"Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan" - Programme on the regeneration of Castleford 9pm Tonight, Channel 4

[Val Verde]

Programme on Channel 4 tonight which should be interesting for people on this forum considering it is about an outlying town in the Leeds Metro Area. Found this posted by Potto on the Transport and Planning Subforum:

Originally Posted by potto

Monday 11th August 9pm Channel 4 - Kevin McCloud And The Big Town Plan

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv...06-23_p_1.html

Regeneration and design consultants teamed up with the citizens of Castleford to help them plan their town's future. Each project featured a small working group led by a local representative. The project is now close to completion with 10 out of the 11 schemes either finished or well underway.

The most ambitious of the schemes is the new S-shaped pedestrian bridge over the River Aire. This is due for completion summer 2008 at a cost of £4.8 million. It will provide a safe, stylish crossing for those living on the north side of the river, and open up the previously-neglected riverside to potential investors, with possible transformation into a leisure and recreation area.

Other achievements include a town centre gallery and exhibition space, a new village green in New Fryston, and the creation of a play forest in Cutsyke. The outdoor market in the town centre has been expanded and relocated to a more accessible site, and a new town square was officially opened last May. The first phase of community park improvements at The Green, Ferry Fryson is complete, and the park has already won a prestigious Green Flag award.

So this long in development programme formerly known as "The Castleford Project" is finally being broadcast tonight. Should be an interesting watch and it would be interesting to see whether the improvements they have made for Castleford genuinely improve this former mining town such as the very good efforts at constructing a new pedestrian bridge which does look very nice and the creation of new green spaces or if they have a limited impact such as that refurbishment of Castleford High Street which has resulted in rotating chairs or that ridiculous imo sculpture made from a load of milk bottle crates. Also what about stuff such as new job opportunities, transport links (especially the long mooted bus / rail interchange which really should be constructed sooner rather than later) and giving the town centre more retail and leisure opportunities then at present although competition from the nearby XScape / Freeport would surely make that difficult.

I wonder if it would make mention of anything within Leeds itself considering it's close proximity and reflect on the challenges faced on all regeneration schemes in light of the credit crunch and economic downturn in light of securing funding, new job opportunities etc? Still it should be an interesting programme to watch tonight which Im sure will create discussion on this message board.

[Val Verde]

It's on now if anyone wants to watch it.

[bazzup]

That was really inspiring. Proves what so many of us on here believe - good design can make life better.

[Val Verde]

Originally Posted by bazzup

That was really inspiring. Proves what so many of us on here believe - good design can make life better.

image hosted on flickr


Thanks it certainly is an interesting programme and it is one very nice bridge. Questions must be asked into just how long it had taken to get the land acquired for this scheme and couldn't they have used common sense to dictate that floating bridge which was initally proposed would certainly have been a bad idea especially with the risk of boats crashing into it and wouldn't the fast currents have affected the integrity of the structure anyway. Also as an alternative idea couldn't they have converted the present and rather attractive existing road bridge into a pedestrian and cycle only bridge while building a new road bridge to the east perhaps (and hence allowing that road to skirt around that residential area and possibly improve the living conditions further on that island)?

image hosted on flickr


Also how popular has the bridge proved to be since it had opened as I don't want to cast an overtly critical view but there hasn't been any problems perhaps with this bridge been used by street drinkers or juveniles as a congregation point which could be a potential problem in discouraging people from using the bridge through possible intimidation especially as it has seating running along its length and as it is relatively narrow? Is it covered by CCTV?

Still it will be very interesting to see how this series pans out however surely it could have mentioned whilst making no impact on the town centre there has of course been construction of large warehouses by the M62 as well as lots of new Barratt style housing around the town (primarily as Castleford is certainly seen as a commuter destination for Leeds) as well as developments such as XScape and Freeport at Glasshoughton which have certainly have had an impact on Castleford. Also it is all well having a new bridge but there should certainly be improvement regarding developments along the Castleford riverside as well as new job opportunites elsewhere in the town would be needed to genuinely improve Castleford although there are still further parts of the series yet which could address my points.

[tigerman]

As a Cas lad I feel compelled to comment. Firstly I thought it was a good and entertaining programme with plenty to make you think and the bridge is very good - and secondly I am all for anything that brings investment into the town and would praise all concerned for their efforts.

