Calderdale Inside Out

Could Shay supporters be in for an early Christmas present? Will Mixenden Activity Centre stay open? And could buses finally return to the heart of Halifax?Calderdale Council leader Dan Sutherland joins Calderdale Inside Out for a wide-ranging interview about the decisions, controversies and challenges facing the borough.We covers everything from football to local government finances, and talk about the future of the Shay Stadium, the row over Mixenden Activity Centre, the regeneration of Halifax town centre and the possibility of bringing buses back into the town centre.Among the issues we explore:The Shay Stadium: What's happening with the prospective bidders, and could there be good news for supporters before Christmas?Mixenden Activity Centre: Why did the proposed community asset transfer fall through, and what happens to the building and its users now?Halifax town centre: Can the council revive the town's retail fortunes, and what future does it see for the former Harveys store?Buses and roadworks: Could buses return to the centre of Halifax, and what can be done about disruption to local journeys?Council finances and accountability: What do the council's audit difficulties mean, and how are important decisions scrutinised?It's an opportunity to hear directly from the person leading Calderdale Council, at a time when some significant decisions are being made about the borough's future.Read more of our reporting at https://www.calderdaleinsideout.co.ukSubscribe free for our latest investigations, local news and podcasts.

“Catastrophic” – Harvey’s CEO describes business impact of Halifax Town Centre roadworksLatest town centre footfall data show Halifax business district footfall is down following £64m improvement planThis year family-run Harvey’s of Halifax will celebrate 100 years in business, with over 75 of those years, trading on Commercial Street in Halifax. But, over the past two years business has taken a nosedive. In the latest episode of Calderdale inside Out’s podcast, the CEO of Harvey’s, fourth generation owner Tracy Harvey, describes the impact of Halifax’s £64m town centre improvement scheme saying “It genuinely has been catastrophic for us. Two years is a long time for customers to change their habits and find other places to go.”On Commercial Street, recorded footfall fell by almost a third between 2024 and 2025 – and the latest numbers show just a slight 5% recovery following the end of the roadworks at the top end of town.. And At Corn Market, the latest figures are showing 27% down from the previous year. Woolshops data is broadly flat with just a 0.7% increase year on year.But Harveys isn't giving up. Despite depleted cash reserves, higher business rates and rising staff costs, the store has opened two new departments — and Tracy says she remains determined that the business will not only survive, but thrive again adding:“I passionately believe in what we do as a business. I passionately believe in Halifax.”Listen now to Calderdale Inside Out.Also available on Apple, Spotify, and most other podcast platforms.

In this episode:-A listener asked us one simple question: is the council making money out of parking, and where does the money actually go? We uncover the policy from 2022 determined to get people out of their cars and the failed promise to deliver an Area Car Parking Strategy that supported delivery of that policy. And we also ask the question: is Calderdale Council breaking the law in how it spends that surplus? The new Reform administration is promising a review.The numbers£2.93m - the council’s own parking operating surplus for 2024/25 (roughly double 2021/22, and up about half on pre-pandemic).Over £1 million - separately, the amount the 2024/25 year-end accounts say was used to reduce an overspend in a completely different budget - the one that covers things like school transport for children with special needs, and waste. We keep this figure and the £2.93m strictly apart.About £14 a head - Calderdale’s parking surplus per resident. Third of England’s 35 big-city (metropolitan) boroughs, behind only Newcastle and Manchester - and the highest in West Yorkshire.Six towns, zero plans — Parking Area Plans were promised in 2022 as the evidence supporting the increase in car parking chargeSubscribe to our newsletter on www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk

