PLANS to complete regeneration work on a former council estate have been approved.
And Deighton and Brackenhall residents are expected to receive a £650,507 community grant when the project to build 240 new homes is completed.
Kirklees Cabinet yesterday granted the go-ahead for the final stage of a building project on land off Holt Lane, Brackenhall.
Developer Strata Homes will now build 95 two to four-bedroom homes to sell, completing the scheme for 240 new homes.
So far 163 houses and apartments have been built and sold.
The fourth and final stage of the project was approved by Kirklees Council in December.
But the project was frozen in February, 2009, due to recession and a downturn in the housing market.
But work, which was handed from original developers Halifax-based Southdale Homes to Strata Homes, is set to resume following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
Once the project is completed Southdale will pay a £650,507 ‘dividend’ to be spent on a community centre and other community projects.
The Deighton Brackenhall Initiative (DBI) was established in 1997. It aims to involve the community in redeveloping their area.
A deal to regenerate the area was struck between DBI and Southdale Homes in December, 2001.
The area had previously ranked as one of Britain’s most deprived areas and Kirklees’ most deprived areas.
Approving the plans Kirklees Council leader Clr Mehboob Khan said: “There’s a very strong community spirit on that estate.
“Residents in the new and existing homes want the work finished and to have the new community centre developed as soon as possible.”
Clr Peter McBride added: “For two decades we’ve tried to regenerate the area and failed. But now we are succeeding by using our brains, intelligence and learning from experience.”