However I was less impressed with the hyperbole of the commentary - all this 'Cas is dead or dying' or 'if this does not work the town will wither away' is complete rubbish. Cas is no worse or better than thousands of communities across the country who have been hard hit by the loss of heavy industry - all these places have had to adapt (some better than others) but exactly where have any of these actually completely collapsed?

Like Val Verde I was also amazed that the real regeneration going on in Cas at Glass Houghton was totally ignored as it did not fit in with C4's agenda. At present the new college / new asda / new link road are all u/c to add to whats already been done and (fingers crossed) the new stadium is not too far away - all this bringing thousands of jobs.

In total these C4 schemes are reported to have cost £11m and I cant help but feel it could have been better spent. For instance there are plans for a replacement library/museum called 'The Forum' - the design looks stunning and would give people a reason to visit the town center - they could have put their money into that and followed that scheme through.

Lastly I would also challenge this assertion that this has all been community led. Yes there was supposed consultation but how much say did the 35000 people who live nowhere near the town center actually get before or after the council decided to build the bridge for the benefit of the 3000 who live in Lock Lane.

Lets hope that council leader who got his photo oppertunity really does try to use the bridge to regenerate the riverside - we have seen no such proposals yet.

[Leeds No.1]

I was suprised that Glasshoughton didn't get a mention too. Castleford would benefit alot from better rail links- I think the line is a contender for tram-train after the Harrogate line.

I also wasn't aware that 'Cas' was an abbreviation for Castleford...

[Baranelo]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

I also wasn't aware that 'Cas' was an abbreviation for Castleford...

good old "cas vegas", and neighbouring "ponte carlo".

[tigerman]

I also wasn't aware that 'Cas' was an abbreviation for Castleford...

Its what the locals use to confuse the loiners.

I am suprised though that you did not know that - I think it must have started because of the rugby team being refered to as 'Cas' - but everybody I know and not just locals all use it.

[Leeds No.1]

Well I'm not really local to Castleford...

Cas Vegas and Ponte Carlo lol- like it. Haven't been to the centre of Castleford (only Glasshoughton), but I have been to Pontefract. Surely the locals aren't exactly selling the place using those names?! Pontefract has some nice bits; the centre isn't that bad. Can think of worse.

[yayight]

I live in Cas as well and i went for a walk to see the new bridge this morning after watching the show on Monday.

I think the bridge is very good, great design and good views over looking the weir.

Down side is the embankments are a mess, which as its cost 3.2 million +to build the bridge its a shame when all you can see our shopping trolleys and rubbish in the river and then over grown weeds on the side.

Also my confidence in our society aint high and i can see the bridge which has a wood finish being ruined by chavs and low lifes.

[Leeds No.1]

I hope it isn't, although unfortunately you're probably right. The programme really only focussed on the bridge though- what other projects are there that are aiming to improve Castleford? Not at Glasshoughton but in the centre.

The plan to electrify routes east of Leeds doesn't include Castleford, but it would be good if it could.

[tigerman]

Well 2 of the other C4 schemes are in the centre so you will see them on the programme but they dont really amount to that much IMO.

Other schemes planned include the Forum, which I mentioned previously and is the redevelopement of the Library (including a museum/learning center etc) which is right on the main street and the new transport interchange - but both of these have been talked about for years.

A developer (sorry cant remember who) was also supposed to be on board with regard to other town centre sites. At first they proposed a hotel - dropped after a few months - then a multi-storey car park in probably the worst location you could pick - which I think has been quitely dropped - and finally they were proposing redevelopement to provide a major supermarket and new shops - of which nothing has been heard for about 6/12 months.

There are also proposals for the 2 chemical plant sites close to the centre
which are basically housing estates although they both do open up large stretches of the river - but nobodys going to be building houses for a while now.

So there are some proposals and some are good but they all depend on council money so who knows if any will actually get built.

[Leeds No.1]

Surely they could expand the town through office parks and distribution centres with it's proximity to motorways. Not good for Leeds, but in the interests of Castleford... It's cheap land, brings in the money initially- I suppose in a similar way to the M4 corridor. Using that as a model.

