FAQs

Kirklees Council is responsible for delivering the scheme in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. The Combined Authority works with Local Authorities and businesses across West Yorkshire to create economic growth and improve public infrastructure through schemes such as this. To learn more about the Combined Authority, see here. 

In 2021, we asked for your views on the proposal for Heckmondwike Bus Station. Given the level of support received for this scheme, we are informing the public of any updates through a public engagement. Between 25 July and 25 August, people can ask questions using the question-and-answer tool on the Your Voice webpage and provide any planning application related comments on the planning portal. 

• Increased capacity at the Bus Station meaning that there will be less congestion upon entry to the bus station. 

• Improved waiting facilities meaning that the use of bus is attractive in all-weather scenarios 

• Access to an accessible WC and Changing Places facility 

Although the current hub is a live transport interchange, there has been instances in which events in Heckmondwike have used this space. The town centre investment programme in Heckmondwike, informed by the Place Standard engagement, may provide new areas of event space in the town centre in the future. 

The bus station will sit completely within the site boundary of the current bus hub and therefore it is envisaged that impact on residents and businesses will be minimal. 

Pedestrian and vehicular access to the service yard and dentist car park would remain. 

The scheme does not require any land take.  

Trees on the current site will be relocated, as well as the addition of new trees, planters, green wall, green roof, and sustainable urban drainage. The scheme will comply with the recently adopted Open Space SPD, which refers to biodiversity net gain. 

The phasing of roadworks on the public highway still needs to be planned. Nearer the time of construction, residents and businesses will be provided with more detail about what will happen and where. 

An Outline Business Case with a proposed preferred scheme was completed in October 2021. There are further stages of design development and an additional stage of business case approval from the Combined Authority to go through prior to construction. It is currently envisaged that work with start in late 2022 or early 2023.

The scheme is checked through sequenced decision gateways in the Assurance Process of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. There are five business case gateways within this assurance process.  At each stage, recommendations on the scheme are made by an officer-based appraisal team to the relevant committee(s) of elected members of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.  

Funding for the early phase of the scheme was secured through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to allow Kirklees Council to start developing and promoting the scheme. This has allowed us to carry out initial studies and business case development, optioneering and outline designing. The scheme has been through the Combined Authority and Kirklees Cabinet approvals process at Strategic Outline Case stage. The Outline Business Case, submitted in October 2021, was approved in February 2022 at the Places, Regeneration and Housing Committee. 

Leaflets containing information about the scheme and signposting people to the scheme webpage will be posted to residents and businesses along the corridor. Real time information screens at bus shelters will display information. Anyone who cannot access the webpage online and needs to request an alternative format should contact MetroLine on 0113 245 7676 or email yourvoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk.

We welcome the opinions and feedback of all members of the public. Whether you travel by public transport, walk, drive, or cycle, are a resident, business owner, or just travel through the area, your views, opinions, and insight are valuable to us to shape the scheme. Please share the link www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/heckbus with anyone you think would be interested in finding out more. If you intend to submit a joint response on behalf of a group/organisation, please share the link with your colleagues/members so they can provide an individual response, should they wish to do so.

You can register to follow the schemes and have your say in any future consultations at  www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/register.  Updates on scheme progress will also be provided via the Combined Authority’s and Kirklees Council’s webpages and via press articles. You can also contact your Local Ward Councillors here. We will publish a report on the consultation response on this website.

Providing an accessible, attractive and cleaner alternative to car journeys is at the heart of Leeds City Region’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) - a major new programme of transport infrastructure investment secured as part of the West Yorkshire devolution deal.

The programme will be funded through £317 million from the Department for Transport (DfT) plus local match funding of up to £140 million.  

In partnership with local authorities, the Combined Authority will deliver transformational infrastructure, which will dramatically improve people’s access to walking, cycling and public transport.

It is estimated TCF schemes will improve journeys by bus, rail, bike and on foot for up to 1.5 million people, take up to 12 million car trips per year off our roads and reduce CO2 emissions from car travel by up to 15,000 tonnes by 2036.  

Communities across Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York are set to benefit from the schemes, which include new or improved bus and rail stations, cycling and walking infrastructure, and new Park and Rides

The programme will deliver:

• two new Park & Rides
• one new rail station
• four new foot and cycle bridges
• six new or improved bus stations and interchange hubs
• new high quality cycle routes along six corridors
• bus priority along six key bus routes to create more reliable and faster bus journey times
• 800 new cycle parking spaces
• seven improvements to Rail Station Gateways
• new Real Time Information and improved passenger experience across the network.  

The Combined Authority is working in partnership with local authority colleagues from Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Selby, Wakefield and York councils on the TCF programme.

It is estimated TCF will:

• Improve journeys by bus, rail, bike and on foot for up to 1.5 million people
• Take up to 12 million car trips per year off our roads by 2036
• Make 33 million rail journeys easier by improvements to rail stations
• Increase bus, rail, and walking and cycling trips by up to 6%, 4% and 7% respectively by 2036
• Reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1.5% / 15,000 tonnes from car travel by 2036
• Create more than 1,000 jobs and add up to £1 billion to the economy by 2036
• Support connectivity to 650 housing sites and 220 employment sites

As part of the West Yorkshire devolution deal, the Combined Authority secured £317 million from the DfT’s TCF programme to deliver schemes in the low-cost scenario.

Since then, the Combined Authority has approved the use of future gain share funding, alongside other income streams, to deliver the high-cost scenario up to an additional £140 million.  

This additional funding will help us deliver more transport improvements, which will benefit communities across West Yorkshire. 

