw, 39, IT director, Holmfirth: “I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. I’m sat here waiting for my husband and the kids and they are going to love it.

“£4m does seem like a lot of money but if you spent it in bits around the town it wouldn’t go very far or have much impact.

“I think we’ll get the money back with people coming out of the train station and thinking – this is a good town we’ll stay here a while and they’ll spend some money here.”

Raja Khan 39, taxi driver, Waterloo: “It is okay now but it looks better at night time when it’s all lit up.

“The fountain down at the bottom is very dim and could do with being a bit brighter.”

Matthew Beaumont, 36, architect, Longwood: “It’s almost there isn’t it? I think they could have sorted the traffic out a bit better and made the whole thing pedestrianised with a pick-up point.

“It’s quite nice but I think they could have done a bit better with the money.”

John Lambe, 40, Kirklees council officer, Oakes: “I was here last night with my son Aidan and he absolutely loved it.

“It will be a great space for public use. People seem really interested and the water feature makes a great wishing well.”

Philip Kaye, 75, Meltham: “The Square is fine but it’s a lot of money. I cannot see how it’s going to cost £50,000 to maintain the water feature.

“This has been done so Kirklees Council can draw money from food markets and a Christmas fair.It hasn’t been done for people to sit and have a look at.”