CARLOS GARAICOA Find out more The Castleford Project

CARLOS GARAICOA
Find out more
The Castleford Project
The Observatory: A Project for Castleford

The Castleford Project
In 2003 Carlos Garaicoa was invited to create a work of art for The Castleford Project, a
long term regeneration initiative instigated by Channel 4 and Wakefield Metropolitan
District Council. The result of this commission is ‘The Observatory’, designed by Garaicoa
and inspired by his consultations with local residents.
The Castleford Project is an urban improvement scheme whose aim has been to improve
the public spaces of Castleford. Regeneration and design professionals teamed up with
the citizens of Castleford to help them plan their town's future. The last five years have
seen a series of projects across the town including the design of a new town square, the
creation of several new parks for local children and the design and build of a major new
footbridge. Each project featured a small working group led by a local representative.
The scheme is now close to completion with 10 out of the 11 planned improvement projects
either finished or well underway. The scheme has also included the creation of important
new art works by major designers and artists. The Castleford Project has been credited
with encouraging over £200m of additional new investment into the town.
The new footbridge in
Castleford, opened 2008
The new public square in Castleford town
centre, opened 2007

Key Partners
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a public-service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom, centred
around a television channel of the same name which began transmissions on 2 November
1982. Channel 4 founded The Castleford Project alongside local community and civic
groups and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. In 2001 Channel 4, along with designer
Kevin McCloud, were looking for places to film that were about to start a regeneration
project. They decided upon Castleford because they felt their plans for the development
of the town could be achieved and importantly, they involved the local community. The
project’s development was televised on Channel 4 in 2008 in Kevin McCloud and The Big
Town Plan.
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council is an elected body, responsible for governing the
Wakefield Metropolitan District. The Council provides a large number of services which
directly affect the quality of life of the citizens of the District - such as schools, social
care, street cleaning, sports and cultural activities. The Council was involved in founding
the Castleford regeneration project, which is part of their ongoing Five Towns Urban
Renaissance project that also includes the towns of Pontefract, Knottingley, Featherstone
and Normanton.
Castleford Heritage Trust
The Castleford Heritage Group was formed in 2000 by representatives from groups in the
town with an interest in heritage and culture. Their aim was to use Castleford’s rich
heritage to help the improvements being made to the town. The Group came up with the
idea for the Castleford Forum, a new museum, library and art gallery for Castleford, with
hands-on activities to tell the town’s story. The Castleford Forum are still waiting for the
funding for this project but for the time being they are looking at how they can use
Castleford’s existing library building on Carlton Street in a way that will bring many
benefits to the local community.
Arts Council England
Arts Council England, Yorkshire has been actively involved in the Castleford Regeneration
project as a funder and organiser and has, in partnership, delivered several programmes
of activity. They see the arts as playing an important role in the success of regeneration
projects.
CABE
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was established in
1999 and is the government’s advisor on architecture, urban design and public space in
England. Its job is to influence and inspire the people making decisions about the built
environment. It believes in well-designed buildings, spaces and places, runs public
campaigns and provides advice. CABE wanted to work with The Castleford Project so that

they might bring a better understanding of what is involved in the regeneration process
into people's living rooms.
English Partnerships
English Partnerships was the national regeneration agency for England and was
responsible for major development projects. On 1 December 2008 its powers passed to the
new Homes and Communities Agency.
The Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is the leading organisation for protecting and improving the
environment in England and Wales. They are responsible for making sure that air, land
and water are looked after by today's society, so that in the future people will inherit a
cleaner, healthier world.
In Castleford:
•They spent £1.5 million in 2000 on reducing the risk of flooding in the town.
•They are funding new angling platforms to provide improved access for anglers. They
will also run events to give people the chance to try their hand at fishing.
•They have planted an orchard in the Cutsyke Community Garden and will also be
removing harmful plants from along the river.
•They will encourage public use of banks of the River Aire through contributing towards a
cycle path.
•They have worked with schools and businesses in the Castleford area to raise
awareness of their environment and impact on it.
The European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is a funding programme which helps
regeneration get started in the least wealthy regions of the European Union (EU). The
ERDF has contributed £60,000 towards two of the schemes within the Castleford Project,
the Cutsyke Play Forest (£20,000) and The Green, Ferry Fryston (£40,000). Both of these
projects have contributed to the development of local communities and helped improve
local environmental problems.
Groundwork UK
Groundwork UK is an environmental organisation made up of Trusts in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland. Each Trust works with their partners in poor areas to improve the
quality of the local environment, the lives of the local people and the success of local
businesses. Groundwork Wakefield is supporting The Castleford Project as part of its
ongoing work to help residents get more involved in improving the quality of life in the
town.
The Coalfields Regeneration Trust
The Coalfields Regeneration Trust is an independent charity that aims to achieve
regeneration in communities that have been badly affected by the closure of many of
Britain’s coal mines. The Trust has given money to many local community projects in
Castleford such as the Chrysalis Youth Project, Cutsyke Community Group, Smawthorne

