New look for Halifax town centre revealed
Plus, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper pays festive visit to police
Hello and welcome to this week’s Saturday edition of The Calderdale Lead!
I hope you’ve all had a brilliant festive season so far with family and friends and you’ve got plenty of exciting things planned to see in the New Year!
In this edition we have a couple of news stories which may have gone under the radar with all the festive fun.
Firstly, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited police in Halifax as part of Labour’s plans to invest an extra £1bn into policing.
And, staying in Halifax, we look at plans to transform the town centre as part of a major regeneration project.
So… let’s get to it!
Home Secretary visits Halifax police to launch Government’s £1bn ‘Safer Streets’ plan
Halifax MP Kate Dearden welcomed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to the town this week to thank them for the work they do.
Ms Cooper joined officers on a walk around Halifax town centre where they discussed the challenges faced by Halifax police officers and the government's plans to strengthen neighbourhood policing.
The visit coincided with the Government’s announcement of an extra £1 billion in funding for 2025-26 to help deliver on the Safer Streets mission.
The funding provides:
A £339 million increase to the police core grant – significantly more than the £184 million announced by the previous Conservative government last year.
An extra £230 million to cover National Insurance Contribution costs for police forces
£100 million to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 neighbourhood officers.
Speaking about the visit, Ms Dearden said: "I was delighted to welcome the Home Secretary to Halifax to thank our police officers this Christmas for their hard work and dedication.
“This was also an opportunity to hear from police officers and residents on the challenges faced by our police, the impact that crime has on Halifax, and the anti-social behaviour which blights our community.”
Council release new images of plans to transform Halifax town centre
Calderdale Council has released new images of improvement works to transform travel within Halifax with new safer ways for people to get around and welcoming areas into and around the town centre.
Calderdale Council is delivering the A629 Phase 2 Halifax town centre project, an ambitious regeneration project which is fully funded through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund.
New images illustrate how the project will create new public places and how people will be able to travel safely and efficiently, including through the introduction of new cycle routes.
The images depict:
A new connection west of Halifax to the town centre at Bull Green.
Opening up Cow Green, creating a welcoming gateway to the town centre from the west.
A welcoming route from Halifax Rail Station to the town centre for Square Chapel, the Central Library, The Piece Hall, and Calderdale Industrial Museum.
New space for people and safe routes for cycling and walking on Broad Street and a link from the north of the town to Market Street.
A new layout and safe routes around the Victoria Theatre, with better connections to the town centre from the south and west.
The pedestrianisation of Market Street.
Work on the project has been progressing well, with the first phase of work focused around the west of the town.
This has included ongoing work at Bull Green, Northgate, Broad Street and Skircoat Road to allow for improvements including new pedestrian facilities and cycle lanes.
The work is delivering improvements for driving, with new efficient road layouts and upgraded signals working together to make sure traffic keeps moving when it gets busy.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport, Cllr Sarah Courtney, said: “Millions of pounds of investment as part of the A629 Phase 2 Halifax town centre project is completely transforming travel in and around Halifax town centre. Landscaping will improve the look and feel of key spaces, while upgrades to junctions will make travel more efficient and support improved public transport connectivity and cycle infrastructure.
“The new images show how recent milestones and work currently taking place across the town will progress and come together to benefit people living, working or visiting Halifax.
“It’s great to be able to get an idea how things will look and visualise the changes to road layouts and how this will support people to move around the town and between key places more easily.”
The A629 phase 2 project has received funding through the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment delivered by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.
For more information click here.
That’s all for this Saturday edition of The Calderdale Lead. There’s no midweek edition this week but we’re back next Saturday. Remember any news tips, stories you think I should be covering or feedback then I’m on calderdale@thelead.uk
If you’re after a bit more reading then The Lead’s national edition has rounded up our Northern editors picks of 2024 (including my own!)
So, until then. enjoy the rest of the festive celebrations and here’s to a cracking 2025!
Andrew
So which fool has dreamed up all this then? The same one who did the "cyclist semi circle" on King Cross High street, and the pointless, totally unused "Bus Lane" that turns into it, while everyone who actually WANTS to turn left has to sit there at the red light looking at the empty lane? Cycle routes in the town centre? Just how many cycles do think will ever use them?