Cuts: Doubts over £16m Piece Hall scheme

Calderdale Council was awarded 239,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in March to draw up blueprints for the 16m transformation of Piece Hall.

Lottery chiefs have approved the development plans, and it is hoped the scheme will help regenerate the town.

If the council's final bid is successful, it could expect to be given a full grant award of 7m.

But the council's deputy leader, Tim Swift, admitted he was concerned that a pledge by the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, to commit between 3m and 3.5m may not be realised.

The agency is due be replaced as part of the Government's shake-up and Coun Swift said there were no guarantees over funding in the future.

Coun Swift, who has been heavily involved with the scheme, said: "As far as we know the HLF money is still there, but it is the future of Yorkshire Forward that is causing us most concern.

"I think that officers will have to look at more modest schemes. At the moment I would say that the original scheme is very much in the balance and I am a long way from being optimistic."

If the bid to the HLF is successful, the earliest work could start is 2012.

The dilapidated Piece Hall is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in Yorkshire. The council hopes to transform it into a vibrant European-style piazza in keeping with the hall's 18th century Italian architecture.