Shaping the future through open conversations
11th August 2020 Through My Castle Gateway we’ve been talking about Tower Gardens since 2017. Yet Tower Gardens is the area where the least active masterplanning work has been done so far. This was in large part due to the controversy created by the idea in the draft masterplan of putting a boat-shaped building close … Read more
Following the draft Open Brief we tested it and refined it online, using social media and through targeted discussions with specific groups and people. The blog below sets out the additions and revisions we made based on people’s feedback. We then created a final draft that was commented on by the Castle Gateway Advisory Group, … Read more
6th March 2020 Initial call The project recruited from 16 different schools through an open call. The initial call was for a performance in the car park – that was the draw. The city centre? The young people involved felt that the city centre was not a place for them. The places they do go … Read more
There is a huge interest in seeing the new public spaces in Castle Gateway as hosting theatre, music, outdoor cinema, dance and every other art form imaginable. On reflection, we’ve been a bit concerned that this aspect of the draft Open Brief is currently less well developed than it could be. To fix this, we’ve … Read more
There’s something special about outdoor music performances. Whatever your taste – Womad, Glastonbury, Carolina Country Music or Jazz New Orleans, there’s something for everyone. Some people though, like their music on a much more intimate, less ear drum bursting level and are not looking for big names or mind altering substances. Some of my best … Read more
3rd and 10th February 2020 We returned to Red Tower to share the draft Open Brief for the new public spaces in the Castle Gateway area. This followed sessions in summer to generate ideas for the new public spaces. Every Monday the Red Tower hosts a Pay-as-you-feel lunch, you can pick up a bag of … Read more
Having got the Open Brief to a draft version which we had discussed at length with the council and with members of the Advisory Group, it was time to take it for a walk around the Castle Gateway area with members of the public – some of whom had been involved with previous events but … Read more
Chris Donegani has been to a lot of our events, and he joined us for one of our recent Debating the Open Brief walks. His response to this was an alternative proposal for the Castle car park, suggesting a different way to provide some of the key elements in the draft Open Brief, while responding … Read more
This blog post aims to introduce you to some of the ideas and research that will be explored by the Living Well with Water (LWW) project that has emerged out of the My Castle Gateway conversations. You can find the main website of the project here, as well as follow LWW on twitter @WaterinYork. My Castle … Read more
7th December 10am-4pm On 7th December we delved into the histories of the Castle and Eye of York as part of developing the conversation about the area’s future. The draft Open Brief for the new Castle Gateway public spaces was published shortly before the event and was open for discussion all day. The Open Brief … Read more