Death of the city centre ‘over-exaggerated’ says Leeds council chief

The death of the city centre has been ‘over-exaggerated’ but there will be real challenges going forward, according to the chief executive of Leeds City Council.
Leeds has so far come through the pandemic ‘remarkably intact’ but with challenges going forward, according to council chief executive Tom Riordan.Leeds has so far come through the pandemic ‘remarkably intact’ but with challenges going forward, according to council chief executive Tom Riordan.
Leeds has so far come through the pandemic ‘remarkably intact’ but with challenges going forward, according to council chief executive Tom Riordan.

Speaking at the launch of Deloitte’s Regional Crane Survey, Tom Riordan said Leeds would emerge from Covid looking different but ‘intact’.

“The fundamentals of the Leeds economy, which has stood us in such good stead over the last few years are still very much in place,” he said.

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“Our vision to be more of a northern European city - where we think about how people move around the city, the spaces between buildings as much as the buildings themselves, and a new approach to transport and the environment, is something we have been busy with.”

Mr Riordan highlighted a 12-month £180m transport capital programme where £20m is being spent every five weeks on projects at Regent Street, the East Leeds Orbital and Leeds Station, which will be a major hub for Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 plans.

He also pointed to active city centre schemes including the new TV and film studios in Holbeck and developments at the Wellington Place business park. There are also plans to upgrade City Square and Leeds General Infirmary plus major regeneration work at the Southbank and the Innovation District.

“It all adds up to a really exciting set of developments,” he said.

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“We’re really pleased with how we’ve used the time where people haven’t been using the city as much and we’ve got some of the really difficult transport stuff out of the way. We’re still going to have challenges with that going forward but we’ve made great progress.”

Mr Riordan added: “The death of the city has been much exaggerated. I think we’ll come out of Covid differently.

“We won’t be stronger in many areas because of the inequalities that Covid has put a laser beam on. We’ve got to think about the link to jobs for young people this year, what we’re doing to connect up our city centres and district centres with those communities who need access to jobs the most. And we will continue to work in a way in Leeds that prioritises those issues.

“Despite what has been the biggest challenge in our lifetimes for most of us, we’ve come through remarkably intact but with real challenges and exciting challenges going forward.”

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Earlier this week, the Leeds Crane Survey by Deloitte Real Estate revealed that work continued on a host of high-profile schemes to transform the Leeds skyline last year, despite the economic pressures and disruption caused by the pandemic.

The survey found that work started on 12 new schemes in 2020, which was the same as the previous year.

Highlights of the year included the completion of the Majestic building in Leeds, which will serve as Channel 4’s new headquarters.

There were four new residential starts in 2020 which together will deliver 731 units. There were 2,662 units under construction at the end of 2020 compared with 2,832 in 2019.

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The report added: “There has also been the highest volume of residential completions since 2008.

“This shows momentum is gathering for new high-density residential developments in the city.”

Work started on four new schemes in the Leeds office sector in 2020, which is one more than the previous survey in 2019.

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