Priority Five: Support thriving places

West Yorkshire’s Spatial Priority Areas (SPAs) are being developed in a holistic way to leverage investment, create jobs and provide homes, all aligned to transport priorities. The focus is on building inclusive communities that mix affordable housing, skilled job opportunities, cultural assets, green spaces and great connectivity. In our town and city centres, we are prioritising the re-use of brownfield land in sustainable locations to unlock private sector investment and deliver for the benefit of our residential and business communities and to invest in our learning facilities and in heritage assets.

Place-based models are being developed with a view to accelerating delivery, crowding in private capital and building new partnerships that drive growth.

The SPAs represent the largest and or most strategic growth opportunities in West Yorkshire. Delivering the outcomes we need in these places requires coordinated infrastructure investment across broad areas and complex networks of sites.

The SPAs include opportunities to transform housing and employment, tackle environmental challenges, restore nature and build resilience into places. They are identified based on the scale of the opportunity they offer. They include urban centres with nationally significant regeneration and renewal opportunities, as well as future growth locations where there is potential for transformational change at scale.

Flagship projects

• Bradford City Village
• Bradford Southern Gateway
• Clifton Business Park
• Dewsbury Riverside
• New Garden Communities (Kirklees and Calderdale)
• Huddersfield Station to Stadium
• Langthwaite Business Park
• Leeds Innovation Arc
• Leeds Transformational Regeneration Partnership (including the Heart of Holbeck)
• Woodhouse and Thornhills Garden Village Wakefield Strategic Regeneration Partnership (city centre)

Good quality housing in places that people want to live, connected to the opportunities needed to thrive, is fundamental to inclusive growth. Housing is increasingly unaffordable in West Yorkshire, restricting access to highly paid jobs. The average rent in Leeds rose by 13 percent between 2021 and 2022. Average house prices are approaching nine times the average salary (up from seven times the average salary in 2018).

Housing opportunities need to be matched with public transport accessibility to benefit from agglomeration effects. Scale, density and tenure need to reflect need, demand and land availability. There is very little ‘gentle density’ or ‘missing middle’ housing, including family homes and townhouses, within key sites in and on the edge of our cities and towns. This challenges the ability to accommodate a growing population in the most sustainable central locations. Viability remains a challenge and flexible funding is required to accelerate and unlock brownfield sites to support the delivery of the houses needed in these sustainable locations.

Across West Yorkshire, housing is being delivered at pace and at scale. In Leeds, over 17,000 new homes have been built over the last five years, including the highest number of affordable homes of any core city. Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and standard method will increase the targets for overall housing delivery by 15 percent in West Yorkshire. This means 11,000 homes every year. Affordable housing is a key priority, with a commitment to deliver 5,000 affordable homes by 2028. The Combined Authority’s Strategic Place Partnership with Homes England has identified priority areas for development, with the capacity to deliver over 40,000 homes by 2040. The Combined Authority is well placed to drive delivery, building on our experience to date in delivering brownfield housing programmes and our strong partner relationships.

It is not just about new homes – there are over 680,000 homes in West Yorkshire that need retrofitting. Home Energy West Yorkshire has a vision that everyone in West Yorkshire will be able to live in a warm, comfortable and low-carbon home. People will be helped to upgrade their homes and save money on their energy bills. A retrofitting programme with housing associations will retrofit social housing stock with energy-saving measures including solar panels. This will open up opportunities for businesses in the green economy and skills development, supporting a just transition.
 

West Yorkshire Housing Strategy

The West Yorkshire Housing Strategy sets out four core objectives to boost the supply of homes in the right places, increase the provision of truly affordable housing, improve the quality of existing homes and create resilient places that support the wellbeing of residents. The document sets out a strategic direction for housing delivery and improvement as part of a long-term framework to 2040

It is crucial to work with national government, local authorities and the private sector to deliver high quality digital connections across all districts, so that benefits are equally realised. A ‘smart cities’ approach to delivering public services based on digital infrastructure, following the lead of Leeds as a Digital City, will unlock innovation and improve digital quality of life.

The West Yorkshire Digital Blueprint sets out an ambition to empower residents and organisations to embrace the hybrid-digital era and thrive in a hyperconnected world, where seamless connectivity fuels informed decision-making and unlocks a world of possibilities. Delivery of the Digital Blueprint priorities will realise ambitions for a successful digital infrastructure roll-out.

Extending gigabit-capable broadband to all homes and businesses will attract skills and talent to the region, particularly to more rural areas such as Calderdale. It will open up more opportunities for jobs, skills and culture and allow people to better connect with each other and the wider world. Improving wireless coverage between and within premises will support commuter experience, remote work, Industry 4.0 and telehealth access.

