Halifax Renaissance Team is helping transform parts of the town centre since its creation in 2002 and has equally ambitious plans on the horizon.

But it believes many Calderdale residents are still unaware of what the group does.

After public consultation it created a 25-year vision for the town centre.

Completed projects include the Elsie Whiteley Innovation Centre at King Cross, which gave life to an empty building, and the Westgate canopy, creating a covered shopping arcade.

Both won 2007 Halifax Civic Trust Awards.

Work is currently under way opening up Somerset House, Rawson Street, Halifax. Future plans include renovations at the Piece Hall.

The group also played a key role in the proposed development at Broad Street, which will bring a multi-screen cinema to Halifax, and has been a major supporter of efforts to improve the Shay stadium.

Tony Mullin, who has been working with the team – made up of members of the public, businesses, the Courier, organisations, community groups, councillors and officials from Calderdale Council, to discover why some people have not embraced the Renaissance project.

He said: "Participation is a particular problem with two key groups – young people and the BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) community."

Ethnic minorities make up 7 per cent of Calderdale's population and 10 per cent of Halifax residents.

Mr Mullin took a group of researchers to the town centre. "We asked people how often they used the town centre, why they use it and what they like and don't like about Halifax," he said.

Researchers also asked what improvements people would like to see and whether they were aware of the Renaissance Team or its projects.

Mr Mullin will feed the results from about 100 questionnaires back to the team, which plans to use the information to make their work more accessible.

One idea is to make a presentation about the project to take to local mosques, schools and community centres on a "Renaissance roadshow."