Decision on future of Birstall cobbles today

By James Edgar, Yorkshire Evening Post

THE FATE of Birstall’s historic cobbles hangs in the balance today as Kirklees Council meets to decide their future.

Campaigners have fought to save the stone setts from being dug up as part of the regeneration of the market place.

But they recently suffered a setback when they lost their fight to have the stones listed by English Heritage.

Local solicitor Beverley Mottram formed the Birstall Heritage and Conservation group after over 1,000 people signed a petition urging the council to reconsider the plans.

Miss Mottram, who is attending the crucial Cabinet meeting, said: “I expect them just to bulldoze the lot, but if we can get them to reconsider, that would be great.”

The celebrated market place is home to a statue of the 18th-century philosopher and clergyman Joseph Priestley. Born in Birstall, he is credited with identifying oxygen and being a founding father of the United States.

Pressure from the campaigners has forced the council to use the cobbles that are in good condition, about a quarter of them, in the new development. Other new stones would be sourced elsewhere.

If the remaining stones are ripped up but not used in the regeneration project, the conservation group and its supporters want them to be kept in Birstall, rather than being sold on by the council.

According to Miss Mottram, reclaimed stone is in short supply and it has shot up in value in recent years.

The Birstall Heritage and Conservation group proposes that the stones are relocated around the village centre.

The group has recently been granted charitable status, and Miss Mottram presented the council with a copy of the document that established it as a charity, the constitutional trust deed.

She said: “I want them to consider the fact we are now a charity and relocate the stones around the Birstall area.”

The group hopes the council will decide to donate the cobbles, unused kerbstones and unused Yorkshire stone flags to them.

Miss Mottram said: “We would much rather they remained in the market place, of course.”

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/dewsbury-news/Decision-on-future-of-Birstall.3654527.jp