[cmj]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

Surely they could expand the town through office parks and distribution centres with it's proximity to motorways. Not good for Leeds, but in the interests of Castleford... It's cheap land, brings in the money initially- I suppose in a similar way to the M4 corridor. Using that as a model.

Castleford - the Swindon of the north

It is, as you say, pretty well connected. Motorway wise, it's on the M62 and the A1 and there is a rail line that will get you to Leeds, Wakefield, Pontefract or York (Castleford is on the 'backup' Leeds-York line, but I dont think there are any trains that stop there on that route).

I'm not sure that putting distribution centres out there is necessarily bad for Leeds in itself. If you have big distribution centres in the city you get the traffic problem and the land could probably be used for other things more easily.

I've never been a big fan of out-of-town office parks, mainly because often the only way to get to them is to drive and I think as a country we do need to try to reduce car "dependance". You could put them near the station, but then compared to Leeds there's only a limited number of places you can get to Castleford from, without changing in Leeds.

Improving Castleford (or any of the nearby towns) would probably be good for Leeds - more money in the area, more is likely to be spent in Leeds.

[Baranelo]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

Surely they could expand the town through office parks and distribution centres with it's proximity to motorways. Not good for Leeds, but in the interests of Castleford... It's cheap land, brings in the money initially- I suppose in a similar way to the M4 corridor. Using that as a model.

Wakefield europort is close by, lots of distribution stuff around the area already.

[Leeds No.1]

I'm not really a fan of out of town office parks and that either. But in the end, the economically regenerate areas so... it's just a realistic example of how Castleford could spark up it's economy. Xscape and Freeport have surely been good for Castleford though, even if they are on the outskirts.

[di Livio]

I thought the programme was too long, getting quite tedious towards the end, but the bridge was a (costly) triumph. Benedetti came across like a complete no-hoper with his floating bridge debacle, but by gad he proved me wrong in the end.
I agree, there was too much 'Cas is doomed' rhetoric surrounding the programme. In one of the listings mags even said Leeds' prosperity was hurting Castleford...what, by turning it into a leisure destination for Leeds?

[Val Verde]

Just a reminder that part two of four of Kevin McCloud and the Big Town Plan is on tonight at 9pm on Channel 4 and this week the focus appears to be on the rejuvenation of three green spaces in what The Times newspaper TV listings claim as "some of the most neglected neighbourhoods in Castleford, West Yorkshire".

Still like last weeks episode it should be an interesting watch although I guess it would probably ignore the main attributes Cas has such as proximity to Leeds, motorway and rail links, and developments on the outskirts such as XScape, Freeport and numerous warehouses around the borough.

[Leeds No.1]

I wonder how many times Kevin McCloud will say 'failing town'.

[Val Verde]

Did anyone else watch Big Town Plan last night?

Was a very interesting watch and it was interesting to see the actual end results of the potential misuse of such spaces. This programme said a lot that you must always know your target audience in how to make a green space that is successful and is not a white elephant as that Martha Schwartz scheme certainly appeared to be (and what was with those three rocks which were stood on top of each other) as it certainly looked like something from Chernobyl considering that it appeared to have been used by nobody and was overgrown (as it did genuinely appear abandoned as it appeared to be like a no mans land) and full of dog mess. Still it seems that you must have decent security to ensure that public spaces aren't trashed as evident by the use of a residents committee to ensure that vandalism at the scheme at The Green is reduced and at Cutsyke the closing of the site a nights whilst limiting of public access it did clearly prevent vandalism and having access through high gates does look rather ugly imo although I guess it helped prevent vandalism.

Liked the Green scheme best although it really should have been designed to have been vandal resistant and have better security from the outset as it was so clearly wrecked especially considering the misuse by chavs such as during the Bonfire Night season of October / November by lighting fireworks and casual daubing of graffiti tags on the playground rides and other parts of the new park.

Going back to the Martha Schwartz scheme to revitalise New Fryston wouldn't it do so much better to revitalise that place by providing improved transport and after that encourage new employers to open there would be a better thing to do prior to improving the green spaces which whilst it is a good thing would surely need to have the infrastructure and employment.

Appears next weeks programme will be about the regeneration of the town centre itself. Also here are some pictures of the new green space amongst other stuff in Castleford for those who didn't watch Big Town Plan: http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv...08-05_p_1.html