Plans to bring back a lost Hebden Bridge street
Satudayr, 14 April 2018
The Hebden Bridge lane once known as High Street was home for scores of families until the bulldozers arrived in the 1960s and razed all the buildings to the ground. Now a locally based community group has plans which could see High Street live again. Their proposal would see much-needed affordable rental housing provided for families and young people priced out of the local housing market.
High Street as it could be – an architect’s drawing
of the proposed new homes
Calder Valley Community Land Trust, a member-led charity based in the upper Valley, has been working for more than two years on ambitious plans for new housing at High Street, which is parallel to Bridge Lanes at the western end of Hebden Bridge. The proposals have been modified following public consultations in 2016 and 2017 and now the Trust is almost ready to submit them for planning permission. A final public consultation is being arranged for Saturday April 21st at 11am, in the Methodist Church Hall in Hebden Bridge close to the site.
Right: High Street as it was in the 1960s (from Pennine Horizons Digital Archive)
David Nugent, one of the trustees, said: “We’re keen that as many local people as possible know exactly what we’re planning, and the consultation on Saturday, 21st April is the last chance for comments and suggestions before the final proposals are presented to Calderdale’s planners”.
As the plans stand, the old densely-packed back-to-backs of High Street will be replaced with a much smaller terraced development of twenty-five homes, providing one-, two- and three-bedrooms. The new buildings will be built to a high standard, with use made of the south-facing roofline for solar panels.
David Nugent says that parking provision on the site has been increased, following feedback at previous consultations, and the density of the buildings near the Heptonstall Road reduced, again following local comments. Provision will also be made for charging points for electric vehicles, and a shared car arrangement for residents is also proposed.
David Nugent added: “Rebuilding what was once an important residential area of Hebden Bridge is perhaps a symbolic sign that the bad old days of the 1960s and 1970s when the town was facing economic catastrophe have gone for ever. The fact that the new High Street will not be a commercial development put up by an external developer but one created by a not-for-profit voluntary group means that the whole community can have a direct say in how we build new homes locally which will still be lived in a hundred years from now.”
The public consultation will include a chance to see the detailed plans for the site. The Community Land Trust trustees will be present, as will the Trust’s architects Bauman Lyons.
The plans will also subsequently be on show in Hebden Bridge library all day on Friday April 27th. Once again, trustees will be present to answer comments and receive feedback. Thereafter, the planning application will be finalised and submitted during May.