Boom city needs better transport

Indeed, only two other UK cities – Bristol and Norwich – are predicted to experience more rapid growth than Leeds over the next 25 years.

The figures are startling, with its 779,000-strong population expected to soar above one million by 2033 – a 29.2 per cent increase.

For a city with an already-creaking transport infrastructure, the forecasts would seem to make still stronger Leeds's case for funding for major new facilities, such as its proposed trolleybus scheme.

But Steve Speak, chief strategy and policy officer at Leeds City Council, is far from confident the Government will take note of the population trends in West Yorkshire.

"Leeds has been one of the fastest-growing cities in the country over recent times, but that didn't help us persuade the Government to give us money for Supertram," he said, referring to the city's last big public transport proposal, cancelled by then-Transport Secretary Alistair Darling in 2005.

"So our experience has been that the spending on infrastructure does not necessarily follow the growth. Other cities have managed to get these modern public transport facilities with less growth than Leeds.

"Leeds is expected to grow as a regional capital and will continue to provide jobs for people from all over West Yorkshire – are the railways going to be able to cope? Are the buses going to be able to cope? How are you going to deal with all the extra people coming in? For these major pieces of infrastructure, you are inevitably going to need some central public funding."

Massive investment will also be needed in housing. Following the decision by new Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to abolish Labour's target-based regional strategies, which outlined how many homes would have to be built in each area, it is now up to local authorities to make their own decision.

Regardless of the final figures agreed upon, the potential for conflict with local residents is clear.

"With the previous projections, we were going to need to go into the green belt," Mr Speak said. "That's always contentious, as people see it as protected land.

"Equally if you try to get more people into the main urban area, how much more packed can it be before you get into unmanageable traffic congestion? This scale of growth raises these sorts of issues.

"If people just see green areas eaten up by more development, and don't see equivalent investment in new parks and public transport services and cultural facilities, then ultimately they might not think it was worth it."