'The jewel in Wakefield's crown' - performing arts school CAPA College granted planning permission

Staff at a performing arts school are “ecstatic” after planning permission was granted for a new state-of-the-art teaching facility in the city centre.

Plans for the building were unanimously approved at a meeting of Wakefield Council’s Planning and Highways committee yesterday morning.

The specialist three-storey building will be home to CAPA College, Wakefield’s own performing arts college, and will provide learning facilities for up to 500 students.

Claire Nicholson, the college’s strategic director, said she was “ecstatic” that the plans had been approved.

The 4,550 metre square building will include dance, drama and singing studios, social spaces and an amphitheatre. Picture: Race Cottam Associates

“It’s such a milestone that we’ve reached today,” she said. “It means that we can now really look forward to the future.

“This building is about much more than bricks and mortar, it is about being in a position to offer more opportunities, facilities and support to creative young people across Yorkshire and the North of England.”

The 4,550 metre square building will be located on Mulberry Way, close to Wakefield Westgate train station, and will include dance, drama and singing studios, a 150-seat theatre, a public cafe with an outdoor terrace, social spaces and an amphitheatre.

It will provide specialist facilities for the pupils of CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) College, who can train in dance, drama, musical theatre and production.

The college currently operates out of rented facilities, but hope that their new building will open to students in September of next year.

The college hope to begin construction in the coming months.

Mary Creagh MP said: “This is an exciting day for CAPA College and for the city.

“We will see the regeneration of the city centre and this college will really be the jewel in the crown of Wakefield’s creative industry, which provides routes into a very exciting career for young people in Wakefield and across the North of England.”