Wakefield Westgate revamp: Property owners must dig deep to make project work

Wakefield Civic Society hopes its contribution to the Westgate project will have the same kind of effect as a similar scheme on Wood Street.
Westgate, WakefieldWestgate, Wakefield
Westgate, Wakefield

As part of the Westgate project society president Kevin Trickett will write a book on the history of the street’s buildings.

The scheme is a joint effort with Wakefield Historical Society. It's members have spent hundreds of hours on research for the project.

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The book will be similar to one Mr Trickett wrote on the history of Wood Street following a Heritage Lottery Fund scheme in 2016.

It will tie into project’s aim to drum up support and business through looking at heritage.

Mr Trickett said: “It’s all about the regeneration of a place through heritage.

“It worked well in Wood Street. If you look at if before and after that scheme you will see there are more business open.” He said the overall project would require some financial contribution from Westgate property owners for building restorations.

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He said: “It will require property owners to dig deep but there is danger is if we don’t then the money will go elsewhere.

“Let’s get on with it – there is an appetite and an urgency and we to spend that money while it’s available.”

He said the scheme was an opportunity for the city to reinvent itself.

He said: “Big retail has gone online and not coming back, so what do we do?

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Hospitality is strong in Wakefield and will bring people back but we need more.

“We need artisanal spaces where people can open up at low cost, something to come to Wakefield for and something to go to Westgate for.”

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