An expert conservation architect has hit out strongly at the Castle Hill development plan and says it must be rejected.
A report to Kirklees Council’s Strategic Planning Committee on Thursday, February 19, is recommending approval for The Thandi Partnership’s £3.75m proposal for a visitor centre, café, restaurant, bar and six bedrooms at Castle Hill which will include free access to toilets and exhibitions about Castle Hill, along with a specialist learning room for children.
The report by planning officers says the plan has not changed significantly since it was previously passed with strict conditions and says the final decision can be left to the head of planning.
It had to be submitted again after the developers had not secured Scheduled Monument Consent for the plan which was required within the three-year time limit.
The report accepts why there are strong objections to the plan for the development right next to Castle Hill itself but says these are outweighed by the potential public benefit.
But registered conservation architect Jane Riley, who used to work for City of York Council, says the plan is flawed and doesn’t make business sense.
Castle Hill at sunrise by: Huddersfield Hub photographer SEAN DOYLE
In her official objection she states: “In over 40 years of working in architecture and conservation I have never seen such a poor level of application for a site with the high status of Castle Hill.
“The application package lacks oversight and co-ordination, it misses out information critical to decision making and the initial impact tests and assessments are either missing, incomplete or substandard.
“The lengthy and baffling planning procedure allowing the 2018 application to be continued – under a new number with intermittent additions and notifications – also appears to have masked the high level of objections to the proposals.
“When the nature of the 2018 objections is scrutinised against subsequent new information, most of the objectors would sustain their objection.”
And she also voiced concerns about how viable the restaurant and bar will be in the current harsh economic climate and cost-of-living crisis.
Jane added: “There is jeopardy in undertaking a project of this nature. At present leisure and hospitality venues are under huge financial pressure and many have failed in recent times.
“Should this project be approved and then fail under construction or, indeed, afterwards in operation, the building would be difficult to remove or reuse due to its embedded design and a great deal of damage would have been done to the site.
“Commentators have already pointed to simpler ways of enhancing visitor provision using contemporary technologies to aid interpretation in an interactive way and there are any number of examples of small scale temporary refreshment facilities being licensed to operate near important sites.
Questions raised over plans for CIC to run proposed visitor centre at Castle Hill
“Kirklees Council Museums and Galleries outlined a similar preferred ‘light-touch’ approach in their earlier consultation comments. A building of this damaging size and complexity is not required on site.”
Kirklees Council requested Huddersfield accountancy firm Wheawill & Sudworth to carry out a review into the £3.75m business plan and the accountants reported: “Certain risks and uncertainties exist which could impact on the financial viability and sustainability of the project.”
The report recommended that Mr Indy Thandi, who leads The Thandi Partnership, provides periodic updates on sourcing finance to show that adequate funding is available and also provide refreshed financial forecasts in November 2026 to reflect any changes in the business plan.
Jane also voices concerns that the car park will not be large enough and the lights and CCTV cameras needed at the site would mean “the overall appearance of the area will be urban, municipal and alien to the character of the Green Belt.
“If implemented, the development would completely change the near natural environment.”
She pointed out that the public has made 400 objection comments and organisations opposing the plan include The Victorian Society, the Council for British Archaeology, West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service, Huddersfield Civic Society, Castle Hill Civic Associates and Kirklees Council Museums and Galleries.
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
