Council support for redevelopment of Evans Halshaw car site on outskirts of Leeds city centre

Developers want to be on site as soon as possible as they are "under a harsh time scale" to deliver a huge scheme on a former car sales site in Hunslet.

X1 presented plans to Leeds City Council this afternoon to build 928 flats with ground floor commercial units, car parking and public open space at the former Evans Halshaw garage on Hunslet Road.

They will be built across five blocks of buildings which range from six to 20 storeys after the current buildings have been demolished.

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In a pre-application hearing, before the formal offering is submitted in due course, councillors heard the scheme would be a mix of one, two and three bedroom flats with multi-storey townhouses provided at the ground and first floors of each block.

The mix of accommodation across the site will be 277 one bed flats (30%), 431 two bed flats (46%),220 three bed flats (24%). The flats would all meet the Nationally Described Space Standards and X1 has pledged to provide five per cent of affordable houses as well as likely costs in the region of £700,000 in compensation payments towards mitigating schemes.

On the ground floor there would be a number of small scale office, retail, gym and café or bar units and there will be specific areas for access and bin stores and delivery drivers who will be able to use a designated area that will be controlled by rising bollards.

The chair of the plans panel, Coun James McKenna said he was excited by the scheme and the type of accommodation it would create and members were unanimous in backing the nature of development proposed for the site.

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He said: "I am pleased about the amount of three bedroomed houses, it is one of the biggest that we have had and we are particularly anxious to see family housing in this area."

However, given the number of units there were concerns about creating a community feel within the development and X1 were asked to consider setting aside specific space for residents to meet, set up a residents association, or hold meetings or activities that would be free of charge.

There was also criticism for the overall look and feel of the site.

Coun Graham Latty said: "As it stands at the minute it is dwarfing a very nice building - it is a little bit relentless. There is an awful lot of it. I don't doubt you want to make it a nice place to live but it does not feel a jolly place to live, I don't know what you do about that but it feels industrial and commercial."

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