More detailed plans for Huddersfield Market
We’re sharing brand new visuals – and more detail – about the improvements we have planned for Huddersfield Market!
What are the plans?
Once it’s finished, Huddersfield Market will provide an even better traditional market, with a better food and drink offering to complement what’s going on in the surrounding area. It’ll have a more vibrant calendar of events. And it’ll have more fresh and innovative support for local businesses and entrepreneurs, which should drive economic growth for the town centre.
This is a key part of our Huddersfield Blueprint plans, which are all about driving more footfall and creating a more vibrant and varied offering right across Huddersfield town centre. All this work will build on the existing market on Northumberland Street, and work cohesively with other neighbouring blueprint projects – like our improvements to New Street and St. Peter’s Gardens, and the development of Our Cultural Heart.
As with all our other blueprint projects, we want to not only give you more reasons to visit Huddersfield but also give you more reasons to stick around in the town centre, with lots more to enjoy while you’re there.
What will the market look like?
There will be a market hall and market yard – internal and external – which together provide a mix of permanent and temporary market stalls, plus flexible spaces for a vibrant range of events.
In the centre of the market hall will be one of these flexible areas, where stalls can make way to open up the space. There’ll also be a stage and screen to support the use of this space as an events venue. We want the market to be able to support a lot of different market-led activities and events – these could include more international markets, live music, makers’ markets, community events, and a much more exciting offering around big calendar dates like Christmas.
The market hall is also going to have free-standing permanent stalls and self-contained commercial spaces that can support lots of different types of traders. There will also be lots of seating available – including pretty mezzanine areas, which would offer an aerial view of the market and a nice place to stop and rest while better enjoying the beautiful architecture.
There’s also going to be an outdoor market yard, which will again have lots of collapsible stalls – so we can either use this yard to support the eclectic market or to provide a clear outdoor space for events.
The market yard will also be surrounded by affordable workspaces for local makers and entrepreneurs, who can then sell their goods on the market itself.
The new market’s going to provide a whole load of support for businesses and traders. Specific areas are going to be tailored to new start-ups – including units dedicated to entrepreneurs kickstarting new retail or food businesses, and a fully operational kitchen designed to provide a quality setup for pop-up cafés of all kinds.
Business Kirklees (our business, economy and growth service) will be providing lots of business support to these entrepreneurs via the market. We want to nurture more local businesses to help them grow and thrive – and this should then, of course, drive more value back into our local economy.
What happens next?
We’re going to run a full public consultation on our designs for Huddersfield Market later this year – before which we’ll be releasing more of these concept designs, particularly around the market’s flexibility to offer an exciting calendar of events and activities.
This consultation will allow everyone – people who live or work in and around Huddersfield, or people who just like to visit the town centre – a chance to comment on our plans and give your input, ahead of construction work starting next year.
How is this funded?
This work is funded by £16.5million of UK government investment.
Councillor Cathy Scott, Leader of Kirklees Council, says:
“Right across Huddersfield, our plans are to give people more reasons to come to the town centre – and reasons stay for longer periods of time. What we’re creating here is not just a better, more vibrant traditional market for Huddersfield but also a place the local community can come together.
“We also want Huddersfield to be a place where businesses can really thrive. Through this market we’ll be giving local entrepreneurs access to workspaces, equipment, business support and, above all, opportunities that can help get new businesses off the ground. We hope to see more traders using this market as a springboard, kickstarting new businesses with the potential to grow and succeed, seeing the visions of talented entrepreneurs realised, and driving value right back into our local economy as a bonus.
“By the time we consult on all these plans later this year, we’ll be able to share more concept designs and more about how the market – particularly its versatility to support an eclectic events calendar – will run once completed. It’s an exciting time for the Huddersfield Blueprint, and for the future of Huddersfield.”