Flooding worries mean new enterprise centre for Calderdale set to be built in new location

Proposals to place the £3.8 million centre on town centre land which may have seen the loss of a green space known as Pollination Street had been controversial.

And councillors have been told that the Environment Agency was likely to object to proposals to build it at Rose Street because of flooding concerns.

A report senior councillors will consider at a meeting on Calderdale Council’s cabinet on August 7 is now suggesting building the centre at a site at Ferney Lee, opposite Centre Vale Park, where there is also space to develop some affordable homes.

However, it will mean an “extra care” housing project, approved for the former Ferney Lee old people’s home site by councillors in February 2020 is no longer the preferred option.

Cabinet members will be asked to transfer the land to Calder Valley Community Land Trust (CVCLT) at nil value, to allow a mixed use commercial and housing development.

The Enterprise Centre is one of eight projects being funded through the £17.1 million Todmorden Town Deal.

CVCLT has a track record of projects in the town, including the senior citizens’ bungalows at Birks Court, Walsden, and ownership of Fielden Hall, on Ewood Lane, which is managed by the Fielden Centre Association.

The proposed enterprise centre intends to offer modern, professional facilities for small and start-up businesses, as well as more established enterprises, in energy-efficient and affordable workspaces.

It would link with schools and Todmorden College to offer opportunities for the town’s young people to develop skills and experience in professional sectors.

The briefing papers say CVCLT intends to include two storeys of 20 rented one and two-bedroom affordable homes into the project. Funding for this is now being sought.

It does mean there will not be room there for the extra care accommodation but councillors are being told there are six other schemes planned or already operational spread through Calderdale.

The Ferney Lee site emerged as the most suitable – and only viable – one for the enterprise centre, say the papers.