North Halifax given £20m Government boost as part of Pride in Place investment
Plus, councillors cross swords over sale of The Shay
Hello and welcome to The Calderdale Lead!
I’m currently writing this intro sat overlooking the Bosphorus in Istanbul, listening to the sounds of traffic, horns and sirens on the road 16 floors below my room.
The weather here hasn’t been much different to it was when I left England on Friday so I hope it’s a little sunnier where you’re reading this.
Anyway, enough of my travels!
In today’s edition, we’ve got details of a massive £20m investment in Mixenden and North Halifax which is part of the Government’s Pride in Place investment programme.
Plus, the seemingly never-ending row over the council’s decision to sell The Shay Stadium was reignited last week. Find out details from my LDR colleague John Greenwood below.
So, on with the news…
Residents to be given say over £20m in Mixenden and North Halifax
By Andrew Greaves
Mixenden and other parts of North Halifax will receive a £20m Government boost over the next 10 years.
The funding, which is from the Pride in Place programme, will provide an annual grant of £2 million per year, for the next decade.
Local people will be at the heart of decisions about how the money is spent within their local community, so that it is invested where it is needed most.
A new local board made up of community leaders, councillors and residents will be set up to oversee how the funding is allocated, ensuring that decisions are made locally and transparently. Residents from both Mixenden and Illingworth will be invited to take part, submit ideas, and vote on priorities for their communities.
This announcement follows a campaign by Halifax MP Kate Dearden, who has lobbied government ministers for more investment in Mixenden and Illingworth.
She has held surveys, community meetings and doorstep conversations to gather residents’ views and make the case for sustained funding to improve the area.
Ms Dearden said: “I promised to fight for investment in Mixenden and Illingworth and I’m proud to have delivered. This £20 million will change lives over the next decade, and I will make sure it is spent where local people need it most.
“Local people know their area better than anyone else and that is why this fund puts them in charge. I’ll be working alongside residents in Mixenden and Illingworth every step of the way to ensure their voices are heard and that this money brings the change they want to see.
“Getting an extra £2 million a year for ten years is a truly massive investment that will transform our area. This is the difference a Labour Government in power can make.”
Councillor for Illingworth and Mixenden, Shane Taylor said: “I’m delighted that Mixenden and Illingworth have been chosen for this £20 million investment. This will make a real difference to the communities I hear from every day, whether it’s improving local spaces or making our streets safer and cleaner.
“It’s right that residents will lead the way on how this money is spent. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, I’m proud that this Labour government is doing things differently and putting our community first.”
The Government has announced that the Pride in Place funding will be used by communities to provide investment and support including:
· Community Right to Buy: handing local people the power to buy beloved assets, helping them turn around derelict pubs, create new parks and regenerate treasured spaces in the heart of their communities.
· Compulsory Purchase powers: allowing communities to buy assets and eyesores like boarded up shops and derelict abandoned businesses, allowing new local start-ups to thrive. For larger sites, it could even see new health centres opening up, or local housing.
· The power to block unwanted shops: empowering Councils in England to say no to new betting shops, vapes stores and fake barbers.
· Giving residents the power: spending will only be approved if community groups, local organisations and social clubs have been included in decisions on how the money should be spent.
The news was also welcomed by Coun Jane Scullion, leader of Calderdale Council.
She said: “This is fantastic news for Mixenden and North Halifax.
“Our Vision 34 is for Calderdale to be a place full of opportunity, where everyone can thrive. Last year, we worked with local communities and partners to develop the North Halifax Strategy, an ambitious 10-year plan which is already transforming the area.
“Local people told us then how proud they feel about where they live, about their aspirations for the future and about the challenges which we need to overcome together to make it even better.”
Row breaks out over sale of The Shay and whether councils should subsidise sports clubs
By John Greenwood
Councillors crossed swords over the potential sale of Halifax’s The Shay Stadium, amid questions raised about transparency and whether councils should subsidise sports clubs or not.
The stadium is home to Halifax’s professional sports clubs – football’s FC Halifax Town and rugby league’s Halifax Panthers.
Almost two years ago, Calderdale councillors agreed to dispose of the Shay in the 2024-25 budget to make savings, against a backdrop of an ongoing struggle to balance the council’s books.
Late last year, after negotiations with the two clubs had not borne fruit, a sale to Huddersfield Giants rugby league club owner Ken Davy, who wants to base his club there while a site is found and a stadium built for them in Kirklees, became the front-runner recommended by the council’s Cabinet in March.
The two Halifax clubs would also continue using the stadium, with a covenant to protect it for sports use after Mr Davy decided to leave it proposed by Cabinet.
With a six month process review process reaching an end – this had to take into account the stadium’s asset of community value status – Cabinet are due to make a decision on the sale at its November meeting.
A rival bid to run The Shay on a community partnership basis was lodged but later withdrawn.
Concerns raised by some supporters have been raised over release of documentation and process, including at September’s meeting of the full council.
In the meeting’s public question time Gordon Thorpe asked: “Why has the Cabinet pursued disposal of The Shay without publishing the full business case, legal advice or comparisons of alternative options considered, and will you now commit to releasing these documents so the public can see whether Cabinet reached its position independently or if it was driven by council officers under financial pressure?”
This was taken up in a questions-to-Cabinet section by Reform UK’s Coun Dan Sutherland who claimed those asking questions had been “blocked, ignored or fobbed off” and people had not been given the full information.
“It’s about time we had some openness and transparency about this issue and I would ask that the leader releases all documentation to the public relating to The Shay and appoint an impartial investigator into the council’s dealings on this project,” he said.
But Leader of the Council, Coun Jane Scullion, agreeing the council should be as transparent as it could be, said the authority’s legal services had looked at the legality of its approach, including requirement to advertise the sale of The Shay as part of the asset of community value process, and this had been carried out in accordance with the due process.
Coun Scullion said the original budget decision for 2024-25 including considering consultation, and of 1,510 people responding to the budget consultation 55 per cent supported disposal, 34 per cent didn’t with others offering no opinion.
“The question asked during that consultation was clear – that disposal could include a sale in the open market, if neither of the two professional clubs expressed an interest in acquiring the site,” she said.
Coun Scullion said there were differences of opinion in the borough over the issue.
“I have to say that views are very mixed out there in Calderdale.
“Should councils be subsidising sports clubs? Perhaps they should, perhaps they shouldn’t,” she said.
Cabinet had determined Mr Davy’s proposals were the most likely to secure a sustainable future for the Shay with proposed covenants in place to secure sports use, said Coun Scullion.
Coun Sutherland questioned the numbers and argued in any case compared to some other council overspends the figure involving The Shay was “a drop in the ocean.”
Coun Scullion said all documents the council could make available it would do, and all reports and minutes from the Budget process and Cabinet’s decision this spring were available on the council’s website.
Cabinet member for Resources, Coun Silvia Dacre (Lab, Todmorden) said the business case for the sale, including talks with both clubs and other expressions of interest, had not been published because it is deemed to be commercially confidential.
She urged people to read in minutes or watch the recording of her outlining the wider report behind Cabinet’s supporting sale of the stadium – at the meeting on March 17 – in detail, archived on the council’s Public-i channel.
That’s it for this edition. All being well we’ll be back in your inbox on Wednesday (wifi permitting at sea!).
Thanks for reading and don’t forget that if there’s anything you want to share with us, you can do so by emailing calderdale@thelead.uk.
Until next time,
Andrew