Have your say on plans to regenerate Wakefield’s Civic Quarter

Wakefield residents are invited to have their say on proposals to regenerate important historic buildings in Wakefield’s Civic Quarter, and create modern, new-build housing, in a public consultation launching Friday 23^rd July 2021.

Yorkshire-based property developer, Rushbond, is consulting on the draft plans to enhance the Civic Quarter, bringing local landmarks, such as the Crown Courthouse and Old Police Station back into use, alongside new homes and open spaces.

People can find more information about the plans and share their views through the project website www.civicquarter.co.uk. The public consultation will be open for comments between Friday 23^rd July and Thursday 12^th August 2021.

At the centre of the proposals is the regeneration of the area’s historic buildings, with the development providing new contemporary housing with a strong focus on quality design, sustainability and wellbeing. A variety of homes are to be created, from new and converted apartments alongside new mews and town houses.

In addition, there are plans to bring the former Crown Courthouse back into public use as a community space with multiple uses, enabling people to meet, eat and work together.

The Old Police Station will provide some 33 one, two and three-bedroomed apartments, with 9 two-storey mews homes on Gills Yard, 12 three-storey town houses along Rishworth Street with 43 one and two-bedroomed apartments in a new building off Gills Yard, to be known as Gills Place. The proposals also include the conversion of 40a Wood Street into one single town house and the transformation of the Coroners Court Building on Northgate into apartments, potentially available on a serviced basis.

The project will be brought together with extensive landscaping and improvements to the public realm incorporated the draft plans.

The project team supporting Rushbond include the architects ShedKM, landscape designers PlanIt IE and community partner and Wakefield-based The Art House.

Mark Finch, Real Estate Director at Rushbond said:

“We are really excited to share draft plans for the Civic Quarter with a set of proposals which aim to enhance this historic and important part of Wakefield city centre.

“Our aim is for the Civic Quarter to be a neighbourhood that truly makes a difference: providing a range of new homes, to cater for different demands and budgets, and bringing landmark historic buildings back into use, all together creating high quality, sustainable spaces for people to live, work and meet, and adding vibrancy and vitality to Wood Street and the Civic Quarter area of the City Centre.

 “It is particularly important to us that this project is distinctively ‘Wakefield’ and we are really keen to hear what people think of the plans and ideas on how this project can be shaped to the wider benefit of this part of the City.

“We encourage residents, and all those who are interested in the future of the City Centre, to submit feedback on these draft plans, following which we anticipate being able to submit detailed planning applications with a view to bringing the project forward as soon as we can”.

Cllr Darren Byford, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economic Growth and Property commented:

“The transformation of the Civic Quarter is an important part of the Council’s plans to help breathe new life into this part of the city and ensure its stunning buildings are restored and transformed for future generations to enjoy.

“The regeneration and development of this key area of the city centre will offer new housing, community facilities and employment opportunities for our residents.

“These are exciting plans, which will help us to rebuild our district’s economy following the pandemic by bringing more people into the city centre to live, work and visit. They also form part of the emerging Wakefield Masterplan, which is being developed as a vision to shape the future of the city centre, and residents and businesses will have the opportunity to input ideas into the process that will guide future developments and support regeneration plans.”

Photo by David Lindsay, courtesy of The Art House