Kirklees council has plans for the Piazza to become the Cultural Heart of Huddersfield.
Council chiefs revealed that they had purchased the Piazza shopping centre to repurpose the area as part of their ‘Cultural Heart’ plans.

This is part of a larger plan to rejuvenate several areas of Huddersfield Town centre over the next ten years, costing £250 million.

Huddersfield Cultural Heart is planned to be centred around the current library and art gallery. The plans show the retail buildings around the Piazza being demolished and the lawn area extended, creating a large open space for public activities.

The Grade 2 listed Queensgate market is safe from being demolished, but will instead be repurposed as a live events venue.

The council is considering converting the market into a 700-1000 capacity live music venue which will include creative studios and tuition spaces; this is planned to be completed by 2023.

Other projects as part of the Huddersfield Blueprint plan include:
• Enhancing Huddersfield train station with larger seating areas and new aesthetics, as well as converting St George’s Warehouse ‘s bottom floor into a car park.
• Refurbishment of the open market making room for parking space, more pop up shops and creative businesses.
• Refreshing St Peter’s gardens, planting more trees and including more benches 
• Refurbishing the derelict building on New Street South, as well as reducing clutter on pedestrian pathways and designating more green areas.
• Improvements to the bus station
For more information, go to : https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/huddersfield-blueprint/pdf/huddersfield...

Artists rendition of the final Piazza Plans (image from Kirklees Council)

Police are searching for a missing 14 year old Darcy Young from Huddersfield.

Darcy was last seen on Monday 29th of April

D/S Oliver Coates of Kirklees CID said:

“It is now 3 days since she was last seen, although she did contact a friend yesterday evening by phone.'

“We believe she is still in the Huddersfield area.'

“I would like to appeal to Darcy directly or anyone who sees her to get in touch.”

Darcy has links to London and is described as 5ft2 tall and with her hair shoulder length braids.

When last seen she was wearing a navy and white pinstripe dress, black Vans trainers and a black jacket with a black fur hood. She also had a denim bag.

Call the police on 101 quoting log 1762 of 20 April

There are just days before M&S in Huddersfield closes its doors.

The exit of the established British high street retailer took many shoppers by suprise, when its closure was announced back in January. It is just one of the 17 stores in the U.K that is set to close in 2019.

The company has revealed 1,045 jobs will be affected by the retailer exiting high streets up and down the country. 

Huddersfield MP, Barry Sheerman, along with Kirklees council cabinet made desperate efforts to persuade M&S to change its mind. 

After 85 years of trade, shoppers are sad to witness the departure of M&S on May 4th.  

The absence of the food court and their clothing line, Per Una will heavily impact regular customers, meaning they will have to travel to the neighbouring areas of Halifax and Bradford to access an M&S.

We speak to shoppers in Huddersfield, as the retailers final day in the town looms.

Image credit: Image 1 and 2 by Olivia Russell

Huddersfield's town centre Derelict Co-operative store is set to go ahead shortly with plans to turn it into 140 student apartments. The soon to be named Renaissance Works has plans for a £25 million transformation.

The buildings last use was Heaven & Hell nightclub back in 2004 and has since been left in an increasingly sorry state. Kirlees bought the building in 2007 with the intention of restoring it but plans didn't follow through after a financial downturn.

A spokesman for Huddersfield based SKA Development said, "We're working closely with Kirklees Council to ensure that work on-site progresses in a timely and efficient manner, causing minimal disruption to residents and neighbouring businesses."

Work has begun with initial interior renovations having started in the last few months with the completion of preliminart strip work.

Image by Julian Osley Copyright and licensed for reuse under this creative Commons Licence.