Kirkgate’s Closure – Leeds City Council Begins Process of Buying Troubled Buildings

With growing frustration among local businesses, and the road itself still closed, the council has announced the next steps for Kirkgate.

It’s no secret that the ongoing closure of Kirkgate has impacted local businesses. Following the collapse of a building, the road had been blocked off, leading to reduced footfall and income for businesses, with a lack of clarity about what was being done to solve the issues, but an end may now be in sight.

Leeds City Council has been attempting to negotiate with City Fusion, the owners of the stricken building, no.85 (and several of its neighbours) around grant funding for improvement, but have failed to reach an agreement. Instead, they’ve announced that they’re going to take a different approach to safeguarding the future of the street.

They’re taking a twofold approach. Firstly, they’re planning to issue an urgent works notice on the most dilapidated Kirkgate properties owned by City Fusion on Briggate. This will allow the council to carry out emergency work on the building structures and then lift the traffic restrictions. They could then try to recover the cost of the work from City Fusion.

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The urgent works notice, however, has to be approved by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – Lisa Nandy MP – due to existing planning regulations. The council has applied for this approval, citing the need to maintain the appearance and character of the Leeds city centre conservation area. They’ll be issuing updates once they’ve received a reply.

The second action the council is planning to take is the acquisition of seven City Fusion properties on Kirkgate at the market value. This would allow the council to further restore the buildings as part of the Lower Kirkgate Townscape Heritage Initiative. The properties in question are numbers 83, 84, 85 (the collapsed building), 86, 87, 88 and 89.

“It is our hope,” Councillor Jonathan Pryor, deputy leader on Leeds City Council told us, “that by stepping in and taking ownership of the situation, we will be able to facilitate the reopening of the road and, separately, give these problem properties a new lease of life.”

This sounds like a promising course of action that should help to safeguard the future of one of Leeds’ most famous streets. It should also come as a relief to local businesses that there’s an end in sight to the closure of Kirkgate, even if the obstruction remains in place for the time being.