Giants' new stadium plans dealt blow by council

Super League rugby club Huddersfield Giants' hopes of building a new stadium have suffered a setback after the council said its preferred site was not earmarked for sports development.

The Giants currently share the John Smith's Stadium with League One football club Huddersfield Town, but from the end of the season plan to move to a stadium of their own.

More than 2,000 fans had signed a petition calling on Kirklees Council to allow the new development on the nearby site of the former gasworks off St Andrew's Road.

However, the local authority said the land sat "right at the centre" of an enterprise zone it expected to be used by health and wellbeing research companies.

Giants owner Ken Davy has already named the site as the favoured location of a future stadium, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, the council said it was "crucial" for economic development rather than for sport or leisure.

It said it did not own the land but the location was "a crucial component" of its Station to Stadium Enterprise Corridor - a regeneration project focused on creating a "vibrant economic area" between the railway station and the John Smith's Stadium.

The council said the aim of the corridor was to attract high-quality jobs and businesses, particularly in areas like health innovation, advanced manufacturing and digital technology.

A spokesperson said: "We're doing a tremendous amount of work in this part of Huddersfield at the moment, thanks to government investment which will see huge boosts to our local economy and industry, particularly around health innovation and digital technology.

"The site at Gasworks Street is perfectly placed for investment by a business who could really capitalise on this crucial connection.

"At present, the site isn't allocated for development for sports and leisure.

"In the meantime, any application put forward to develop a brand new stadium – at Gasworks Street or any other location – would need to follow our usual planning process, and we would consider these plans in detail at the point an application was submitted."

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