Successful schemes to support communities in the Keighley area are to be celebrated at a meeting next week.
Bradford councillors will be updated on how the communities of Keighley continue to be supported by the Council and partners, with an update on the Keighley Locality Plan 2023-24 at the Council’s Executive Committee on Tuesday 5 November.
The plan is part of the ‘Strengthening Locality Working’ programme. Progress on all the priorities will be highlighted at the meeting, with updates including the successes of the Keighley Towns Fund.
The Keighley Towns Fund, is a Government investment of £33.6m – the highest in West Yorkshire and the fifth highest nationally – is funding flagship projects such as:
- Providence Park – Building work to complete the first phase this new industrial site in Keighley town centre is on course for completion by October this year. As well as housing industrial units expected to create up to 100 jobs, part of the site will be used by Keighley College as a Manufacturing, Engineering and Future Technologies Hub. The hub will be used to provide students with academic and practical experience, and achieve T-level qualifications.
- Capital assistance to business growth – supporting businesses to grow. So far the Keighley Towns Fund has awarded £1,096,815.33 in grant funding, with the expectation of creating 105.5 jobs.
- Community Grant Scheme – financial support to a range of organisations and businesses that are rooted in the local communities including grass roots and community organisations to improve premises or support to expand or diversify/ strengthen the offer to the local community.
- Keighley Creative Community Hub – A community arts hub creating a cultural destination in Keighley town centre and will provide a year round programme of skills training and leisure learning
- Keighley Art and Film Festival – supporting the development of the Keighley Art and Film Festival and to employ a small core team year-round to generate the resources to ensure a high-impact series of events
- Women Employment Project – establishing a textile academy which will deliver a bespoke skills training package for local Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women to improve pathways into skilled work.
Other local projects underway include:
- Supporting a wide range of employment and skills interventions including community employment coaches co-located in the Job Centre, Keighley College, Town Hall, and Project 6, who regularly run drop-in days and guidance clinics in four other community settings to support engagement from disadvantaged groups and communities.
- Work to improve the Keighley Worth Valley Railway visitor offer has included refurbishment of the water tank house and improvements to the interpretation offer. A £1m replacement of Bridge 27 has been completed and the new bridge is now operational.
- Ongoing work to enhance Keighley rail station and the opening of the multi-story car park at Steeton and Silsden station.
- The construction of Valley View Resources Centre in Oakworth, a 50-bed short term respite centre operated by Adult Services.
- Refurbishment of Keighley Library – including repairs, redecorations, upgraded of lighting and the addition of two new meeting ‘pods’ enabling the use of the library for small meetings, advice sessions etc.
- The LEAP (Creative People and Places project) has invested in the Create, Connect, Make project based at Keighley Library, which has seen a wide range of groups engage in creative sessions and engaged new audiences.
- £300k investment through the Playable Spaces Programme in Riverside Gardens, Ilkley, Central Park, Haworth and Cliffe Castle and Devonshire Park, Keighley.
- £85k investment in refurbishing and providing new equipment in Devonshire, Victoria and Lund Parks
- £3.2m refurbishment of Oakworth Crematorium
- £73,800 from the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Climate Action Fund distributed by the Keighley Area Committee to local voluntary and community groups
- £158,473 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund distributed by Keighley Area Committee to local voluntary and community groups
- Completion of the Odette’s Point development in Shann Lane which comprises 14 three-bed and six four-bed detached and semi-detached houses for social rent.
Bradford Council’s Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, Councillor Kamran Hussain, said: “The Keighley area has a thriving business community and is a vibrant place to live. It is great to see some real progress being made on this plan and see how the important work happening with our partners to improve the lives of local people and create lasting opportunities for the future.”
Councillor Caroline Firth, Chair of the Keighley Area Committee, said: “The locality plans provide us with a framework to better support individuals, families and communities across the district. It’s great to see the updates and the incredible amount of work taking place to make such a positive impact in the Keighley area.”
The plan’s priorities build on the Council’s six District Priority Outcomes for 2021-25: Better Skills, More Good Jobs and a Growing Economy; Decent Homes; Good Start, Great Schools; Better Health, Better Lives; Safe, Strong and Active Communities and A Sustainable District.
