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Friday August 2, 2019
No. 905
50p
As fears grow that 4,000-home development will create commuter chaos, campaigner reveals...
PATHWAYS PLAN FOR ‘NEW TOWN’ By Connor Teale
AN AMBITIOUS plan to link the controversial 4,000-home Dewsbury Riverside development to the town centre has been proposed. A 2km series of pedestrian and cycle paths to enable residents to safely commute to and from Dewsbury, without having to use busy local roads, could
The Calder Valley Greenway could form part of the proposed network of pedestrian and cycle paths
stop the Riverside scheme from becoming isolated before work has even begun, claims community campaigner Bruce Bird. The development will effectively create a new small town, including schools and shops, on a 160-hectare site to the south of Ravensthorpe and south east of Mirfield. But there are fears that with no direct off-road routes in place to Dewsbury town centre, Dewsbury Riverside could become segregated from
surrounding communities. According to developers’ plans, it appears that pedestrians, cyclists and traffic will simply be forced onto Forge Lane and the already-congested A644 Huddersfield Road. Plans for ‘green corridors’ of paths running through areas adjacent to the River Calder have now been shown to local councillors, but as yet no official proposal has been submitted to Kirklees officials. Many of the routes already exist – they simply need linking together. The driving force behind the plan, Bruce Bird of the Dewsbury Partnership group, says quickly implementing the proposal could be key. “It’s important to implement this at the start of planning so people don’t become entrenched,” he said. “The Dewsbury Riverside development has no direct connection to the riverside and without a plan in place at the development stage, is more likely to develop into an isolated satellite better described as Dewsbury South than as an integral part of the town. “Here is a piece of community vision. The thing we really want
Campaigner Bruce Bird to see is sustainable transport above vehicle transport. This is an opportunity to implement it.” The Riverside project is part of Kirklees Council’s Local Plan, which contains proposals to build 30,000 new homes across the district, with many of the
Continued on Page 2
‘Dewsbury Riverside has no direct connection to the riverside and without a plan in place at the development stage, is more likely to develop into an isolated satellite better described as Dewsbury South’
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