Another busy month looking at current planning applications, but also thinking ahead with requests for presentations for several key schemes and determining our response to the new Local Plan which will guide development in Leeds for the next 20 years.
Our only presentation this month related to a site on Kirkstall Road which was formerly occupied by Thyssen Krupp, hence it now being known as New Foundry Square. Although the engineering works was inundated in the 2015 Boxing Day floods, which led to its closure, the recently completed Flood Alleviation Scheme should protect the site in future and thus it has been brought forward for housing. Over 500 apartments are proposed in five blocks rising to 12 floors high at the junction with Viaduct Road. While we welcomed the aspirations behind the scheme, which include creating a real community, and the design of the buildings, we did feel the complex was too large/tall for the site. In this location, buildings should be more suburban in scale, perhaps allowing the railway viaduct to retain its historical dominance of the valley.
Unfortunately, objections have reappeared in this month’s review of planning applications but we still found several which we could support:
- Leeds College of Building, North Street: a colourful update to the 1960s building which will brighten up the street scene and mirror the College’s South Bank campus. However, we felt additional soft landscaping could be provided to reduce the impact of the tarmac forecourts.
- Town Hall Loggia: financial pressures have led to a need to redesign the area within the columns at the front of the Town Hall to make this fully accessible. The previous scheme involved relaying all the flags, but it is now proposed to turn some flags and add short ramps.
- Tower Works Engine House: this remnant of the former works features interesting internal decorative medallions. We welcomed plans to restore the building and make it suitable for a new hospitality use.
- Otley Methodist Church: we supported well-considered plans to adapt the building for community use.
- 17 North Hill Road, Headingley: the change of use from offices to a school for children with special needs would have no impact on the building’s external appearance and level of use.
Our objections related to the following applications:
- Medical Centre, Leeds Beckett University Headingley campus: while accepting what is a simple building design, we felt it would be better located on a nearby, less prominent site.
- 165 Cardigan Road: we felt this was a poorly designed conversion of a former warehouse to shops and apartments. If a more considered refurbishment could not be delivered, it could be better to redevelop the site for new housing.
- The former church, Chapeltown Road: last used as a Sikh temple, an application has been submitted to convert the building to a dance studio. While welcoming the re-use, we felt the plans were incomplete and did not demonstrate how the conversion could be carried out.
Applications upon which we made no comment included:
- Various shop fitting schemes in Leeds City Centre
- Ongoing refurbishment works within the Listed brutalist buildings at Leeds University
- A new broadcasting compound at Elland Road required to meet Premier League standards and allow preparatory work for the proposed stadium expansion. The application to develop the football ground has now been submitted and we will review this over the next month.
Updates on subjects discussed previously include:
full steam ahead on the development of all-weather football pitches at Woodhall (between Pudsey and Bradford) and Green Park (adjoining Thorpe Park in East Leeds): these are largely funded by grants from the FA, Premier League and central government to support grass-roots football. Alongside the existing provision at Boddington Hall in Adel, another site in Holbeck will complete the provision for Leeds.
Other updates include the decision of the Council’s Plans Panel to defer consideration of consent for a new block of apartments in Hunslet for further discussions with the developers on affordable hosing and greenspace (LCT objected) and refusal (against officer advice) of plans for a Battery Electricity Storage Site at Ledston on grounds of Green Belt and fire danger. However, a Plans Panel did approve plans for the development of some 350 dwellings at Red Hall off the Wetherby Road.
Turning to wider development and planning matters which might be of interest to Trust members, the following points were noted at our meetings:
- Proposed hotel, Leeds Market: we understand that plans for a new Premier Inn in George Street are moving forward although nothing has appeared on the ground as yet.
- Roundhay Park: the Council is seeking consent for larger events in the Park, increasing audiences from a maximum of 20,000 to just under 70,000.
- Leeds office market: there continues to be movement around the city as office users either trade up to better quality buildings or downsize their space – the latest is accountant Grant Thornton moving from 1 Whitehall to City Square House.
- Lower Kirkgate: negotiations are not getting far with the owner of the derelict shops alongside the railway viaduct and Leeds City Council has resolved to carry out urgent repair works itself (recharging the owner) and, if necessary, use compulsory purchase powers to acquire the buildings for refurbishment. See full details in a press release here: Lower Kirkgate.
With regard to transport issues, a few points were noted during the month:
- The government’s approved Rail Enhancement Schemes include funding for a major upgrade to Leeds Station (new footbridge, entrances and rebuilt southern concourse), works to enable additional rail services around Leeds, completing the Transpennine Route Upgrade and enhancing the East Coast Main Line to London (new signalling & power supplies). However, plans for enhancements at York and electrification to Sheffield have been shelved.
- The Stourton Park & Ride now operates 7 days a week, with a £3 fare at weekends.
- Although protection has been removed from most of the planned HS2 route from The Midlands to Leeds (meaning sites can be developed or sold back to previous owners), an area of land on South Bank remains protected to ‘enable expansion of Leeds Station’. However, we cannot see how this land would link back to an existing railway line!
The big task for members of the Leeds Civic Trust Planning Committee over the next month or so is to formulate a response to the draft Leeds Local Plan. As mentioned in the last newsletter, this is open for comments until 15 September 2025, with 11 key topics up for discussion. The policies set out in the Local Plan will guide the development of Leeds through to 2040 so it is important that the community’s views are properly reflected in the Plan. The documentation is available at Leeds Local Plan. You can comment directly, or email the Trust before mid-August if you would like to influence the Trust’s response.
Next month we have a presentation on plans for transformation of the Royal Armouries site at Leeds Dock but we are seeking others given there are several large projects in prospect for Leeds. These include the former Burton’s site in Harehills, the LUFC Stadium, land at Eastgate, the Innovation Village (around the Universities and the LGI), Kirkgate Market and Leeds Station. Enough to keep us busy, alongside a steady stream of planning applications.
Mike Piet
Chair of LCT Planning Committee
