Crimea Tavern: Plans submitted to bulldoze former Castleford pub as part of town revamp

The pub has been a target for anti-social behaviour and vandalism since it closed in 2009.

The council has secured £23m of government Town Deal funding to revamp buildings and open spaces next to the river Aire and in the town centre.

A planning application to flatten the old pub and an empty house next to it was submitted on September 16.

Both properties were built in the early 1900s but neither are listed.

The council will appoint a contractor to carry out the work if the scheme is approved.

The application states: “The site backs on the to river Aire to the north with little protection between the river and the site.

“Since the previous tenants vacated the site has been subject to an illegal break-in/occupation and fly tipping.”

The council has also approved the “strategic acquisition” of properties on Aire Street, Savile Road and Carlton Street, to allow work to begin.

The Crimea site is not part of the Town Deal programme but it will form part of a separate project.

At the time of the purchase, Michael Graham, the council’s portfolio holder for regeneration and economic growth, said: “It’s great to see this project moving along.

“We know it has been challenging to acquire buildings in the timescales that we set out.

“It’s great to see it moving along, and the inclusion of the Crimea Tavern, because we have got a really great project down that riverside to turn it into a real destination and an amazing green space that people can enjoy.

“The Crimea Tavern would have been a blight on it.”