Scrapped bids for Dewsbury Riverside and Chidswell 'investment zones' are estimated to have cost Kirklees Council thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money

“Investment zones” were an initiative proposed by ex-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng during Liz Truss’s brief spell as Prime Minister. The aim was to “drive growth” and “unlock housing” to boost the economy on a local and UK-wide scale.

Reduced taxes and relaxed planning measures would have been implemented within the zones to encourage businesses to invest in the areas.

However, Rishi Sunak’s Government has since axed the original scheme, leaving local councils high and dry having wasted thousands of pounds putting their bids together.

Last year, Kirklees Council put forward two sites to become investment zones – Dewsbury Riverside and Chidswell. This caused uproar among campaigners, with members of the Chidswell Action Group previously expressing concern for the environmental impact.

Coun Andrew Cooper (Green, Newsome) also criticised investment zones and said: “They threaten to ride roughshod over agreed local planning priorities, further damage the environment and nature, and reduce commitments to affordable homes and community facilities.”

Coun Graham Turner, cabinet member for growth and regeneration, said: “When the Government announced investment zones last summer, the council submitted expressions of interest for two of the largest sites allocated for development in the Kirklees Local Plan – Dewsbury Riverside and Chidswell.

“In the Autumn Statement, the new Chancellor subsequently indicated that investment zones would be refocused as ‘innovation zones’ to support economic growth clusters linked to university research strengths and the initial expressions of interest would not be taken forward.

“We’ve had no further details on the innovation zones yet, but based on what we do know there is an opportunity to align this initiative with the University of Huddersfield’s exciting proposals for the National Health Innovation Campus in Huddersfield town centre, and with the wider Station to Stadium Enterprise Corridor.

"The Mayor of West Yorkshire has written to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, to highlight these and other health innovation opportunities in West Yorkshire as the Government develops the criteria for the scheme.”

The council failed to comment on how much it had spent putting its two bids together.

However, it has been estimated by the Local Government Association that each bid cost councils around £30,000.