Dear Local Resident,
Thank you for signing the “Do you want to Protect Castle Hill?” 3,724 local residents have now signed the petition.
I am grateful to my Son Robert McGuin who has helped me with this petition and campaign. I handed this petition to Kirklees Council, unfortunately Head of Planning & Development said "As there has been a full planning process and a final decision made to grant planning permission at the site, this issue is no longer with the council but a private matter with the developer on whether they choose to proceed with their development.".
However the good news is that Historic England confirmed it had "yet to receive a Scheduled Monument Consent application from the developer".
As local residents are still signing this petition,I am still keeping the petition active and will send it to Historic England at some point in the future. Please share this petition with your friends via email, Facebook and Twitter if you have not already done so.
Work on a new cafe & visitor centre for Castle Hill is set to begin within 3 years. This is because planning permission was granted by Kirklees Council for the Thandi Brothers about 18 months ago. The Council has now laid down strict instructions on construction.
I will continue to campaign for you and local residents against Kirklees Council allowing the building of a Restaurant/Hotel: the design of which looks more like a “McDonalds” branch in Greenbelt land on Castle Hill.
The destruction of the original pub near 17 years ago was caused by breaking planning law. Now Kirklees Council are allowing the build on a national monument next to the listed historic building Castle Hill. There are consequences for wildlife, parking provisions, road access and local environment if this is allowed to go ahead.
I campaigned for the barrier up at Castle Hill to stop the anti-social behaviour at night such as dogging, noise, fires, fireworks, littering etc. The gate is now up and is closing at night. Feedback from Friends of Castle Hill group has shown that the barrier has reduced considerably the amount litter on the Hill. What will happen to the barrier if the plans go ahead?
P.S No building work can start unless Historic England give scheduled Monument consent. Huddersfield Civic Society described the development as "wholly inappropriate" and are continuing to lobby Historic England. So again please share this petition if you have not done so. It seems with Kirklees Council ploughing ahead, that only Historic England can stop this.
Thank You
Cllr Bernard McGuin - Almondbury Ward Councillor
Facebook: facebook.com/bernard.mcguin Email: b.mcguin@ntlworld.com Website:bernardmcguin.wordpress.com Twitter:twitter.com/terrierfree