KEY NUMBERS IN BRIEF£356,700 = Piece Hall surplus£244,505 = New Calderdale Council borrowing£450,000 = Calderdale Council SLA Grant£3,684,505 = Total Piece Hall debtWhen the council’s scrutiny committee met in January to consider the Piece Hall’s future funding the amount of surplus, the new council borrowing, and the record debt were not discussed. At that meeting, the chair of the children and young people’s scrutiny board, Cllr Leah Webster, told the committee: “When we’re in a funding situation like we are and we’re making cuts to disabled children’s access to childcare… it’s very difficult then to be looking at this as something that’s not one of those nice-to-haves.”The accounts record average staff numbers falling from 119 to 63, with the reduction falling overwhelmingly on casual and seasonal staff; a wage bill down from just under £3m a year to £2.2m -a saving larger than the surplus itself; marketing expenditure of £5,778 for the year; and repairs to the Grade I listed building reduced for the third consecutive year, to £78,294. In the same year, a “Restoration Levy” on gig tickets raised £143,000. No restricted or designated fund for the levy appears in the accounts. The £750,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, by contrast, is held in a named restricted fund and was spent in full.The accounts also require a correction to our Part 1 reporting, which put the Trust’s loans at £3.4m. We can now reveal following inspection of the latest accounts that total borrowings across the Trust and its trading company stood at £3,684,505 at the September year-end -the highest in its history. Of that, £3,164,505 is owed to Calderdale Council, a figure confirmed in the council’s own audited accounts. The remaining £520,000 is owed to a lender not named in any filed document. During the same financial year, the Trust drew a further £244,505 of council lending, the first new council loan since 2020-21, in addition to the £450,000 annual grant.From April 2027 the loans begin to carry interest and repayments, a larger annual sum than this year’s surplus.In a statement to Calderdale Inside Out, the new council leader, Cllr Dan Sutherland, said the administration is investigating “what the Council was aware of regarding the Piece Hall Trust’s finances at the time the SLA was agreed.”The Piece Hall Trust have been approached for comment.Check out part 1 of our investigation below.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share itNext episode: car parking in Calderdale -a major review is under way, we’ll be investigating the past, present, and future of car parking charge in Calderdale. And if you have a story you’d like us to look into get in contact: [email protected] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk

I love the Piece Hall. Growing up I sold copies of the Halifax Evening Courier outside the Westgate entrance. I was there when the ‘Multi-Coloured Swop Shop’ turned up complete with Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin. And I’ve watched it transform from down-at-heel Saturday market to a unique and much-loved gig venue. So, for me, this is a bitter-sweet investigation.But loving the place doesn’t mean looking at it through rose tinted spectacles. And the more time I’ve spent with audited accounts, Companies House filings, hidden documents, and recordings of council meetings the more my rose-tinted glasses have misted over.Here are just a few of the questions we ponder in the latest episode of Calderdale Inside Out:-- Would Marks and Spencer still be in Halifax if it wasn’t for the Piece Hall? According to Nicola Chance-Thompson (CEO of Piece Hall Trust) they wouldn’t.- How independent was a value for money report stating that the Piece Hall is worth £680 million to the local economy?- And just how much cash have Calderdale tax-payers pumped into the Piece Hall?The Trust, the council and the others were all given the chance to reply, and I’ll tell you what they said and what they didn’t say.It’s all in the episode. Subscribe to our Substack and listen nowThanks for supporting local journalism.And if you have a story you would like us to investigate please email on : [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk

During the local election campaign, you may have seen a rather flattering claim doing the rounds. Starting with local MP Josh Fenton Glynn the news was quickly shared by local election Labour candidates and Labour groups across Calderdale.Calderdale, apparently, was one of the best places in England to raise a family.Lovely news, you might think. And, on the face of it, exactly the sort of thing any council or political party would want to shout about.The problem is the date.When Calderdale Inside Out followed the claim back, it appeared to lead not to a fresh 2026 study, but to research originally published in 2019 by Oxford Home Schooling. That ranking placed Calderdale fourth in England, based on a fairly narrow set of measures: Ofsted ratings, school-place availability and housing affordability.Then, in April 2026, the same ranking seemed to pop back up online through a news aggregator site based in Hong Kong. From there, it found its way into local political campaigning.And that is where this gets interesting.Because this is not really a story about whether Calderdale is a good place to bring up children. Plenty of people would say it is. Many of us live here because we love the place, not because a spreadsheet told us to.The more useful question is this: when politicians share a statistic during