An extra £1.3m has been allocated to the Dewsbury Arcade scheme to remedy multiple “unforeseen issues”.
The historic Grade-II Listed building is undergoing a £10m revamp, in the hopes of returning it to its former glory while helping to regenerate the wider town centre as part of the council’s ‘blueprint’ vision. Once refurbished, the arcade will be a community-run shopping centre, leased and managed by the Arcade Group.
Work on the project kicked off in May last year, though this hasn’t been straightforward, with plans for an Autumn 2025 opening set back. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) previously reported that the new-look arcade will be opening months later than planned, as problems with rot and decay were found to be “far more significant” than first anticipated.
These findings pushed the expected opening date back to next Spring, and with problems still emerging at the time, the council said there was a chance the timeline could change once more.
This month, the Dewsbury Neighbourhood Board agreed that an extra £1.3m could go to the scheme based on a “worst case scenario”. A meeting report explains that this is required due to the “unforeseen issues” that arose during the construction phase.
The cash has been found by reallocating the unspent Town Deal Grant and council match funding from other projects within the Town Deal Programme which have either been paused or completed under budget.
Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance & Regeneration, said: “Back in 2020, the government allocated £20m to Dewsbury through its Towns Fund, including money ringfenced for investment in the town centre’s beautiful heritage buildings.
“While much of this funding has already been used to improve shopfronts and support local businesses, and to bring some empty buildings in the town centre back into use, not all this money has been spent. The board therefore has the opportunity to, rather than returning this money to the government, redirect the funding to our other important heritage projects around Dewsbury.
“As the arcade has faced several unexpected challenges during its renovation – including the discovery of unsafe foundations, which has been costly to remedy – the board deemed this project most in need of a further funding boost. The extra funding will help enable us to reopen the arcade as the UK’s first community-run shopping centre, managed by the Arcade Group with huge support from local people.”
