Castleford Regeneration The Big Town Plan: The Footbridge

Date Published:

30/07/2008

Five years ago, the banks of the River Aire in Castleford were overgrown and dirty, a magnet for rubbish and vermin, and the people living on the north side of the river had to negotiate an increasingly busy road bridge to get to the town centre.

Today a stunning new pedestrian bridge snakes its way stylishly along the contours of the old weir right in the heart of Castleford.

With its picturesque bay now fit for fishermen and children for the first time in generations and the rundown riverside opened up for new development, the bridge has become both a focal point for the community and a catalyst for the town's regeneration.

Funded by Wakefield Council, Yorkshire Forward and English Partnerships, the £4.8m footbridge was the most ambitious of the regeneration schemes in Kevin McCloud's Big Town Plan.

'There was already lots of new investment out of town, including the leisure complex and indoor ski slope at Glasshoughton, but it was important that the town centre benefited too,' says local MP Yvette Cooper. 'Business won't invest where the workforce don’t want to live. The riverside and bridge have made it a good place to live.'

Whilst the council, regeneration agencies and big business play a vital role, a huge amount of the town's regeneration is being delivered by locals with a passion for their community. Locals like 65 year old grandmother Wendy Rayner who has become a tireless campaigner for the improvement of the riverside. Born and bred on the north side of the river, Wendy now lives just the width of the road away from the new bridge.

'It's only a ten minute walk to the road bridge but over the years it's got busier and as there is only one pavement, when people went along it with prams and buggies it was almost impossible,' says Wendy.

'We already had a community group but we didn't really know how to go about getting anything done. When the council said they wanted communities to get involved in regeneration projects our ears pricked up. There was a meeting in a local pub about the possibility of having a footbridge over the river. The man just looked at me and said: "You'll get involved won't you?"'

Wendy has been involved in every single meeting about the bridge since and travelled all over the country - London to see the lighting system, Gloucestershire to see the timber and Wales to where the giant steel structure was being made. 'I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed it but I have been stressed out a bit, especially after the meetings. But you’re not going to sit back and let them win, are you? I am 65 years old and whilst I’ve got my brain and my mouth, I’ll keep going.'