Community Project and Castleford Heritage Group.
Yorkshire Forward
Yorkshire Forward is the regional development agency for the Yorkshire and the Humber
region of the UK. It helps businesses to develop and works to improve people’s levels of
education, learning and skills. Their Renaissance Towns Programme is encouraging
communities to create great environments in which to live and work by giving them the
opportunity to work with some of the world’s leading experts to create plans that will
improve their towns.

The Castleford Project: Key projects
The Tickle Cock Bridge Underpass
One of the main paths that people use to get into Castleford town centre was chosen for
improvement as part of Kevin McCloud and The Big Town Plan. With shoppers making
50,000 trips through it every week and the regeneration of the area likely to bring many
more, the dark and narrow Tickle Cock Bridge Underpass wasn’t a great advert for the
town. Firstly the underpass itself was replaced with a much wider, taller tunnel by
construction engineers Jane Wernick Associates. The new tunnel is two feet taller, double
the width and much better lit than the old underpass. To encourage people to spend
more time around the area, designers DSDHA also created an angular seating shelter,
along with an open area and green a space, which replaced overgrown wasteland and
tumbledown walls.
The Town Centre
Tickle Cock Bridge Underpass
As part of the regeneration, three town centre improvement schemes were chosen for The
Castleford Project. With Castleford still suffering from the effects of the coal pit closures, it
was vital to bring regeneration to the heart of the town and make the town centre a great
place to be, as businesses won’t invest where the workforce doesn’t want to live. A
‘regeneration centre’ was created from an unused furniture shop at 2 Sagar Street to
provide a ‘shop window’ for all the projects and as a meeting place for community groups
and the public to talk about them. However it has also developed into an arts venue and
now regular workshops and exhibitions celebrating local culture and local artists take
place there.
In 2005, the outdoor market was relocated from behind the Carlton Lanes indoor shopping
centre into a more accessible and central location. And in 2007, Castleford received a
new £1.1m town centre square, designed by Hudson Architects. These changes have lead
to a great improvement in activity around the town centre.

Parks and Spaces
One of the projects in Kevin McCloud and The Big Town Plan involved providing new play
areas in two of Castleford’s most deprived communities. The schemes involved local
children every step of the way and the results are parks that are valued not trashed. The
suburb of Cutsyke (a mile from Castleford town centre) is just a small community of
around 700 houses but it’s home to a lot of large families who desperately needed
somewhere safe for their kids to play. The project resulted in a run-down area being
transformed into a £220,000 ‘play forest’.
Similarly to Cutsyke, the Castleford suburb Ferry Fryston had no decent park for children.
The local park was overgrown and there was a problem with vandalism. They now have a
much improved play area (designed by Parklife) and leisure facilities, better landscaping
in the rest of the park and a new entrance. A recreational area has also been created for
11-17 year olds with equipment voted for by children from the local high school.
The Footbridge
New park in Ferry Fryston
Five years ago, the banks of the River Aire in Castleford were overgrown and dirty and
the people living on the north side of the river had to cross an often dangerously busy
road bridge to get to the town centre.
Today a beautiful new pedestrian bridge snakes its way stylishly along the contours of
the old weir right into the heart of Castleford. With its picturesque bay now fit for
fishermen and children for the first time in many years; the bridge has become important
both for the local community and as a factor that will attract businesses to the area as
the riverside is now a busier place.
Funded by Wakefield Council, Yorkshire Forward and English Partnerships, the £4.8m
footbridge was the most ambitious of the regeneration schemes in Kevin McCloud's Big
Town Plan.

