Silence surrounds future of new Castleford Tigers stadium as work shows no signs of starting

Artist's images of the new development still adorn the website of the Lateral Property Group, who conceived the scheme.

Planning permission for a new 10,000 seater Super League ground, together with a retail development right next to Junction 32 of the M62, was given in 2015.

But five years on, there is still no sign work is even close to starting on the empty site.

Artists' impressions of the Axiom development, as the scheme was branded, is still front and centre on the web homepage of the developers who proposed it.

It's been speculated that the development is struggling to attract retailers to make the scheme profitable.

But the tight-lipped Lateral Property Group have not responded to repeated requests for information about what is happening with the development, despite saying last year work would start on Axiom before the end of 2019.

Last March, the company blamed Brexit and "political turmoil" for the delay in starting work, but insisted it would go ahead with a view to the Tigers moving from its Wheldon Road home in to the stadium before the start of the 2022 Super League season.

The club said last week it was still in regular discussions with Lateral as a matter of course, but that it has no influence over the scheme and that there is no update to provide.

Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffery said that the local authority had also tried contacting the developers, but without success.

A plot of land next to Stainburn Avenue, by the M62 in Castleford has been earmarked for the development.

Asked last week if she could provide any insight into the issue, she said: "It’s all gone very quiet. We've not heard anything at all.

"I noticed when I went past the other day, more huts have appeared on site.

"We keep trying to contact them to see if there’s anything happening, but it’s all gone quiet. Castleford Tigers themselves haven't approached us."

Local writer and illustrator Phil Thornton, who has supported the club for 60 years, said he believed fans were "frustrated" by the situation, but that they understood the economic climate had stalled progress.

The council says it has tried contacting the developers, without success.

He said: "Now that Brexit has finally been decided, there may well be an upturn in the economy and in the take up of the number of units necessary to trigger the build, but it still is in the lap of the gods.

"The date for completion for the stadium was autumn 2021 last I heard, so I'm hoping that the developer manages to move enough units for that to happen.

"I believe the club has been quite innovative over the years - I remember us getting floodlights ahead of most other clubs - but we are all very aware that the ravages of time are taking their toll on our stadium.

"Whilst I love the place, we desperately need a new stadium and facilities, as the biggest fear is that the Super League may decide to up the ante and increase the minimum standards (for grounds) in some way that could exclude us from the league."

Coun Jeffery also suggested that the floundering retail industry may be the reson behind the delay.

She added: "I think really the trouble is shopping isn’t where it was. I think the uncertainty of Brexit has caused problems and they’ve had struggles to get people to sign up.

"I just worry about shopping centres now. If they’d gone ahead when they first got planning permission they might have been up and running by now, but we can’t get anything out of them."

Local Democracy Reporting Service