Purpose

Provision of funding to support Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council to undertake the planning of the Health Innovation District (HID) in Huddersfield. Funding of £795,000 will be provided under a grant funding agreement to the Council to carryout works to; (1) Develop a Health Innovation District Masterplan, (2) Deliver a Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy and Biodiversity Net Gain Framework, (3) Undertake a Development Viability Assessment and (4) Enable the recruitment of an Investment Zone Planning Lead at the Council.

The carrying out of these activities will identify and unlock key opportunities for regeneration within a vital area of Huddersfield Town Centre.

Decision

The total funding amount of £795,000 is to be provided from the West
Yorkshire Investment Zone Programmes’ Planning Fund. The scope
for the works has been prepared following discussions between
officers at Kirklees Council and at the Combined Authority.

Funding for the West Yorkshire Investment Zones Planning Fund
was approved as a delegated decision from the Combined Authority
to the Director Policing Environment and Place on the 12th
December 2024:

Minute 11:
i. [The Combined Authority] Approved the change request to the West
Yorkshire Investment Zone programme for development funding of
£3,000,000 for planning resource, taking the total funding approved to
£9,400,000. The total estimated scheme cost was £179,368,000.
ii. Approved that the Director of Policing, Environment and Place was
delegated to allocate development funds (including the Planning Fund)
and to enter into funding agreements with partners to progress the
development of projects in their areas.

On 23 September 2026, the Interim Director of Environment and
Place sub-delegated by email the decision detailed in this report to
the Head of Regeneration.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 -
Business as Usual (BAU). The BAU option considered is to proceed with the current Station to Stadium masterplan which identified some opportunities in high-level detail. However, the plan does not provide granular detail focusing on specific interventions to encourage the growth of the knowledge-based economy, which is provided by the Huddersfield Innovation District (HID) Masterplan. Without the HID it is likely that regeneration activity will occur sporadically and not lead to the development of an Innovation District. Therefore, BAU presented an opportunity cost to not realise the full potential of the Station to Stadium corridor.