Kevin: Everybody agreed that the town centre was a missed opportunity. The bridge is a shining example. Cutsyke play area is an example of people doing things way beyond their comfort zone. The Wilson Street designers got sacked and community transformed it without them, but actually it’s done a great deal for the community – I take my hat off to them. I think they could have worked harder to find a designer or architect, but design isn’t always the key.
There was a project parachuted in by English Partnerships, but there was little community involvement. They didn’t feel galvanised, so there was no incentive for the community to get involved. A £1 million play centre and garden came but they weren’t interested – the community don’t want it or look after it. No kids play on it. It’s like a ghost project. English Partnerships, to be fair to them, have learnt a lot – community consultation isn’t something that councils do or regeneration agencies generally do as part of a scheme.
The big change has been in the attitude not just of the community, but of the regeneration agencies and councils. You don’t just involve the community, you empower them. You give them the money, you help them, you let them drive it and push it. You need people with passion to drive projects. Can councils be clients? Not really. Do they have the passion or commitment? One or two individuals might do, but what drives a project is one or two individuals who put their necks on the line. Not many local authority directors do that - but when they do, you get great results.
Kevin: The big challenge now is to see if the big money comes in. It has been said that money is going to be put into the town centre, and there’s going to be a big cultural forum in the town. The town centre’s design has resulted in a bland makeover – everyone was hoping it would be a bit more like Barcelona or the Birmingham Bullring. It was a chance to do something amazing and it isn’t yet – that’s a missed opportunity. But the cultural forum will be great. The bridge is iconic – someone said it wasn’t right. But it is. It’ll be interesting to see what the bridge brings in terms of investment.
Kevin: I would hope, and I think the series walks towards this, we would all have a much more socially sustainable life, in which where we live matters to us; where the community matters to us; where we know many more neighbours than we currently do; where our social life and enjoyment of a place are based around the streets and parks locally. It doesn’t sound like a great vision but one of the problems we have in this country is a feeling of dislocation. An attachment to place usually means somewhere pretty rather than somewhere meaningful. I would hope for a much stronger sense of meaning. A distinctive place. You find that strong tribal attachment in football teams. In some places you find it – the people of Castleford are strongly attached to their town and now they feel proud of it.
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