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Council urged to secure land for £12 million link road

Councillors are asked to approve using compulsory purchase powers to secure land which would become a £12.2 million link road for a proposed new business park at Brighouse.


It will also support proposed garden communities which could see thousands of new homes built at Thornhills, as indicated in the council’s new Local Plan.


And by providing a direct route between Clifton Common (A643) and Wakefield Road (A644) it will help alleviate congestion in Brighouse town centre and complement a corridor improvement scheme for the A641 linking Bradford and Kirklees via Brighouse, say council officers.


When Calderdale Council’s Cabinet meets next Monday (March 11), councillors are asked to give their support “in principle” to support the CPO option and also side road orders where necessary.


Cabinet is also asked to agree to submit a bid for funding to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Employment Land Accelerator Fund.


A bid for over £600,000 would fund the next stages of work for the Clifton Business Park, supporting the next collaboration stage of the project, working closely with an appointed developer partner.


Councillors are told that in March 2020, Cabinet resolved to make CPO and side road orders but following this progress in developing the business park has been “disappointing”.


Bids for Levelling Up funding to Government in 2021 and 2022 have been unsuccessful but Cabinet have resolved to keep exploring funding options for the scheme which they see as crucial to developing Calderdale’s economy, mixing public funding with specialist commercial developers’ experience, say the briefing papers.


It is hoped around 1,300 jobs could be created there by 2035.


It is expected the preferred developer will be appointed in coming months – Cabinet will soon consider an update of the situation – and the council will need to be in a position to deliver the link road.


Because of problems in getting business park funding, it has not been considered appropriate to proceed with CPOs and side road orders under the Planning Act, as that 2020 decision intended.


And with it bringing wider benefits to the other schemes outlined, If councillors agree, this will allow work to start sooner rather than later.


The council needs to be ready as in recent years tardiness has seen Ministers refusing to confirm CPOs, councillors are told.


The road will be funded from prudential borrowing approved by councillors for south east Calderdale infrastructure in February, plus plus a National Productivity Infrastructure Fund grant of £4.45 million, which has already been secured, councillors are told.

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