| About Kirklees |
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| Written by Administrator | |
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Kirklees is a metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire. It has a population of 390,000 and includes Batley, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Holmfirth, Huddersfield and Meltham. The borough is the most populated borough or district in England not to have city status. In an unofficial referendum held by the local media, the town's population did not support city status, and the council did not apply for that status in either the 2000 or 2002 competitions. The borough was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, in 1974, by a merger of the county boroughs of Dewsbury and Huddersfield along with the municipal boroughs of Batley and Spenborough and the urban districts of Colne Valley, Denby Dale, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Kirkburton, Meltham and Mirfield. The combination of the two county boroughs resulted in a borough with no clear centre. Local MP Graham Riddick campaigned in the early 1990s for it to be split into two [1] [2], but no changes to metropolitan boroughs were made under the reform of local government taking place at the time. One attraction in Kirklees is Kirklees light railway. The border of Kirklees borough with Derbyshire (High Peak district) runs across the summit of the significant hill named Black Hill. Most of Kirklees consists of old mill towns although there are a few country villages, such as Denby Dale and Emley. One of the last remaining collieries in West Yorkshire is at Scissett (the other at Kellingley); the mine was so small that it was never nationalised and has always been in private hands. Some parts of Kirklees suffer from high levels of deprivation, such as the east end of Huddersfield, around Dalton and Deighton, and also large areas of Dewsbury and Batley – two towns which have been made into a special E.U. transformation area to address their problems | |
