It was billed as the shopping development to help make Huddersfield “a significant retail force” in the Yorkshire region.

Kingsgate 2 was unveiled in the summer of 2007 with plans to extend the shopping centre to provide a new single-level trading mall with two-level stores linking to the existing centre. The scheme came in response to what owners WD Huddersfield Ltd saw as increasing demand in Huddersfield for larger retail stores to enable the town to compete with its neighbours.

However, the plan were dealt a major blow when Kirkles Council rejected the proposal because it would jeopardise rival proposals to redevelop Queensgate – a scheme which also failed to materialise.

WD Huddersfield successfully appealed the decision and later revealed a revised plan for a department store and 22 smaller shops.

Kingsgate 2 would have involved demolishing a number of landmark buildings not in WD’s ownership – including all but the frontage of the former Palace Theatre in Kirkgate. However, that property was bought by another businessman in 2011 and now has planning permission for conversion to student flats.

Computer generated image of the planned Kingsgate extension
Computer generated image of the planned Kingsgate extension

WD Huddersfield managing director Peter Everest said Kingsgate 2 remained “a good idea” but had “metamorphosed” to reflect changing trends in town centre leisure provision, saying: “If the same site was available today, it would not be built in its original format.”

He pointed to developments such as The Lights in Leeds and Halifax’s Broad Street Plaza development as similar examples of what Kingsgate Leisure could deliver for Huddersfield.

He said: “This is the way the market is going and I can only genuinely deliver what the market wants.”

Kingsgate Leisure would also enable the Kingsgate site to make more use of its car park, which stands empty in the evenings, while the new cinema and restaurant would be served by the complex’s existing service yard and sub-station.

Find out more about the proposed Kingsgate Leisure development by clicking here and see more images in the gallery below.