In the second in our series Town Centre In Crisis, Huddersfield heritage expert Chris Marsden claims we must play more to our musical and cultural strengths
HUDDERSFIELD needs more culture and entertainment to revive its town centre.
Huddersfield heritage expert Chris Marsden believes that the ‘arrogance’ of council officers and its councillors has blighted redevelopment of the town centre.
Mr Marsden, who chairs Huddersfield Civic Society, believes Huddersfield town centre does not offer enough of a welcoming or diverse experience to pull in visitors.
He says Huddersfield lacks a central attraction to encourage guests to spend more time and money in the town centre.
“We cannot expect retail to return to our town centre on the scale it has been,’’ he said. “The way we select, distribute and consume goods and services has changed.
“We should look to what we can offer people in the town to maintain a community that shares the urban space.
“We have to look for quality services so that the town centre becomes a place of cultural and social interaction and heritage. At the moment we’re missing something cohesive. Wakefield has the Hepworth gallery where you can spend half a day and meet people. Bradford has the Media Museum and Halifax has Eureka. But in Huddersfield it’s hard to find the family experience except on special occasions such as the Festival of Light.”
Mr Marsden, who helped establish Huddersfield Gems to save Queensgate Market, believes councillors and council officers should stop interfering with town centre projects for their own gains.