Urban Regeneration
The collapse of many of Britain's factories and coal mines has left places affected by
unemployment and poor housing. Urban regeneration is the attempt to reverse this problem
by improving both the physical appearance and the wealth of these areas. Improving
the physical appearance of an area helps to attract people to live there which encourages
business to set up as they know they will have customers as well as many people
who can work for them.
Cultural Regeneration
Cultural projects, such as creating places to have art exhibitions and events, have played
an increasingly important role in British urban regeneration since the mid-1980s, but
recent developments have focused less on large projects, such as the creation of new
buildings for culture, and more on the capacity of arts activities to support community-led
improvements. Many of those working to improve our cities have come to see the community
as its most important advantage. They accept that improving the wealth of an area
and the quality of life there ultimately depend on confident, imaginative citizens who feel
they can make a positive difference to their towns or cities. And the arts have been used
to encourage that individual and community development. Arts programmes have been
shown to contribute to improving community spirit and local image; reducing negative
behaviour and encouraging an interest in the local environment.

Cultural Regeneration in Kurdistan Iraq
Introduction to Kurdistan Iraq
Kurdistan Iraq is an independent region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the
north, and Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the South. Its capital is the city of Erbil,
known in Kurdish as Hewlêr.
The Kurdistan Region was originally established in 1970 as the Kurdish Autonomous
Region; however it was really under the control of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein until
the 1991 campaign against his rule following the end of the Persian Gulf War.
From 1991 the region was ruled by the two principal Kurdish parties: the Kurdish
Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. During this period, the Kurds were
subjected to a double embargo: one imposed by the United Nations on Iraq and one
imposed by Saddam Hussein on their region. The severe hardships caused by the
embargoes caused disagreements between the two dominant political parties. In 1998
the United States got involved and led the two parties to a formal ceasefire. In 2003 the
Kurdish parties joined forces against the Iraqi government in the Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Since this time the Kurdistan Iraq region has enjoyed relative safety and prosperity and
has been working to develop the area as a tourist destination.
The Castleford Project and Kurdistan Iraq
The work of Castleford Heritage Trust and Partners in the regeneration of Castleford can
be used as a model for Kurdistan Iraq as it has shown that communities can take
ownership of their environment and make a positive difference.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, in collaboration with arts organisation ArtRole and the Kurdistan
Regional Government, has been involved in a cultural exchange with Kurdistan-Iraq,
developing and delivering a cultural exchange programme of meetings and visits to
contribute toward a regeneration of the region that is respectful of its culture. From
October to November 2008 YSP hosted Hemn Hamd Sharef, an artist from Kurdistan-Iraq.
As well as supporting the artist to make new work, his stay involved visits to important UK
galleries and exhibitions.
Hemn’s residency coincided with the launch of Shared Horizon, a project developed by
YSP that welcomes and encourages refugees, migrants and young people seeking
asylum to participate in a range of creative activities. Shared Horizon is particularly for
young asylum seekers with no family in the UK. YSP offers regular meet-up sessions
designed to improve English language skills and encourage an inter-cultural dialogue.

Find out more
Web search terms
The Castleford Project
Urban Regeneration
Kurdistan Iraq
Useful websites
Castleford Town Centre Partnership
www.ctcp.org.uk
The Castleford Town Centre Partnership was established to drive forward the regeneration
of Castleford. The website has information about the partnership, regeneration in
the town and 2 Sagar Street Gallery.
Channel 4
www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/kevin-s-big-town-plan
This subsection of Channel 4’s website gives a good overview of the project and you can
find out more information about the particular schemes that were part of the overall
regeneration.
Arts Council England
www.artscouncil.org.uk
This site has lots of information about the project and the various art works that were
commissioned as part of its development.
British Urban Regeneration Association
www.bura.org.uk/
For further information on regeneration and best practice.
ArtRole
www.artrole.org
ArtRole is a UK based contemporary arts organisation developing international culture
exchanges with the Middle East. The website has lots of information about the projects
they have been involved in along with some video footage of artist performances,
exchanges and visits.