The Regeneration Show
Join us as we travel around the district talking to residents and businesses about the future of our city and towns.
With episodes covering everything from regeneration for the next generation, to discovering how sustainable drainage is adding splashes of colour to our urban landscapes.
We’ll be looking at how regeneration improves lives and shapes communities, as well as bringing you updates on all the key projects happening across the district.
Can't wait for the next episode? Stay up to date with the latest news direct to your inbox by subscribing to the regeneration e-newsletter.
Series 2
Episode 5 - Who foots the bill for all of these projects
On this edition of the Regeneration Show, find out how we fund our projects and why we can't use that money for anything else. Find out how we decide on what projects to pay for, and who gets the final say.
Episode 4 – Regenerating our market town legacies
In this episode, we look at how a recent £6.4m investment into the district’s markets has already started producing returns. With trader numbers up, increased footfall and reported business growth, we’re talking to shoppers, visitors and market traders to find out what they think of the improvement works carried out by Wakefield Council.
Episode 3 - Regeneration and The Green Transformation
Listen as we talk about the importance of green spaces in towns and cities, find out why trees are much more than just ornamental, and learn how volunteering can lead to expanding your social circle and making new friends.
Episode 2 - Human regeneration
Regeneration isn’t just about buildings and cities, or improving public spaces - there is also a very human side to regeneration. In this next episode, we are looking at ‘Human Regeneration’ and hearing some incredible stories from people who transformed their lives with help from Wakefield Council.
Episode 1 - Regeneration for the next generation
Want to know more about the regeneration work the Council are doing and what the people of Wakefield think about it? Listen to the younger generation share their thoughts on regeneration, what it means to them and the future of the district.
Series 1
Episode 6
As we draw our first series to a close, learn what the difference is between "hard" and "soft" regeneration, get the latest on projects to create a District for Tomorrow and get an insider’s guide to the great line-up of events and things to do in the Wakefield district this summer and throughout the rest of 2023.
Projects across the district - 00:00
Arts, culture and events - 14:19
Episode 5
Get the inside scoop on how sites are chosen to create new housing, how developments are funded and what goes on behind the scenes. In this episode, we discuss affordable housing and the support available to those living in the private rental sector.
Housing projects in the pipeline - 00:00
How new sites are chosen - 15:42
Creating affordable housing - 25:21
Support available for residents - 32:57
Episode 4
Explore Tileyard North, bringing creative industries, careers and new events spaces to Wakefield's doorstep, just a stone’s throw from the city centre. Creative businesses are relocating from other cities to the newest and largest creative hub outside London, including the record label behind Jive Bunny – could they be making a comeback this year? This is just the beginning - find out what more is to come.
Episode 3
Paul Gwilliam, a restoration specialist from Wakefield Council; Richard Butterfield from Historic England; and Anne Lockwood, a business owner on Silver Street in the city centre, talk about the history of Westgate and how the Heritage Action Zone will help conserve the history of one of the city's main medieval routes.
Heritage Action Zone - 00:00
Transforming Wakefield into a culturally vibrant city - 23:29
Episode 2
Listen to how we're encouraging more start-ups to take their businesses to the markets. City centre plans have been announced for the Wakefield Exchange (former Market Hall) to be transformed into a major events venue by 2024. Additionally, we talk to Unlimited, an artist group that's offering grants to Wakefield-based disabled artists, and the Castleford Heritage Trust talks about renovating Queens Mill to provide entrepreneurs with much-needed space.
Rediscovering Castleford - 00:00
Creating markets for the future - 09:15
Wakefield Exchange - 21:34
Episode 1
Mark Lynam, Wakefield Council's Corporate Director for Regeneration and Economic Growth; Kevin Trickett, Interim Chair of Wakefield High Street Task Force; and Jan Lawrence, owner of Skinworx Tattoos in Knottingley, discuss the plans for the site of the Old Westgate railway station in Wakefield city centre, the district's first Street for People at Horsefair in Pontefract and the success of the Shop Improvement Grant scheme in Knottingley.
Old Westgate railway station - 00:00
Horsefair Street for People - 09:10
Knottingley Shop Improvement Grants - 13:47