Brighouse revamp plans ‘can be changed' with no funding risk
The plans to regenerate Brighouse town centre do not need fresh Government approval, a senior councillor has said.
Calderdale Council recently paused for review, and is altering, the next phase of regeneration works in Brighouse.
The changes involve retaining 18 of 22 parking spaces which were to be lost.
But a councillor questioned whether significantly altering the scheme would risk financial penalties or risk losing cash.
At a question time session at August’s cabinet meeting, Coun Mohammed Shazad Fazal (Lab, Park) presented Coun Scott Patient’s (Lab, Luddenden Foot) question.
He said the Brighouse town centre scheme had been funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
He said the funding had been approved after a three-year consultation process and wanted to know if the changes have been approved by the Government.
“Following the pause and now revised design retaining additional parking, can the cabinet member confirm whether these changes have been formally submitted to, and approved by, MHCLG, given the scheme’s grant conditions were based on the originally consulted design?
“What assessment has been made of any risk of financial penalty or clawback if the funder deems the changes a material departure from the approved scheme, and when will this be confirmed publicly?” he asked.
Responding, cabinet member for Highways and Transport, Coun Darren Commons (Reform UK, Brighouse) said the Government’s new Local Regeneration Fund (LRF/F) has provided councils with increased ability to make changes and be flexible in relation to programme content, priority and outputs of schemes.
“This guidance states that local authorities should consider how they can use increased flexibility and invest more effectively, whether it is pooling funding from the same area, redeploying or funding different priorities and making the changes to existing projects to expedite the delivery and maximise their impact,” he said.
Coun Commons said the guidance allowed the council to review and implement changes to the approved scheme, particularly where there are “better lines for local priorities – which is what we have done in Brighouse.”
Such changes did not require local approval, he said.
The relevant bodies were aware of the changes to the scheme, which will be formally submitted to the Local Regeneration Fund when that body next meets.