an election campaign, how much care should they take to check where it came from?Especially when that statistic is being used not just as good news, but as evidence of a political record.In the episode, we follow the trail from the original 2019 ranking, through its reappearance online in April 2026, to the way it was shared locally during the election campaign.We also look at Calderdale Council’s own more recent performance data. And, as you might expect, the current picture is not quite as neat as a social media graphic.Some indicators are moving in the right direction. Others are not. Some put Calderdale in a much less flattering position when compared with similar councils.That does not mean the original 2019 ranking was wrong in its own context.But it does mean voters are entitled to ask a fairly basic question:if a political claim is based on old data, should that be made clear?Calderdale Labour has been approached for comment.The paper trailFor anyone who wants to check the sources, these are the key links behind the episode:* The original 2019 article: Revealed: the best and worst places to raise children in England — Inside Conveyancing / Oxford Home Schooling.Read the 2019 article* The April 2026 aggregator article: Best and worst places in England to raise a family - full list — OB News / Newspoint, published 9 April 2026.Read the April 2026 article* Calderdale Council’s Q3 2025/26 Corporate Performance Report: the council’s own latest published performance report.Download the Q3 report* The social media post: screenshot included above.* Who shared the data (from our research): Cllr Adam Wilkinson; Cllr Sarah Courtney; Cllr Scott Patient; Cllr Kelly Thornham; Stuart Cairney (Labour candidate); Calderdale Labour; Skircoat Labour Councillors; North Halifax Labour.The full story is in the podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk

The battle over plans for a vast new wind farm on Walshaw Moor has intensified.The developer has released its EIA Scoping Report for Calderdale Energy Park — a scheme of up to 41 turbines, plus battery storage, roads and cabling, spread across 2,352 hectares of moorland designated as SSSI, SAC and SPA.At the same time, one of the UK’s leading peatland experts, Richard Lindsay of the University of East London, has used our podcast to challenge Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton Glynn to publish the evidence he is said to have seen showing that wind farms can be built on peat without harm.Campaign group Save and Restore Walshaw Moor reported on their blog that, during a recent meeting, the MP told them he had been shown data proving there would be no effect — but that he could not share that data. Lindsay’s response:“We should be allowed to see all of these data and the data should be available for scientific scrutiny for scientific review. It’s just environmental data. If the claim is that all these data are commercial and confidence, then that’s a complete nonsense.” - Richard LindsayJosh Fenton-Glynn did not respond to Calderdale Inside Out’s request for comment.Why peat here is not just “soil”Lindsay describes the vegetation growing on peat bog as a natural flood barrier:“If you imagine a thick Persian rug placed on a flat table… the water is going to take some time to filter through the rug before it pours off the table. You take that rug away… the water will just shoot straight off the table and down into our valleys.” - Richard LindsayRoads cut across that carpet, drying out moss downslope and funnelling water through drains. In his words: “The main infrastructural element… are obviously the roads… because they cut across the entire peatland hydrology.”Hebden Bridge flood riskThe moor drains directly into the Calder Valley, where the Hebden Bridge Flood Alleviation Scheme (FAS) is already under development. Lindsay says the interaction must be explicitly modelled:“If I were in charge of any flood relief scheme, I would be very interested in having data to show me exactly what the implications are for my flood relief scheme.” - Richard Lindsay“Floating” roads and fixed buffersThe scoping report suggests “floating” roads and fixed hydrology buffers of 100–250m. Lindsay is sceptical:“Floating roads is a misnomer… these roads don’t float. They sink.”