Wakefield councillors to press ahead with demolition of Ridings Shopping Centre
A plan to buy and bulldoze the ageing mall is the cornerstone of a regeneration plan for the city centre
Senior councillors have voted in favour of continuing with plans to buy and demolish The Ridings Shopping Centre in Wakefield.
Wakefield Council’s cabinet members had been told to rethink proposals to acquire the mall so it can be bulldozed to way for a major regeneration project.
Plans include demolishing four high rise blocks of flats above the centre so new homes and leisure facilities can be built.
The scheme was referred back to the cabinet after a scrutiny committee took the rare step of ‘calling-in’ the proposals.
Opposition councillors submitted a formal request for it to be re-examined over claims there had been a lack of public consultation.
They also claimed the project would pose a “financial risk” for the authority.
But cabinet members voted unanimously in favour of pressing ahead with the scheme on Tuesday (March 17).
Jack Hemingway, the council’s deputy leader and portfolio for regeneration and economic growth said: “Future generations would not
forgive us if we were to turn aside now and let the decline continue.”
Coun Hemingway said leaders of the Labour-run authority would “take on board practical suggestions” which were raised at last week’s regeneration overview and scrutiny committee meeting, but said: “I remain convinced and confident in the fundamentals of this scheme.
“This is the right thing to do for our city.
“This has been through a robust process. It has been through democratic scrutiny. We must now make this decision.
“Wakefield needs regeneration. Even critics of these proposals accept that.
“If reports, data and strategy are not enough, we have the evidence of our own eyes.
“City centres much change if they are to thrive in a changing world and to create a sustainable long term future.
“Doing nothing – tinkering around the edges – is simply not an option.
“Change, while painful, is sometimes the only way.”
The first phase of the project is being funded through £17.9m from the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (MHCLG).
The council previously planned to buy the centre but backed out of making a deal in December 2022.
The centre was then bought by Yorkshire-based businessman Zahid Iqbal.
In January, Marks & Spencer announced it would be moving out of The Ridings and opening a new food hall on the outskirts of the city centre.
Primark is also expected to leave the centre later this year.
Coun Hemingway continued: “If not these proposals, then what? If not with this funding, then how? And if not now, then when?
“Because some of the most vociferous voices in opposition to this proposal are unable to answer those very basic questions.
“The total absence of an alternative makes the basis for our original cabinet decision clear.
“If we accept that the city needs regeneration, we cannot then oppose the only viable option for that regeneration.
“If we don’t act now, then we miss this once-in-a-generation chance to regenerate our city.
“Sometimes as leaders we have to take the difficult decisions now that are in the best long term interests of the city and the district.”
Cabinet member Margaret Isherwood requested a separate consultation process be put in place for residents affected by the decision.
She said: “A lot of people have lived there for a lot of years, some of them over 40 years.
“I can understand the anger because they are suddenly being presented with this.
“There is anger, there is stress, there is fear about what will happen.
“There is stress because they don’t feel as though they have been listened to.
“I think its important as we moved forward that the residents have to be the priority.
“They are the ones that will be surrounded by all the chaos and mayhem that regeneration brings.
“We cannot just dismiss them as irrelevant. They need to have their own voice.”
Coun Hemingway replied: “I’ve tried to be clear throughout that the residents are the number one priority.
“But I agree, the more we can do to ensure that residents’ voices are heard as part of this process the better.”