Locate in Leeds  - Development Plans

• Aire Valley Leeds Enterprise Zone

• Trinity Leeds

• Next Generation Transport

• Leeds City Station Southern Entrance

• Building Schools for the Future

• Leeds-Bradford International Airport expansion

• Leeds University `Breaking Ground`

• West End Leeds

• Holbeck Urban Village

• EASEL (East And South East Leeds)

• Leeds Arena

The Leeds City Region has a population of over 3 million and an economy valued at around £52 billion per annum, accounting for around 5% of total national output. It has one of the most diverse employment and knowledge bases within the north of England and has the largest business base of any city region outside London.
The Leeds City Region local enterprise partnership (LEP) has launched an ambitious plan to realise the city region’s full economic potential and develop a dynamic and sustainable economy capable of competing with the best in the world.
The plan, launched at the LEP summit in Leeds (9.9.11), sets a goal of creating 60,000 jobs by 2016 and minimum annual growth in output of 2.6% in the period to 2030. It also targets a “substantial and continued” cut in carbon emissions.
The LEP is a new alliance between the private and the public sector, set up with support from national government, to drive economic development and growth across the city region. The UK government wants to see LEPs take over the strategic role of regional development agencies, which will cease to operate at the end of March 2012.
Speaking at the launch of the plan, LEP chairman Neil McLean said that the city region faced serious challenges in raising skills levels, creating additional employment and boosting the rate of new business formation. Additional investment in infrastructure, improved export performance and inward investment
But he said the Leeds City Region should be competing with the best in the world and stressed the huge untapped potential in the city region economy, which is already larger than nine European countries.
“The world has fundamentally changed—economically and politically—and the imperative for growing the economy has become more critical than ever,” said Mr McLean.

“Local businesses and governments alike are facing increasing competition for investment, whilst public grants and spending for supporting business and economic growth have been reduced. However, in the Leeds City Region economy, we have all the potential to not only weather these changes but to thrive as a globally competitive city region.

Read Realising the Potential: The Leeds City Region local enterprise partnership plan

Planned Developments

Aire Valley Leeds Enterprise Zone

The Aire Valley Leeds enterprise zone is a three year programme which goes live in April 2012 and will use a package of incentives to stimulate the development of four key sites sites, covering a total of 142 hectares of prime development land.

All four sites at Newmarket Lane (9.2 ha), Thormes Farm (21.08 ha), Logic Leeds (49.1 ha) and Temple Green (63.04 ha) have planning consents in place for a range of employment uses including large scale manufacturing, distribution and high quality offices.

Situated along the route of the East Leeds Link Road, a £32 million dual carriageway which links Leeds city centre to junction 45 of the M1 motorway, the enterprise zone is an ideal location for manufacturing, distribution and third party logistics companies, as well as companies with significant research and development activities and those in the health technologies sector.

The enterprise zone will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the Aire Valley Leeds which, fully developed could deliver £550m of additional economic output and over 9,500 new jobs by 2025, accessible to households across the city region.

Enterprise zones have been introduced by the UK government to encourage private sector growth by offering businesses a range of benefits such as reduced business rates and simplified planning rules.

Local enterprise partnerships will also be able to retain the additional business rates generated within the enterprise zone to fund economic development projects across the city region.

The Aire Valley Leeds was chosen as the location for the Leeds City Region enterprise zone as it demonstrated the potential to deliver significant economic growth and and access to job opportunities across a wide geographic area.

The decision was also guided by the Government’s requirement that the enterprise zones should be generally based on ‘clean sites’, available for immediate development and with few or no business occupants.

The Enterprise Zone forms part of the wider Aire Valley area. Aire Valley Leeds is one of the most significant regeneration areas in the region, comprising over 400 hectares of land earmarked for mixed-use development, including warehousing & distribution, industry, office parks and residential. The new £32 million 4km East Leeds Link Road, linking the Inner Ring Road to Junction 45 of the M1 motorway - opened in February 2009 - gives access to 250 hectares of development land with the potential to create up to 40,000 jobs over the next 10-15 years. Proposals for up to 7,700 homes are planned for the area, including an urban eco-settlement, and sustainable transport infrastructure.



 

Trinity Leeds

Trinity Leeds is a joint venture by Land Securities in the heart of Leeds’ retail quarter. It includes the redevelopment of the Trinity and Burton Arcades and the current Leeds Shopping Plaza, to create a 1 million sq ft, 2120 unit, development combining shopping, leisure and entertainment facilities. This will significantly transform the city’s shopping and entertainment offer, securing its position as one of the UK’s leading retail destinations, and create around 3,000 new jobs. The centre is currently 60% pre-let, with new tenants to include many who did not previously have a presence in Leeds or Yorkshire.