This work is more important than ever, not only as we look to address the health and economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in helping us achieve our aim of becoming a net zero carbon economy by 2038.

We need to reduce car trips by 21% and increase cycling trips by 2,000%, walking trips by 78%, bus strips by 39% and rail trips by 53% if we are to achieve our ambitious net zero targets in this time frame. 

The programme will connect people to economic and education opportunities through accessible, affordable, attractive and cleaner transport, boosting productivity and helping to create healthier and happier communities for the future.  

Building on the significant progress already made, we are working in partnership to make it easier for people to walk, cycle and use public transport.

Communities across Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York are set to benefit from the schemes, which include new or improved bus and rail stations, cycling and walking infrastructure, and new Park and Rides.

The programme is focused on connecting people in the communities of greatest economic need with job and training opportunities.  This will, in turn, help boost productivity, living standards and air quality.   

There are 22 packages of schemes, comprising of 35 individual projects, within the overall programme. Different schemes are at different stages, right through from the development of business cases and designs, to gearing up for public consultation, to some projects with work under construction. For example, the Halifax Bus Station redevelopment has already started on site, and construction has begun on some parts of the earlier phase of the Leeds City Centre Cycling Improvements scheme. Find out more information at www.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/TCF

The schemes funded through the DfT need to be delivered by spring 2023, with schemes financed by local match funding being delivered beyond these timescales.

To date, there has been minimal impact of the programme as a result of COVID-19.  The majority of the projects are at the early stages of development and much of the work required can be carried out virtually.   As the schemes move to the next stage of delivery, we will continue to monitor the impact and identify any risks to delivery.  

We are also looking at best practice ways of delivering public consultations and engagement activity to ensure all members of the community get the opportunity to have their say on TCF schemes during COVID-19.  

The full implications of COVID-19 on the region, the economy and the transport system are still to be understood and the impact on the Combined Authority’s programmes and schemes to date has been mixed. 

We are working closely with our local authority partners at every level of our appraisal process to ensure delivery timescales have taken into account the current issues and that each scheme is stress tested to ensure its ongoing viability. 

In the wake of COVID-19 it is more important than ever to assess the changes to the landscapes of our towns and cities, and the impact on current and future planned schemes, particularly, but not exclusively, those relating to transport. 

The impact of COVID-19 in relation to travel behaviour into and around towns and cities is assessed as part of each scheme’s appraisal. 

While public transport patronage is currently lower than pre COVID-19 levels, it remains a priority to invest in public transport infrastructure to both help with economic recovery and to have the required infrastructure in place to respond to an increase in demand post-COVID-19. 

A range of options are being developed as part of each business case to determine the best scheme, which will include a range of options up to the high-cost scenario.

As part of the devolution deal, the Combined Authority secured £317 million from the DfT’s TCF to deliver schemes in the low-cost scenario.

Since then, the Combined Authority has approved the use of future gain share funding, alongside other income streams, to deliver the high-cost scenario up to £140 million. 

It will build on the significant investment already made through the Combined Authority’s other programmes, such as the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, Connecting Leeds and CityConnect.

Many of the TCF schemes provide enhancements or extensions to the projects being delivered through these programmes, helping to spread the benefits across a wider geography.  

The programme is focused on connecting people in the communities of greatest economic need with job and training opportunities.  This will, in turn, help boost productivity, living standards and air quality. 

For more information about the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund visit westyorks-ca.gov.uk/projects/west-yorkshire-plus-transport-fund 

For more information about Connecting Leeds visit leeds.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/connecting-leeds-and-transforming-travel 

For more information about CityConnect visit cyclecityconnect.co.uk 

Find out more information about the Transforming Cities Fund programme at westyorks-ca.gov.uk/TCF

Public consultation and engagement activities are scheduled to take place in 2021.  

Details of the TCF consultations can be found at www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk.  You can get in touch with the Combined Authority’s Consultation and Engagement team via YourVoice@westyorks-ca.gov.uk, 0113 245 7676 or Freepost CONSULTATION TEAM (WYCA).  Please note that, due to the COVID-19 crisis, the majority of the Combined Authority’s staff are working from home and there will therefore be significant delays in receiving any postal contributions. If you can, please contact the team using another method to ensure a quick response.

The bid was led by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in partnership with the 10 local authorities across the Leeds City Region. It was developed in two stages, with a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) submitted to the DfT in June 2019. The final bid was submitted to the DfT in November 2019. The bid documents can be found at westyorks-ca.gov.uk/TCF

The bid was developed in partnership with local authorities across the Leeds City Region, including Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, North Yorkshire, Selby, Wakefield and York. The bid was also co-developed with the DfT, which provided feedback on the plans as they emerged.  In line with other Mayoral Combined Authorities, we are required to feedback on the progress of the programme’s delivery.  

The programme is focused on connecting people in the communities of greatest economic need with job and training opportunities.  This will, in turn, help boost productivity, living standards and air quality. 

As part of the bidding process, the Combined Authority was asked to develop a series of schemes, which could be delivered under three different cost scenarios (low, core and high).   Each scheme needed to meet the Combined Authority’s priorities, as well as objectives set out by the DfT, such as reducing carbon emissions, and increasing capacity for commuters with better access to employment centres, especially from disadvantaged communities. 

Schemes put forward by local authorities were scored against the objectives before being reviewed as a programme.  Once agreement had been reached between local authority and Combined Authority officers, the programme was signed off by each of the leaders, as well as members of the Combined Authority’s Transport Committee.