Wakefield city centre is terminal now, didn’t take long for Trinity walk to start following the same fate either. I’d rather go drinking in the Mos Eisley then 90% of the toilets up there. It’s really gutting to see

Wakeys no differant to thousands of Town in the UK.
I do agree the total lack of investment s let the place dowb.
For me it started with the demolition of the market hall and market, it lost a major part of its identity.
WMdc had no place for a replacement and the small investment it made came far to late and needed a much higher rent from market traders.
One thing I have never understood is why any council can cry poor with new developments springing up all over the place Ll bringing in rates.

At least they aiming for it, Wakefield BID seem to be doing more to promote the city and hopefully the new masterplan will make the place look less tired. My main concern about the council is they seem intent on filling any space with affordable housing rather than looking to commisson something that could generate wealth for the city.

The problems for The City of Wakefield began with the creation of the MDC. The councillors are only interested in spending cash on and promoting the outlying areas thus keeping their votes and subsequent seats on the gravy train. Even the City of Culture entry was promoted as the Wakefield District rather than the City.

To true ask those at Newmarket

Not sure what this has to do with the OP of this thread, but Wakefield is very different to thousands of towns in the UK, first of all it' has city status as well as being the administrative capital of the county, not sure which market hall your talking about as there has been three in my life time
and tbh I would not say we lost our identity with the loss of any of them in the context of buildings in the city, not wanting to turn this into a political thingy as others have done, but the city has been a Labour stronghold as far back as I can remember doing some good things along with some bad things, so at the risk of upsetting the sin bin's resident Labour spokesman and his trusty sidekick surely what ever the rights and wrongs of the make up of this city, they must be held accountable.

What about the official vandalising of Neil Fox Way; literally hundreds of unaffordable new houses raking in all that lovely council tax for our pals up at Wakefield One. I suggest WMDC grace the head of all their official notepaper with the city's new motto: " TEK ALL, GIVE NOWT" and replace the historic fleur-de-lys crest with three tight fists.

Quote: vastman "There is no doubt our marketing could be stepped up a notch or two, but in truth it’s all about time and resources. All said though I don’t think we are terrible, just patchy at times.'" https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/blog.hoo ... ement/amp/ Think more needs to be done with social media boost posts via platforms such as Facebook, Instagram. It seems to be quite cost effective in terms of directly hitting a target audience. Most are on social media and there seems a disconnect between the number of social media followers and crowd attendance. Community events, Car Boot Venue, curtain raiser pre match games opportunities need to be taken as often as possible https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/ads/pricing

Quote: vastman "There is no doubt our marketing could be stepped up a notch or two, but in truth it’s all about time and resources. All said though I don’t think we are terrible, just patchy at times.'" https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/blog.hoo ... ement/amp/ Think more needs to be done with social media boost posts via platforms such as Facebook, Instagram. It seems to be quite cost effective in terms of directly hitting a target audience. Most are on social media and there seems a disconnect between the number of social media followers and crowd attendance. Community events, Car Boot Venue, curtain raiser pre match games opportunities need to be taken as often as possible https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/ads/pricing

Or maybe they could have built a community stadium incorporating a professional rugby league pitch as they promised. Even affordable houses for the less wealthy section of the population.
I guess that you don't live in Wakefield chissitt otherwise a community minded person like yourself would know that Wakefield One is that rather attractive box-like building opposite County Hall that houses a large section of WMDC's workforce.

Well if you want to go down that route maybe they could spend they're ill gotten gains on other tax paying regions of WMDC area's, I'm sure there are things much more important to the people of the 5 towns whose priorities in life aren't a new football pitch, but then if you'd have put a new ground in your heavily weighted sarcasm then I would have agreed with you.
It's funny really how you want to encourage affordable housing on there which I'm in agreement in general but you don't want private new unaffordable housing on there because it's vandalising Neil Fox Way how's that work?, the next time I'm in Wakefield I'll have a walk up Wood St and have a look at this rather attractive box-like building(is it box like or is that a reference to Cllr Box as it's getting harder to decide the level of your sarcasm) and see the WMDC workforce counting they're illicit gains from raking in all that lovely council tax presumably to help pay for other things far less important to your good self, you got that right though I don't live in Wakefield but fail to see your point regarding me being a community minded person(more sarcasm perhaps?) even more so knowing where Wakefield one is as I left Eastmoor 50 years ago, and might I just add this council, present one excluded is the one you voted in at every opportunity from when I left the Moor as we're roughly the same age, I'm all for a new stadium btw, just pointing out the bitterness as well as the flaws in your post hth.

By heck chissitt, I seem to have hit a raw nerve with you there. Please let me dispel one or two of your digging comments thus;
a) There are other areas than the 5 towns that are in need of support. What about the "forgotten" areas of WMDC ie Hemsworth, South Kirkby and South Elmsall?
b) A new community stadium in Wakefield was promised. It never materialised.
c) If you walk up Wood Street you'll miss it. Wakefield One is on Burton Street.
d) Describing the building as box-like had no reference to Peter Box; it is actually a rather attractive rectangular box shape.
e) The present council is the same party as the previous one- Labour, and I didn't vote for them.
f) I've no objections to private housing on Neil Fox Way. I just think green fields would be better.
g) Take a look at a neighbouring council to the south of Wakefield and see what they do for their council tax payers and then take a look at what we (don't) get for ours.

I'll leave it at that
'

Just so we are clear on the subject, I was simply clearing up a few things you seemed to be contradicting yourself with as I have no personal axe to grind with either you or Wakefield council.
a) Hemsworth, Sth Elmsall are 2 of the make up of the 5 towns along with Normy, Cas, and that place the other side of Ferrybridge whose name escapes me if I'm not mistaken, and seeing how Sth Kirkby is smack in the middle of Hemsworth and Sth Elmsall it's kind of included in the point I was making, which was that the residents are also tax payers and deserve equality.
b)You have me here as I believed and still do that WMDC never promised the club a new stadium but assistance which never fully materialised.
c/d)As I said I left Wakefield 50 years ago and tbh I've never heard of it and I thought it was just a touch of sarcasm on your part to mask your bitterness.
e)Forgive me for my ignorance as politics local or national are not my strongpoint, but didn't the Tories win the last local elections, so how can they be the same party?.
f)Bit of a contradiction here as your quite happy to see affordable houses on Neil Fox Way but not unaffordable houses which incidentally help pay for the 5 towns and out lying areas.
g)If by taking a look at the neighbouring council to the south of Wakefield you mean Barnsley, then I don't have to as I live there, and am grateful for what's happened there regarding the town centre's make over and fortunately we don't have the same problems on the scale of Wakefield regarding serving the out lying areas.
Please accept my criticism in the spirit it was intended and nothing more, however how you interpret it is down to you.

You forgot Pontefract, don’t think thats the other side of Ferrybridge unless my geography is way out

Hemsworth, SK, SE are not part of the 5 towns -some are in a separate entity ie SESKU (South Elmsall, South Kirkby and Upton)
The 5 towns are: Normanton, Pontefract, Featherstone, Castleford and Knottingley