“100 metres is just a figure plucked out of the air… just using one number works everywhere is a nonsense.” - Richard LindsayCarbon payback under doubtLindsay cites the Aberdeen University carbon-calculator team’s later peer-reviewed conclusion:“Construction of a wind farm on relatively undisturbed peat produces no net carbon benefit.” While Walshaw has been degraded by burning, much of it remains active peat, meaning the carbon balance here is still a live question.The evidence gapIn our interview, Lindsay was blunt:“I’ve seen everything from utter catastrophe… through to minor impacts and everything in between. I would love to see that evidence [showing no effect].”Richard LindsayWithout published monitoring data, he argues, the debate is being conducted in the dark.The scoping report stresses the national policy need for renewable energy and commits to:* a full Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment,* management plans for peat, lighting, traffic, restoration and monitoring,* and off-site compensation/BNG.It also notes turbine bases and cables may remain in situ at decommissioning stageThanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Who is Richard Lindsay?Richard Lindsay is Head of the Environmental and Conservation Research Group at the University of East London. He has more than 40 years’ experience studying peatlands, has advised governments and conservation bodies on restoration and climate policy, and is recognised internationally as one of the UK’s foremost authorities on peat hydrology, carbon and biodiversityComing soon on Calderdale Inside OutEarlier this year Calderdale Borough Council granted permission for a highly controversial scheme - the Belmont Waste Incinerator in Sowerby Bridge. Have all the right safeguards been put in place to protect the local population? Subscribe and get our next episode as soon as it lands. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk

The developers of the proposed Calderdale Energy Park have just released their scoping report — the first official step in the planning process for what could become one of England’s biggest onshore wind farms.Their chosen site? Walshaw Moor — a protected blanket bog above Hebden Bridge. A place that stores carbon, regulates water flow, and plays a crucial role in protecting the Calder Valley from floods.In our next episode, we sit down with Richard Lindsay, one of the UK’s leading peatland scientists as he responds to the scoping report’s approach to meeting the challenge of building on peat.- He warns that infrastructure like roads and turbine foundations are never truly temporary — once you cut into peat, the damage is chronic.- He explains why hydrological data from Walshaw Moor should be built into the Hebden Bridge Flood Alleviation Scheme — because changing the sponge on the hilltop could change flood risk in the valley.- And he responds to Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton-Glynn, who recently told campaigners it can be acceptable to build turbines on protected peatland, based on evidence he says he has seen but cannot release.This is more than a technical planning debate. It’s a clash between political assurances and scientific warnings, with consequences for climate targets, local democracy, and the safety of homes and businesses in the Calder Valley.Make sure you are subscribed to Calderdale Inside Out to get the full story when it lands.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST TO GET THE FULL STORY AND COMMENTARY FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPERT PROFESSOR COLIN COPUS (photo credit: Folk and Honey)Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free and support local journalism.Hebden Bridge’s Trades Building is a cherished community icon. For decades it’s been home to the much-loved Trades Club, but recently revealed land-registry documents and newly filed party accounts confirm the building is owned by the Labour Party for the benefit of the Calder Valley Constituency Labour Party (CVCLP). It’s also headquarters of CVCLP and served as campaign headquarters for Josh Fenton-Glynn during his 2024 election campaign.As reported by the BBC in February, for over two decades that ownership, and the rental income it generates never appeared in the local party’s returns to the Electoral Commission. Only this year on 28 March 2025, after informal queries from the regulator, did the CVCLP hurriedly file accounts for 2023 and 2024 admitting the Trades Building in Hebden Bridge is a Labour-owned asset which they now value at £191,157 generating income of £13,445 in 2023, and £14,262 in 2024.Photos show returns to the Electoral Commission for 2024 (with rental income) and 2019 (without rental income)Two months after Labour filed those accounts the Electoral Commission confirmed it had opened a formal investigation into whether the branch breached Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, which requires accurate disclosure of assets and income.That investigation is ongoing.Public grants unlocked by a phantom Community Interest CompanyBut Calderdale Inside Out can now reveal more regulatory woe for the Labour Party.In August 2021 Hebden Royd Town Council’s Community Funding Committee approved a £10,803 grant for an accessibility project in the Labour-owned Trades Building.The Hebden Royd Town Council funding committee that waved through the £10,803 grant in 2021 included three Labour councillors. Council minutes record no declarations of interest—despite all three councillors voting to fund a building owned by their own political party.Under the Localism Act 2011, councillors must declare any financial interest in decisions where they—or their party—may benefit. While political affiliation alone does not automatically trigger a statutory declaration, experts say the approval of public funds for a party-owned building would meet the test for a perceived conflict. No declarations were made.