High-speed connections are also a prerequisite for emerging technologies that rely on cloud computing, large datasets and machine learning. Robust digital connectivity will therefore be a catalyst for all work to drive growth.
 

Achieving the transition to net zero requires significant transformation across West Yorkshire, which in turn offers growth opportunities. Local Area Energy Plans are underway across the whole region, starting in Calderdale, to ensure effective planning that drives investment in infrastructure.

West Yorkshire’s energy needs will be met in a sustainable way. Businesses will be linked to clean energy networks, ensuring that they have the power they need. We are already working with businesses to decarbonise and adapt to the changing climate.

A low carbon economy will be driven by investing in clean energy infrastructure, greening the electricity network and expanding hydrogen production. A new Strategic Climate and Environment Partnership, a Climate Fund and the 2025 Climate and Environment Plan will guide this work. This will include building on the findings of a hydrogen use case study to explore opportunities with private sector and government stakeholders for hydrogen deployment to support heat decarbonisation.

Living with a changing climate requires resilient places that are able to adapt. This includes improving the flood and climate resilience of homes, businesses and infrastructure alongside nature-based solutions.

The Combined Authority’s emerging Local Nature Recovery Strategy will set out plans to increase biodiversity, enhance green spaces and lead a reversal in species decline. This will support the roll-out of the White Rose Forest Action Plan and the delivery of Biodiversity Net Gain, which will make the region a more attractive location for businesses and investors.

Climate resilience plays a strong role in delivering growth by giving businesses the confidence to remain located in vulnerable areas and grow their businesses sustainably. It also enables competition for new inward investment – this will become a key consideration for businesses in the coming years, as the climate changes and navigating extreme weather events becomes a regular challenge.

Healthy and happy populations need culture, creativity, heritage, sport and physical activity[1]. They have a critical role in place-shaping and in attracting or retaining workers and residents. Investment of £11.5 million since 2021 has helped secure over £300 million in public funding. Multi-partnership work with Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Yorkshire Sport Foundation and Sport England, The Football Foundation, Historic England, local authorities and other stakeholders supports co-design and delivery.

The development of national assets like the British Library North as a catalyst for wider regeneration in Temple district of Leeds Southbank, the National Poetry Centre, the Royal Armouries Museum and Brit School North will brilliantly compliment The Piece Hall and other cultural and creative organisations. Opportunities like Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture 2025 will provide a lasting legacy across the whole of the region. Beyond 2025, we will develop thematic approaches to culture, heritage and sport moments that highlight what makes West Yorkshire unique – such as being home to the world’s first nature reserve as well as featuring in the oldest surviving piece of film.

UK City of Culture

Bradford is the UK City of Culture 2025, a once-in-a-generation place-changing event. It is estimated to contribute £389 million in GVA and around 7,000 new jobs, as well as creating a community of nearly 4,000 volunteers. The city expects to welcome over 15 million visitors and provide skills and training for 6,000 adults and 40,000 children.

The Local Visitor Economy Partnership will work to increase tourism to the region, including screen-based tourism. This will build on existing strengths and a successful track record of cinema and TV filming in areas such as Calderdale to drive investment and attract visitors. Successful promotion of places will generate employment and income and will boost positive perceptions of the region nationally and internationally.

Working collectively with combined authorities across the North of England and stakeholders such as BBC, Channel 4 and Arts Council England will enable creative industries to unleash their economic potential through One Creative North. Further opportunity could be unlocked from a 5,000-plus capacity sports and entertainment arena. This opportunity is being actively pursued with public sector profit share being reinvested in grassroots sports facilities.

Everyone in West Yorkshire must have equitable access to culture, heritage and sport opportunities. This includes making sure children can enjoy sports and arts programmes. We will work with partners to ensure everyone can fulfil their potential, especially those who are currently economically inactive or living with disability. The Combined Authority has seen some early successes – the first cohort of its Create Growth programme achieved a 43 percent female founder rate, while the second cohort has a 48 percent female participation rate, with 12 out of 25 participants being women. The goal is for 25 percent of businesses involved to secure investment, which in turn should foster opportunities for female founders.

Places cannot thrive unless everyone feels safe and included. A safe environment boosts economic growth by encouraging investment and by attracting and retaining people in the region. We must prioritise the safety of all people to participate in the growth opportunities our region has to offer.

West Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Plan has a vision for a safe, just and inclusive region. This includes a commitment to prioritise the safety of women and girls and protect communities with a plan to reduce serious violence and knife crime.  A refreshed plan will set out key priorities for supporting the people and places of West Yorkshire.