Plans for a 47-acre waterside business park submitted to Wakefield council

Keyland Developments have recently submitted plans to Wakefield Council in a bid to redevelop the old Calder Vale sewage treatment works. The 47-acre ‘City Fields Waterside Park Business Hub’ would offer over 500,000 sq ft of space for offices and industrial buildings and form the primary employment element of the new 375-acre City Fields development. Keyland Developments are the property trading arm of Kelda Group and sister company to Yorkshire Water. They have been operating across Yorkshire for more than 20 years, regenerating Yorkshire Water’s redundant sites. The site of the proposed City Fields Waterside Park Business Hub is on land bought by Keyland for an undisclosed sum in 2013 and the sewage works have been out of operation for over a decade.

The City Fields project is to be developed around the new Wakefield Eastern Relief Road and is one of Wakefield’s largest regeneration schemes. The City Fields development includes the construction of over 2500 new homes and 750 affordable homes. Plans also include a new primary school, a new publically accessible waterside park and a new 2km waterfront area with canal-side walks, cafes, bars, shops, restaurants and public spaces.

The Wakefield Eastern Relief Road (WERR) is a £33m project that will see a single carriageway sited between the A638 Doncaster Road to the south and the A642 Aberford Road to the north of Wakefield. Construction of the new carriageway is already under way with an anticipated completion date of early 2017. The new relief road forms the back bone of the City Fields development and Keyland’s plans for the City Fields Waterside Park Business Hub have been identified as a potential employment area. Keyland development manager Ryan Unsworth said; “With direct access to the WERR, this site is one of the most strategically important in the region and has the potential to deliver significant employment opportunities in-line with the aspirations of the Wakefield East Consortium. With work underway on the road, the whole City Fields area is gathering momentum and the creation of this major employment element will ensure its long-term sustainability.” There is no denying that the UK needs more homes and developments like this are really exciting, providing both housing and employment opportunities. We think it is great news to see the Yorkshire region leading the way with its regeneration projects.