“We risk being crucified in the press”Town Council Funding Committee minutes from August 2021 state the applicant was “a constituted voluntary community group with aspirations to gain CIC status; interest has been registered with Companies House.”.That assurance matters because forming a Community Interest Company (CIC) would have created a legally accountable entity with statutory duties to act in the public interest. It would have provided councillors with a clear governance framework for how the grant would be managed, limiting private or political gain. Without a CIC in place, and with no legal separation from the Labour-controlled Building Management Committee, the safeguards councillors may have assumed existed were never actually established.And when we checked, Companies House confirmed there is no mechanism to simply lodge an interest to create a CIC. The Community Interest Company promised never materialised, and we’ve seen evidence showing the grant cash was paid into the account of the Building Management Committee, a group made up, according to constitution documents seen by Calderdale Inside Out, entirely from members of Calder Valley Constituency Labour Party which manage the Trades Building on behalf of the Labour Party.One former councillor and Labour Party member told Calderdale Inside Out that BMC members were warned at the time that “a fully independent organisation should be applying for this grant” and that if it was discovered “we risk being crucified in the press”.Hollow promises of independenceCalderdale Inside Out has also seen an internal email sent by the BMC to the council clerk relating to the grant application in which assurances were given about how an independent organisation had been created and how funds would be ringfenced.The email promises that a separate organisation called “Trades Community Space” had been formed and the grant monies would be for the benefit of this organisation.But the email, dated 6 July 2021, also acknowledged that no lease was in place, saying“In terms of leasing, there currently is not a suitable leasable space for the TCS to occupy. The BMC will enshrine a commitment to offer a lease to the TCS as soon as is practicable.”The promises continued:“The BMC is committed to holding in ring-fenced trust any grant funding received on behalf of the TCS,”But the funds were paid into the account of the Labour-run BMC, and a lease for the refurbished ground floor area was granted to Northern Powerhouse Boxing (a Community Interest Company) in 2024 who have since successfully raised over £300,000 to complete renovations on the Trades Building ground floor and are set to open their doors next month (September 2025).Misrepresentation in charity bidIn September 2021, Calderdale-based charity the Community Foundation for Calderdale (CFFC) awarded the BMC £4,700 towards an accessibility project in the Trades Building. The bid, published on the charity’s website, stated: “With the assistance of professional support, we’ve established a CIC, prepared a funding strategy for the wider scheme, and developed a deliverable timed package of work to ensure the project is achievable and viable.”Yet once again Companies House has no record of any such Community Interest Company. Records seen by Calderdale Inside Out show grant monies were paid into the account of the Building Management Committee, which states its objectives as:“The Management Committee shall ensure that the Trades Club is used in accordance with the aims and ideals of the Labour and Trades Union movements and to serve the social needs of the people of the area.”Far from being an independent, community-led initiative, the bid was managed by the same Labour-controlled body that owns the building. Why this mattersUnder charity law, funds must be used exclusively for charitable purposes.The Charities Act 2011, along with Charity Commission guidance (CC9), prohibits the use of charitable funds to confer more than incidental benefit on a political party. In this case, the public money enhanced a building owned by a political party, and the rent generated from that upgrade now flows into a party-controlled bank account.Nigel Cliffe, Chair of CFFC said:“the CFFC’s grant guidelines do not require that applicants be registered as a CIC or such like legal entities, but rather that registration is noted as preferable….…. We are confident that the process used to assess the grant was thorough, fair, and accurate which has resulted in the successful completion of the access works requested by the Trades Community Space/Buildings Management Committee. No false claims were identified during our due diligence, but we note that the Trades Community Space/Buildings Management Committee had confirmed at the time that they were a CIC which we now understand is not the case…. this will not affect its eligibility to receive the grant as an unincorporated association.”We contacted The Charity Commission with our findings, and they confirmed to Calderdale Inside Out they had issued CFFC with “regulatory advice and guidance about the rules for charities on political activity and ensuring appropriate due diligence is undertaken when awarding grants.”The Labour Party and Hebden Royd Town Council have been approached for comment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk

(This article is based on our latest podcast episode)The Leader of Calderdale Council’s Liberal Democrat group has called on the Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Scott Patient, to step down from his post, following revelations about political influence over public consultation and officer communications.Speaking in an interview for the Calderdale Inside Out podcast, Cllr Paul Bellenger said:“He’s been hiding things. He’s been silencing officers… I don’t think he’s the right person to be deputy leader or portfolio holder. If I was Scott, I’d be stepping down.”His comments follow a growing row over the Council’s handling of a proposed parking scheme on Fallingroyd — a stretch of the A646 between Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.What’s happening at Fallingroyd?The Council's plan was to remove around 80 free roadside parking spaces and install a segregated cycle lane. A revised version later proposed retaining parking but charging for it.Local residents, canal boat dwellers, commuters and businesses raised concerns about the impact. One of them, artist and teacher Winston Plowes, said:“On both sides of the road there's lots of people. They all park on this bend — because it's the nearest free space to where they live. And they've got nowhere else to go.”No local data, no bus company inputIn August 2024 when Councillor Sarah Courtney, Cabinet Member for Transport, asked officers for the evidence justifying the removal of the parking, she was given a 600-word briefing. It referenced:* Government transport policy (Gear Change, Bus Back Better)* A 2012 academic study using a driving simulator* General statements about traffic flowThere was no traffic modelling from Hebden Bridge. No parking data. No records of local congestion.The document did cite issues with bus delays between Halifax and Todmorden — but First Bus, who operate the route, have confirmed to Calderdale Inside Out:“We are not aware of a consultation or have reported problems with our services, but would be willing to participate if asked.”What did residents say?In a non-statutory consultation held in August 2024, 86 people objected to the plans. Just 8 supported them.Minutes from a Council officer group (TRO) — the governing body responsible for assessing new traffic proposals — stated in the meeting minutes:“It was unanimously agreed to defer a decision… subject to further investigations into the issues raised from the consultation.”But that decision was not communicated publicly, and no update was provided until late Autumn.The instruction not to replyIn October 2024, Machpelah Neighbourhood Watch contacted the Council again — asking what had happened.An internal email later released under FOI shows the Council’s Neighbourhood Liaison Officer forwarded the message to a colleague, writing:“I am continuing to receive letters on this matter, which at present — adhering to Councillor Patient’s instruction — I am generally not responding to at the moment.”This directive — from a senior councillor to a non-political officer — is now central to the growing political fallout.Bellenger: “He’s hiding things from the public”Reacting to the emails, Cllr Paul Bellenger said:“It’s wrong because at the end of the day… he’s stopping that officer from basically telling the truth…..He’s been silencing officers to prevent them from telling you what is actually happening…”“If I was Scott, I’d be stepping down — or I’d be asking for him to be stepped down.”Calderdale Inside Out requested an interview with the political leadership at Calderdale Borough Council (we didn’t receive response to that request), but when asked about why Councillor Patient issued the instruction not to engage with residents Calderdale Council said:“The instruction was to ensure the appropriate officer responsible for dealing with the matter was involved in any response.”Where things standIn February 2025, the Council suggested it would mark out bays on Fallingroyd and introduce parking charges. But no further details have been shared, and no parking strategy has been published.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.If you have a story you’d like us to look into then get in touch – email us: [email protected]. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.calderdaleinsideout.co.uk