With Marks and Spencer pulling out, some people are claiming that Dewsbury has been deliberately left to fend for itself while all the attention goes on neighbouring Huddersfield. But David Thame finds plenty of others who are prepared to see life in the town's property market yet.
Some sinking ships go down gracefully, others make a horrible spectacle of themselves.
The revelation in August 2007 that Marks & Spencer was to pull out of Dewsbury after a century of trading in the town sparked a bitter row between the town's Labour MP and its Conservative-controlled council which still hasn"t been patched up.
The core of the complaint is that Tory-controlled Kirklees council prefers to put its resources into promoting the developing Huddersfield than into Dewsbury, the borough's second town. According to Dewsbury MP Shahid Malik, the Kirklees town hall bosses have shown "unforgivable neglect" of his town.
With M&S gone, other retailers including Blockbuster either going or already vanished, and employers like the local tax office shutting up shop, the outlook appears bleak.
"The treatment of our town by Kirklees Council is shameful and an insult to local people. They have ensured Huddersfield has two shopping centres, with a third on the way, and yet they cannot support a single shopping centre in Dewsbury," he says.
Add a racial undercurrent to the political storm, combined with a hefty dose of disappointment that long-standing plans to revamp the town centre haven't yet come to much, and the somewhat hysterical state of Dewsbury's political and economic life becomes apparent.
Hopes that M&S can be persuaded to return to the town seem slim: the High Street icon is opening at the nearby White Rose out-of-town shopping centre and a Dewsbury store is now surplus to requirements.
Kirklees council does not accept claims that it treats Dewsbury as second best and points to a series of regeneration initiatives said to total £3150m.
Together with surveyors GVA Grimley they are working on plans for the Ravensthorpe, Savile Town, Scout Hill and Thornhill Lees areas designed to benefit to the whole of Dewsbury by improving job opportunities, transport and the choice of housing available. Masterplans are now being devised for a 15-year programme expected to include modern new business space and a revamp to Ravensthorpe train station.
Councillor Liz Smaje, Kirklees Cabinet member for leisure and neighbourhoods, says: "This is a great opportunity for Dewsbury. Local people have been involved right from the start of this project, which has been vital to its success. Listening to people is important to us to make sure that we get our plans right for each area." This is part of the Dewsbury Housing Market Renewal Project - of more commercial interest are plans for the future of Dewsbury town centre.
The council commissioned consultancy Knight Frank and White Young Green to undertake demand assessments and launch opportunities for developers in March 2007, through a North Kirklees Investment Framework expected to push much of the activity into Dewsbury town centre.
Kirklees says it is working on the feasibility of the Dewsbury Assets scheme to realise major improvements to the Town Hall and Walsh Building and the creation of a Library and Information Centre to ensure that public facilities are better connected and used.
The council is also assisting Dewsbury College on its plans to consolidate its accommodation in Dewsbury on one site, while retaining its presence in Batley.
In addition, PPS is working with Stayton Dewsbury on Dewsbury Retail, a development proposal for a large section of the town centre which will combine new build and conversion of historic property including Pioneer Buildings, to create shops, apartments, hotel, leisure and offices. This £3150m is where the bulk of the interest - and controversy - is now centred.
Stayton Group - a Southern-based developer controlled by 35-year old Robert Stayton - has plans for up to 400,000 sq ft of retail floorspace, along with a vast new multi-storey car park and perhaps as much as another 400,000 sq ft of leisure, apartments, and offices. Retail development, all under a gravity-defying glass dome, will include an indoor park and an eye-catching fountain. There will also be a new bus station for the town.
According to sceptics in the town, the Stayton plan is nothing more than a pipe dream. Progress so far has been slow, there are complaints that uncertainty about the scheme is blighting the hardy retailers who still persevere in Dewsbury and site assembly has a long way to go.
Site assembly is the most tangible problem. Development is planned on a series of sites: Pioneer House; land around Westgate, Bond Street, Grove Street and Daisby Hill, all earmarked for the retail development; and around Church Street where the hotel and car park will sit.
In November 2007 Kirklees Council agreed that because Stayton owned only small parts of the site in addition to Pioneer House it may have to use its compulsory purchase powers if the land required for the development is to be assembled. Stayton welcomed the move.
With the tide now going out on the retail scene, and lenders now far less willing to put up cash for large developments of this kind, the immediate prospects for the scheme have to be bleak.
However, if retail development were to get going in Dewsbury, it could prove a success, says Mark Proudlove, retail agency associate director at DTZ.
"The existing Princess of Wales Shopping Centre gets 110,000 visitors a week and Dewsbury town centre boasts an excellent profile of retailers including Argos, Boots, WH Smith, Burtons and Dorothy Perkins. The town centre provides excellent opportunities for local and regional occupiers, in addition to multiple retailers," he says.
The centre could benefit, however, from stable ownership. Like many second-tier centres it has changed hands frequently as the fortunes of the retail investment business change. In March 2006 Development Securities sold the 26-unit centre for £326.5m, having bought it in 2004 for £320.3m in a deal with Castle Investments.
The remainder of the commercial market is focused on a handful of older buildings in town and a clutch of larger sites out of town.
Out-of-town opportunities include the Mirfield 25 Business Park where landlords Park Crescent are licking their wounds after a planning battle with locals. Proposals for a hotel and car showroom have been dumped and retirement housing has now been suggested as an alternative.
The Bretton Business Park site at Mill Street East, Dewsbury, is the largest brownfield site in Kirklees. A former gas works, it stood derelict for years. Development of small and medium-sized units for rent has been supported by more than £35m of European Union funding. Backing the scheme are Kirklees Council and developers PPG Land and Clugston Estates.
The 25-acre site is intended to see as much as 400,000 sq ft of new business space including one large warehouse unit.
In town attention is focused on Pioneer House, a local landmark under the control of Stayton. A Stayton subsidiary, Pioneer House Apartments, is applying to turn the nineteenth-century building into apartments, offices and shops. Proposals are now making their way through the planning process.
Phillip Dawson, office agency associate director at DTZ says the town has the makings of a decent little office market with low rents its main selling point.
"Dewsbury's position and excellent train links with Leeds and Manchester provide a good alternative to some of Leeds out of town office parks. Small to medium sized firms looking for good value office accommodation with good amenities and public transport would be wise to look at Dewsbury. Rents in Dewsbury are currently less than in Wakefield or Bradford, which could enable rental growth in the near future," he says.
DTZ is marketing Empire House in the town centre, which is currently undergoing a refurbishment program. When complete there will be approximately 12,000 sq ft of office space comprised in a range of office suites of varying sizes. Located in the heart of the town centre and five minutes walk from the train station, Empire House will offer quality offices for Dewsbury.
Down the road at the Victoria Mills Business Park on Mill Street East, Paul Andrews, head of agency at Huddersfield agents Eddisons, is equally confident of attracting tenants rapidly.
The park is the former Bunzl Textile Raw Materials site, which has been redeveloped to form a series of warehouse, workshop and storage units that are being offered to let in flexible sizes ranging from 240 to 94,752 sq ft.
Andrews says: "The site offers easy access to Dewsbury town centre and the regional motorway network and is prominently located on one of the main approach roads into Dewsbury. The rent, from as little as £32 a sq ft, is extremely competitive in comparison to other towns and cities in the region, making Dewsbury a stand-out option for businesses seeking value for money accommodation."