Tetley site is a sadly wasted opportunity for city

From: Oscar Lowe, Management Consulting, Financial Services, The Embankment, Neville Street, Leeds.

I WRITE in relation to the public consultation on September 22 that took place with regards to the immediate plans for the Tetley Brewery site.

When it was initially announced that the Tetley Brewery site would be closing down, this was a big blow for the city given the jobs that would be at stake particularly being blue collar and located in South Leeds.

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We had all very much hoped that such an important and landmark site would provide a great opportunity for vital regeneration in South Leeds and that it would provide the much-needed connection and link to help the faltering businesses at Clarence Dock and the swathes of wasteland throughout South Leeds.

You will understand my disappointment when it was unveiled that the primary use of the site for the immediate future was likely to be car parking, something of no benefit to residents of the city and Hunslet.

It appears to me that Tetley have masqueraded their plans to generate millions of pounds of revenue from car parking, by tagging on a small area of public green space and a temporary art gallery.

Having the primary use of the site as a car park would do little to generate jobs, and also contribute little in terms of business rates to Leeds City Council at a time when attracting revenue for the local authority has never been so important; the art gallery would mitigate Tetley’s business rates bill while they await a better-value use.

It would seem very much to me that Tetley are approaching the situation with a very short-term perspective, generating millions of revenue with little social or economic benefit to the city.

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