Waterfront Quarter’s £1.3m Yorkshire Forward funding set back

Jul 2 2010 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

FUNDING of £1.3m for the Waterfront regeneration scheme has suffered a set back.

Regional development agency Yorkshire Forward has decided to defer funding of £1.357m for the Waterfront Quarter development at Chapel Hill.

Yorkshire Forward, which is set to be abolished under cost-cutting measures by the coalition government, is having to axe or defer funding for scores of schemes across the region.

Other funding proposals are being reviewed to ensure they provide value for money in the current climate.

The leader of Kirklees Council said he feared a deferral could mean a cut next year and that we were being softened up for a cut.

But he has vowed that the regeneration scheme will go ahead – despite the set back.

Clr Mehboob Khan said the Waterfront Quarter development was too important to be jeopardised – and called for assurances that the money would be forthcoming next year.

The deferral does not affect the timetable for building a new campus for Kirklees College on the sprawling site at Chapel Hill.

The £1.357m now being deferred is money which would be used to help develop the Waterfront site and enable Sellers Engineering to move from Chapel Hill to purpose-built facilities.