HD One boss: ‘It’s just a matter of when’ for cable cars in Huddersfield

Oct 14 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HUDDERSFIELD would become one of only a handful of places on the planet to have an urban cable car system if radical plans go ahead.

As reported yesterday, the people behind the £100m HD One leisure project hope to install a system to transport passengers between the Galpharm Stadium and Huddersfield Media Centre.

HD One is the plan to turn 51 acres of unused land around the Galpharm into a huge complex including 147 apartments, a 144-bed hotel, an air chimney, a ski slope, a casino, 21 bars and restaurants, a surf simulator, 10-pin bowling alley, two nightclubs, a music venue, offices and a bingo hall.

Building work is due to start in 2012.

If the cable car plan was realised, 16-person gondolas would carry passengers on the half-mile journey between the Media Centre and the stadium.

The system would be similar to those used at mountain ski resorts.

But Laurence Antill, co-leader on HD One, said over-land cable cars were extremely rare.

The metro cable system used in Medellin, Colombia, is the best-known and is shown in the video above.

Mr Antill said: “There has been talk about a cable car linking Gateshead and Newcastle, over the River Tyne, and about linking the O2 arena and Canary Wharf in London over the Thames.

“But at the moment, a cable car in Huddersfield would probably be the first of its kind in the UK.”

Mr Antill revealed outline planning consent had been gained for a cable station at the Galpharm, but permission had not yet been sought for the cable line itself.

He said: “As part of seeking consent, we thought it complicated matters and may have caused a delay to put in an application for a line as well, so we divorced it from the application for HD One.

“But we haven’t forgotten about the proposal – it’s just a matter of when we seek to resurrect it.