A PETITION urging Kirklees Council to release Huddersfield Giants’ preferred site for a new stadium is closing in on 4,000 signatories.
Club owner Ken Davy is targeting vacant land close to the existing Accu (formerly John Smith’s) Stadium, where the club currently play, for an 8,000-capacity venue.
But the former gasworks site off St Andrew’s Road falls within the council’s Station to Stadium Enterprise Corridor and is part of a health tech and innovation investment zone.
Kirklees want to promote innovation and attract investment to Huddersfield, and one councillor believes a new stadium for the Giants could complement that aim.
Lib Dem Cllr Cahal Burke told the latest full council meeting: “In light of the public interest on the proposal from the Huddersfield Giants owner, I believe we are now facing a very real and time-sensitive opportunity.
“It deserves full and open-minded consideration, not a flat dismissal. Will the council take a leadership role in enabling that dialogue rather than closing the door before the potential has been fully tested?
“This proposal is serious, deliverable and clearly backed by those involved. It is not in competition with health and innovation. It can complement it.
“A stadium focused on professional sports, community use and wellbeing can sit side by side with research and enterprise. This is about synergy, not exclusion.”
The twelve-acre gasworks site is owned by Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd, owners of the Accu Stadium, but is due to be transferred to the council as part of a deal to hand over control of the stadium to Huddersfield Town Football Club, who have plans to develop both the venue and adjacent land.
Davy believes the Accu Stadium is too big for the Giants, and is pushing on with plans to buy The Shay in Halifax for his club to play at until a new stadium in Huddersfield is built.
But he insists there will be no relocation until planning permission is secured.
“We remain fully committed to building a new stadium in Huddersfield, and the support of the public, as well as some councillors, is encouraging,” he said.