Next Generation Transport

A proposed £254m major rapid transit network, comprising three routes linking Leeds city centre with park & ride facilities to the north west and south east of the city, thereby alleviating congestion and emissions by taking cars off the road. The focus of NGT will be the trolleybus network, which will be supplemented by improved quality bus services, with the possibility of tram-trains in future phases, over a 25 year period.

Leeds City Station Southern Entrance

Proposals for a new £15m entrance at the south side of Leeds City Station have been unveiled, enhancing pedestrian access to and from the railway station and the new developments around Granary Wharf and Holbeck Urban Village to the immediate south of the city centre. The development will help thousands of commuters reach their workplace more quickly and cut congestion at existing station entrances. The project now has programme entry status from the DfT and funding is in place.

Building Schools for the Future

Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was a major £260m PFI-funded programme committed to delivering complete rebuilds and major refurbishments to 20 secondary schools across Leeds by 2010. Importance is being placed on providing high quality, fully inclusive learning environments, with greater access to ICT facilities and increased emphasis on schools as the centres of local communities. With the latest two refurbishments being completed in September 2009, a further 6 schools were rebuilt/refurbished in 2010, dramatically improving education provision and creating 21st century learning spaces.

Leeds-Bradford International Airport expansion

Planning permission was recently granted for a £28m programme to upgrade airport facilities, with a view to increasing passenger numbers from 2.9m per annum in 2009 to 5.1m by 2016, creating up to 2,000 jobs. Plans include a new two storey terminal building expansion plus improvement to existing terminal facilities. A new airside departure lounge, expanded passenger security screening zone, added shops and catering facilities, a redesign of the domestic baggage reclaim hall and the airside immigration facility are all set to be developed, along with major public transport improvements.

Leeds University `Breaking Ground`

A £300m programme of development with a view to providing staff and students with a world-class campus and securing Leeds’ place in the world’s top 50 universities. Large areas of the university’s grounds will be remodelled to improve access and ensure a more pleasant working environment. New buildings will be erected and many existing properties upgraded and modernised. Main projects include a new £12m School of Law building, £12.2m swimming pool/gym complex, £12.2m Energy Building, £27.1m new halls of residence, £4.6m refurbishment of the Institute of Communications Studies and £28m refurbishment of the Edward Boyle Library.

West End Leeds

West End Leeds is a partnership between four major developers - MEPC, Town Centre Securities, Bruntwood and BAM Properties - which aims to create a five star business quarter in an area close to Leeds City Station and the city`s main business district. Over £1 billion of developments are currently in the pipeline on prime sites adjacent to the River Aire. Fully developed, West End Leeds will have over 3m sq ft of office space, along with 500 apartments and 186,000 sq ft of retail space, all within a high quality public realm with significant amounts of public space.

Holbeck Urban Village

Located just south of Leeds City Station, Holbeck Urban Village is a fast developing business and residential district. Anchored by the award-winning Round Foundry Media Centre, the focus of the regeneration programme is on high-quality design, architecture and public realm. The birthplace of Leeds` industrial revolution, the area covers 37.5 acres and includes 33 listed buildings. Plans are in place for the creation of c. 800,000 sq ft office space and 2,500 residential apartments over the next decade. The redevelopment of Granary Wharf by Isis Waterside Regeneration has recently been completed and includes a 13 storey Mint Hotel.

Work is currently underway on the historic Tower Works site, with regional development agency Yorkshire Forward having invested £20 million in the redevelopment. This will initially secure listed structures on the site, including the three landmark Italianate towers, and convert two listed buildings to provide 18,000 sq ft of serviced office accommodation and community space, aimed primarily at the creative and digital industries. This initial phase will also kickstart further phases of development by private sector investors.

 

EASEL (East And South East Leeds)

EASEL is a major housing renewal-led regeneration project aimed at transforming some of Leeds’ most disadvantaged neighbourhoods through physical, social and economic regeneration over the next 15-20 years. One of the largest regeneration projects in the country, it covers an area of 1,700 hectares, and includes building more than 5,000 new homes, in addition to new neighbourhood centres, schools, health facilities and public realm. The first phase is currently underway, delivering 750 new homes.

Leeds Arena

Development of a 13,500 capacity 'super-theatre' style arena on Clay Pit Lane, Leeds City Centre, to stage major concerts, shows and sporting events. Costing c. £80 million, the Arena will be operated by SMG Europe and contain a wide range of retail and leisure concessions. The arena will be a major attraction, helping to raise the city's profile nationally and internationally, and will provide a major boost to the regional economy. Construction is currently underway, with the arena due to open in Spring 2013.