Castleford Tigers and Highgrove Group have submitted planning applications to Wakefield Council for a major upgrade to the Wheldon Road stadium and a significant employment and logistics development on the Axiom site at Junction 32 on the M62.
Both schemes are collectively valued at around £200m and are expected to create around 2,200 jobs.
The plans will also provide £12.2m of funding towards major upgrades at Wheldon Road and £15m of highways improvements to the Junction 32 roundabout.
The application for the Axiom site proposes development of up to 1.5m sq ft of employment, logistics and manufacturing floorspace across 13 buildings. It aims to create 22 acres of open space and landscaping, planting some 40,000 new trees.
That development would replace approved plans for around 753,000 sq ft of retail, leisure and stadium space at the Axiom site. However, the applicants said this is unlikely to be built out in the short to medium term. In a planning statement, they cited the structural changes that the retail market underwent while the scheme progressed.
Mark Grattan, managing director for Castleford Tigers RLFC, said: “This is a really important moment for the club and the town more widely. If both planning applications are approved, the money raised will secure the future of Castleford Tigers at Wheldon Road for a generation, at an important time for rugby league, with Super League considering a move to a grading system.
“The quality of our home is critical to our future sporting success, and these plans provide an upgrade to player training and medical facilities. Improving the matchday experience for all fans is, of course, our priority but the significantly improved banqueting and hospitality facilities enable us to increase matchday revenue and generate income throughout the week, which in turn benefits the club’s finances.”
A spokesperson for Axiom Yorkshire, owner of the Junction 32 site, said: “Following five months of community consultation, we have now submitted both planning applications to Wakefield Council. The response from the community has been very supportive, we believe because people recognise the huge potential benefits of these two important regeneration proposals for the area.”
The spokesperson added: “We had particularly useful feedback from residents living near the Axiom site and our design team has taken great care to work through these comments to ensure that the employment development is of the highest quality and offers the most benefits to the whole community.”
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