New detailed plans for Dewsbury Market and town park

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Check out our new detailed plans for Dewsbury Market and a new town park!

The main focus for these plans is to create a more varied, day-to-night offering in Dewsbury town centre.  We’re going to continue and improve the traditional market offering, whilst at the same time creating more areas for eating, drinking, socialising and events.  We want to give people as many reasons as possible to visit Dewsbury.

In order to create his more varied offering, we’ve developed new plans for not just the market itself but also the surrounding space.

What are the plans?

The new designs join together two key elements of the Dewsbury Blueprint, and two priority projects for both us and the Dewsbury Town Deal Board: the regeneration of the market, and the creation of a brand new town park.

The new market will have a mix of permanent indoor stalls and flexible outdoor stalls, which will be on an open paved area right outside the market hall.  This paved area will then extend into a wider public park, with lots of beautiful greenery, artwork and a children’s play area.

Artist’s impression. View of the park and outdoor market through trees.

Part of our work will be to restore the historic market hall, future-proofing its iconic glass roof and metal architecture whilst also introducing a more modern look and feel.

Flexible trading or events station surrounded by indoor market stalls. A well-lit space under the historic glass roof. Outdoor stalls are visible through the glass walls.The market will be open throughout the week, and there’ll be a better food and drink offering.

The new designs for the indoor market feature lots of different flexible spaces, including a big digital screen and a stage to support events.

Artist’s impression. Well-lit indoor seating area surrounded by bespoke food and beverage stalls. The area also features a large digital screen and stage for events.

The plan is to make both the indoor and outdoor spaces feel more light, open and better connected.

Artist’s impression. Demountable market stalls on the paved area outside the market hall. Indoor stalls can be seen through the glass.Indoor stalls will be visible from the outdoor market and vice versa. There will be seating out on the paved area beyond the market hall – meaning you can enjoy the improved food and drink offering outdoors in good weather, along with a nice view of the park.

Artist’s impression. Outdoor stalls and park greenery extending away from the glass wall of the market hall

The outdoor stalls can all be taken down, allowing the entire open-air space of the combined market and park to be used for outdoor events.

Artist’s impression. Outdoor seating on the paved area directly outside the market hall, surrounded by outdoor stalls and park greenery.

All these plans have taken into account previous consultation on the original town park proposals, as well as the market.

The plans are really family-friendly, with lots of opportunities for play in the sunniest parts of the park, as well as pretty spots for relaxation.  There will be play equipment and beautiful landscaping, featuring grassy areas, trees and pretty paving.  The park might also include other structural elements and water features.

While the key elements of the town park have been relocated to better complement the market, we’ll still be making improvements to the public realm (shared outdoor spaces) in the original location suggested for the park – outside the town hall.  We’re going to plant new trees and install a small amphitheatre, creating another flexible space in a different part of the town centre.

We’re now going to be keeping the Walsh Building, which is currently home to our Customer Service Centre in Dewsbury, and these plans will improve both its surroundings and accessibility.

What happens next?

Now that we’ve shared our new plans for the combined market and park, we’ve already started more consultation with Dewsbury Market traders.

Once this stage of consultation has finished, we’re aiming to move stallholders in early 2025 to a temporary market site in the town centre, so that construction work can begin.  We’re going to discuss all this in detail with traders over the next few months

How is this work funded? 

This project is being paid for by the government’s Towns Fund and by capital funding from the council.  Find out more about how all our funding works.