Leeds City Council has finally started work on the buildings in Lower Kirkgate. Over the course of the next six weeks, technical surveying work will be undertaken to assess the condition of the buildings before urgent works begin to stabilise the buildings. It is hoped that at the very least the hoardings can be pulled further towards the frontages of these buildings to create more space for pedestrians as a staging post towards the final restoration of the buildings
Coincidentally, this year marks 300 years since the creation of the Cossins Map, which shows Kirkgate and the First White Cloth Hall – one of the few medieval streets that remains in the city centre. The street is a great survivor of earlier times, and we hope that after such a long wait, the bottom end of Kirkgate is finally turning a page.
One of the few positives from the collapse of the Kirkgate buildings is that the road has been closed to buses. It is a relatively narrow street and whilst re-routing of the buses has caused some inconvenience, it has allowed the businesses to provide more outdoor seating and allows safer pedestrian access. As a result, there is a strong view amongst the business community there that this should become a permanent fixture. Leeds Civic Trust supports this view and we hope to convince the West Yorkshire Combined Authority that this is the best way forward.
