The site is that of a former colliery at which 150 new houses and a community building are to be built. Wakefield Met have asked if the basin could be used as a canoe club venue and the answer is a resounding YES.

The south and east walls of the wharf basin meet at a right angle and are ideal for two sides of a Polo pitch, the other two sides could be a permanent floating pontoon.

The basin is considered to be between 2 and 3m deep and would be ideal for supervised beginners and for experts who could use the river Aire and paddle on the 8 miles of flat river between the weirs at Castleford and Ferrybridge.

The water quality and the ambience is good though the river has commercial traffic.  There were fish and dragon flies in and around the basin and otters have also been seen. The RSPB site at Fairburn Ings is on the other bank.

Wakefield Met are thinking of building a community building, possibly with a cafe and a club house.  Planning permission will have to be sought.  However the idea is that there would be boat storage, showers and changing in the community building plus a fenced compound outside. There is a certain amount of re-generation funding available.

There are considerable numbers houses (100's) well within a 20 minute cycle.

If you believe there is the desire/need to create a new club in the Castleford area and make use of this opportunity, please contact Chris Hawksworth - email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it