Metro and Wakefield Council are this week seeking support from the Leeds City Region (LCR) Local Enterprise Partnership to submitting a £14.3m Leeds City Region bid to the Government's new Regional Growth Fund to enable work on a new Castleford Transport Interchange to go ahead.

Plans to replace Castleford's ageing and separate bus and rail stations with a modern transport interchange would represent a massive improvement for local passengers. By providing a modern, high-quality gateway to Castleford, it would also be a catalyst in the regeneration of the wider Five Towns area.

Regeneration

Combining Castleford's currently separate bus and rail stations at the Interchange will unlock land for regeneration and redevelopment, and expressions of interest to do this from developers would accompany the bid.

An independent business survey, commissioned by the Leeds City Region Partnership in December 2010, indicated that a combined bus and train station along with local bus service enhancements providing better links with Leeds and the wider Five Towns area would encourage expanding businesses to bring forward their investment plans in Castleford. This would create significant additional employment opportunities in the local area, helping to rebalance the economy which has been dependent on public sector employment.

"Plans for the new facility, based around a covered waiting concourse linking bus stands and the rail platform and including a travel centre and units for a cafeteria and shops, are well advanced," said Metro Chairman Cllr Chris Greaves.

"If the Government's Independent Appraisal Panel Chaired by Lord Heseltine, and the Deputy Prime Minister his Ministerial colleagues, who will make the final decisions on the Regional Growth Fund, agree with us that the Interchange meets their aims for the Fund and approve the bid, work could start later this year."

"Any show of support for the scheme is valuable and we would encourage people to add their names to the petition started by Yvette Cooper and Cllrs Burns-Williamson and Wallis," added Cllr Greaves.