WHAT does Kirklees mean?

And do people really want Huddersfield and Dewsbury linked together under one council anymore?

It’s something which has proved a hot topic for the Examiner’s letter writers with few supporters of Kirklees raising their heads above the parapet so far.

It’s all speculative, but some of our letter writers have called for Kirklees to be split – arguments include it’s too big, there’s a lack of accountability and that Kirklees has become ‘a monster’.

They’ve cited the ongoing sagas at St George’s Square, Castle Hill, Lindley Moor, Asda and Tesco as examples Kirklees, or its councillors, have got it wrong, and as reasons to get rid of Kirklees as an entity.

Back in January 1974, the Examiner ran a story in which Clr Stanley Dawson heralded the union with Huddersfield and Dewsbury to form Kirklees.

The story, headlined ‘The benefits of Kirklees’, reads: “...purchasing on a much larger scale would provide a more substantial saving than that which was now being made by many smaller authorities.”

But it goes on to say: “Cuts in Government grants would limit the new authority.

“Kirklees would have less to spend on the whole metropolitan area in 1974 than Huddersfield had in 1973.”

So it seems, financially anyway, that Huddersfield would have been better off on its own – at least to start with.

Among the first acts of the newly-formed Kirklees Council was to cut the free sweets and smokes for OAPs – it was not well received.

The sense of people’s lack of connection to Kirklees couldn’t be highlighted more by last year’s successful campaign to get rid of ‘Welcome to Kirklees’ signs on roads into town and replace them with ‘Welcome to Huddersfield’ signs.

But Andrew Mycock, senior lecturer in politics at Huddersfield University, believes people would be fonder of Kirklees if they realised the cost of going back four decades.

Dr Mycock said: “Most councils tend to be named after counties but the Local Government Act 1972 saw a lot of councils changing so there had to be name changes too.

“The classic example is Rutland County Council. It was morphed into Leicestershire and there was a lot of strong opposition to it and a campaign to have it renamed as Rutland began.

“That went on for the best part of 20 years and in 1997 it was reintroduced as Rutland.

“It’s difficult for Kirklees because people don’t have the emotional tie that places like Leeds and Manchester have – by that I mean there isn’t the long-standing historical connection.

“If it were to be renamed Huddersfield MBC it would most likely be deeply unpopular in Dewsbury.

“The name Kirklees is quite a sophisticated compromise.”

He said scale and economy were factors for the merging of Huddersfield and Dewsbury.

The lecturer added: “People have difficulty with the name Kirklees, but I am quite sure if you break down the cost and present it to people they would be less in favour of splitting the two.”

Studies have shown in Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland, just a few miles away from the boarder of Scotland and England, 80% of residents would rather be under Scottish rule than English rule, while last year the Examiner reported that residents of Brighouse would rather come under Kirklees than Calderdale.

Dr Mycock added: “Because of devolution there has been a change to the way services are provided and it’s likely that Berwick people would rather have the better services because they feel a strong association with Scotland.

“It’s probably the same with Brighouse – people think they may get better services from Kirklees than Calderdale.”

Dr Mycock said the idea of ‘district hopping’ was unrealistic, but could happen if there was a referendum over the issue, adding: “People will say ‘I’m from Slaithwaite’ or ‘I’m from Huddersfield’ and even ‘I’m from Yorkshire’ because there is a very strong connection with Yorkshire, but Kirklees falls between the gaps.”

But what does the future hold?

Legislation from parliament after 1972, which has not affected Kirklees, has been to create larger unitary councils.

There is no provision within the legislation for a metropolitan council to divide into smaller councils.

Kirklees Council says that dividing the borough into smaller councils would increase costs as inevitably there would be an element of duplication. All recent mergers have been based on saving money.

A Kirklees spokesman said: “There is little evidence to suggest that smaller councils are either more efficient or provide a higher level of service.”

But what does council leader Clr Mehboob Khan think?

He said: “As a larger organisation, Kirklees is much better placed to play a more strategic role in the future development of the district and in the wider region.

“As a key partner in the Leeds City Region, Kirklees is well placed to ensure it shares in the benefits of future investment across housing, transport, skills and innovation that is happening at this level.

“Indeed Government policy, as outlined in the Budget, is to strengthen the role of city regions in order to deliver growth for the population they serve.

“Smaller councils would not have the political or organisational capacity to have this influence and involvement.”

Kirklees MBC was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 and came into being on April 1 1974.

It brought together the county boroughs of Dewsbury and Huddersfield along with the municipal boroughs of Batley and Spenborough and the urban districts of Colne Valley, Denby Dale, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Kirkburton, Meltham and Mirfield.

The name Kirklees was selected by members of the merging councils out of a shortlist which included Upper Agbrigg and Brigantia.

The link to Robin Hood and his burial place Kirklees Hall – in Clifton, Calderdale – was reason enough to pick the name Kirklees.

It’s one of few councils to be named after something within its geographical area rather than a town or village name. Neighbouring Calderdale, named after the River Calder, is another. Tameside in Greater Manchester was also named after the river which runs through several of its towns.