Wakefield Council have adopted the masterplan for the £750m regeneration of Castleford’s riverside, the authority’s Chief Executive confirmed at our Transforming West Yorkshire Conference in Leeds. Merran McRae told delegates that the council had rubberstamped the blueprint for the Aire River Growth Corridor (ARGC) in the borough’s second biggest centre.

The 230 ha of former industrialised land, which runs along the river Aire and covers two former collieries and two redundant chemical plants, has been designated as a housing zone by the Government.

The masterplan envisages 4,500 homes will be developed in the corridor as well as hotel, shops, business space and community facilities. Housebuilder Greenhaven has already secured permission for 1,200 units, 400 of which have already been completed, on the former Lambsons chemical works, she said.

In addition, C6 Solutions has planning permission for 1,400 units and Kier Homes is under way on 150 units of the former Fryston colliery as McRae said: ‘’The area is starting to come alive, it’s not just a masterplan.’’

David Frohnsdorff, Director of Castleford Riverside Regeneration (CRC) that is regenerating part of the ARGC, said removing the 600 tonnes of highly toxic material from the site had taken three years. Now CRC, which have received outline planning permission for 1,400 homes a month ago, will now look for contractors and housebuilders to help take the site forward on a joint venture basis.

The scheme’s plus points include its location in the middle of the housing zone, its flat waterfront site and proximity to Castleford town centre.

McRae also told the event that the creators of Europe’s biggest music production hub are planning a north of England outpost in Wakefield, with developers City & Provincial Properties keen to create a northern version of their Tileyard Studios in the Rutland Mills regeneration are in Wakefield’s Kirkgate area.

More than 1,200 music professionals work at the Tileyard, located in King’s Cross, making it the largest music create hub in Europe. The proximity to the mills of the nearby Hepworth museum on the waterfront ‘would help to attract musicians to the studios’ according to McRae.

Katie Tonkinson, a partner at City & Provincial’s architects for the project Hawkins Brown, said planning and listed building consent had been secured in April for the scheme to regenerate the mills, which will involve refurbishing six and demolishing three of the site’s historic buildings.

The 130,000 sq ft project will retain 80% of the mills’ existing floorspace, with the potential to generate 800 new jobs in the city. As well as the music studios plans outlined highlight a new boutique hotel, office and college accommodation on site.

Representing the nearby West Yorkshire borough of Calderdale was the Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economy, Barry Collins, would said the authority would be submitting the final version of its local plan for Government by the end of last week.

He said the council’s plans included the conversion of its former offices at Northgate House in Halifax into a mix of a sixth form college, business space and apartments. Bringing college uses into the refurbished block would attract 800 – 1000 students into Halifax town centre on a daily basis in a real boost for the local economy.

Collins said that infrastructure improvements in the borough included a new Halifax to Elland bridge across the Calder and Hebble canal as part of a project to upgrade the A629 into a dual carriageway. Halifax’s railway station will also see the reopening of a tunnel to the neighbouring Nestle factory, which makes Quality Street chocolates, to make it easier for its workers to commute to the site.

Ummar Hannif, Yorkshire and North East Regional Manager for Capital Investment at the Department for International Trade, said that he is currently assessing 70 projects across the Northern Powerhouse area for potential inclusion in its pitchbook of property development opportunities.

These include the Axiom Regional Shopping Centre, a £400m project for 75 shops, leisure and restaurant units at Junction 32, M62, which is being promoted by Highgrove Group PLC and Lateral Property Group.