The central Queensgate Market is to change to a food hall as part of the massive cultural heart project

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There are fears that some long established traders with stalls in Huddersfield's Queensgate Market are getting ready to quit rather than be forced out as part of plans for the £210m "cultural heart" that will re-imagine the town centre.

Kirklees Council wants to turn the market hall into a food hall as part of the project, which will see the 1970s piazza shopping centre demolished and turned into a new cultural core including a new museum, art gallery, library and events venue.

The council has previously said it wants to consolidate its market offer across town at Brook Street, site of the Open Market. As that project gets underway, and as a temporary measure, market traders will be "decanted" and offered alternative space in vacant shops or metal shipping containers.

Read more:Huddersfield's cultural heart could be finished by 2026 as new model shows how town centre will look

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that some traders have already privately decided not to stay in Huddersfield and are exploring how much compensation they will receive if they decide to leave or cease trading altogether.

Traders were reluctant to speak about the issue. They said they would await the outcome of a meeting next week with the council but did express concern about wishing to remain central and the vagueness of timescales.

The LDRS put the following questions to Kirklees Council:

For the council Clr Eric Firth, the Cabinet Member for Town Centres, said the authority is "working together with all the traders in Queensgate Market and are currently negotiating with those traders based on proposals they have submitted to the council.

"Those proposals will be discussed by Cabinet at the beginning of July and, if agreed, we will then be in a position to confirm the future market provision in Huddersfield." The council is expected to make an announcement about its market plan "mid next week".

Clr Bernard McGuin (Con, Almondbury) says 18 stallholders are needed to make a move to a hybrid site viable. After speaking with traders he said there were concerns that the scheme was "not workable" and that there was a lack of interest from people in taking up the offer to move. On that basis traders have been offered a compensation package.

He said: "The long-term plan was to move everything down to the Open Market but a lot don't want to do that. The majority are going to take the money and run because the council have not guaranteed them a future. The temporary solution wasn't worth the risk.

"Traders are just being forgotten about. The council isn't thinking about the people that have been there for years in the market. It's all about the cultural heart."

Some of those concerns were echoed by senior Green Clr Andrew Cooper, whose Newsome ward includes the town centre and cultural heart project.

He said: "Of course I am pleased the council is making progress with the cultural heart but we do need to know what is going to happen to stores like Boots and WH Smiths that are going to be displaced by the council's plans. If these businesses are lost to the town it will be a major blow and the council has a responsibility to be proactive in keeping them here. It should be an integral part of plan.

"At least as important is ensuring we keep those distinctive locally-owned independent businesses that are currently in the market and we need transparency from the council over what is being done to support them and keep them in the town as well. Yes, the town needs a cultural heart but it also needs to show that it's using its head as well."

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