A new era for New Briggate is dawning as this historic Leeds street gets the love, care, attention and investment that will help ensure its future is every bit as bright as its past.
A range of co-ordinated investments designed to make the character-filled and culturally-rich area even better for visitors, residents and businesses are now having a positive impact, contributing to the wider ongoing transformation of the city centre.
Highway infrastructure improvements – made possible by the permanent re-routing of buses to Vicar Lane as part of the £173.5m Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme (LPTIP) – were finished over the spring, with a new traffic-free space being created through the pedestrianisation of the lower end of New Briggate.
This space benefits from new trees, benches, a significant increase in outdoor ‘street café’ seating and the introduction of a new street-food trading pitch. Picnic benches have also been put in place for the summer outside St John’s Church while a children’s play area is due to be installed this month in neighbouring Merrion Gardens.
A further milestone is being reached this week with the opening of Kino, Opera North’s new 100-seater restaurant. Its arrival follows the completion last year of the £18m Music Works redevelopment of the opera company’s buildings on New Briggate and the adjacent Harrison Street.
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And today Leeds City Council can announce a major step forward for another project that is aiming to add some extra sparkle and shine to the area.
The council secured £1.3m worth of funding from Historic England’s High Streets Heritage Action Zones (HAZ) programme in 2020 to support the regeneration of New Briggate and give independent local businesses an ideal environment to trade and flourish.
Now, using part of that funding, the council has confirmed the award of its first New Briggate HAZ grant, which will be used to kickstart improvements to a line of four shops and commercial units opposite Leeds Grand Theatre, restoring their historic features and character.
Following a phase of initial preparatory work, their frontages will be given a facelift and timber sash windows installed, with extensive interior repairs and refurbishments due to be carried out on their combined upper floors. These upper floors have been vacant for a number of years and, once the overhaul is complete, they will be brought back into use as residential apartments.
Further HAZ improvement grants are in the pipeline for other properties on New Briggate with a view to making the famous old street a more attractive spot to visit, shop and live.
The deployment of traditional materials and the latest conservation methods will mean the revamped buildings complement landmarks such as the Grand Arcade and St John’s Church – the oldest surviving place of worship in Leeds.
The street improvements, jointly delivered through the HAZ and LPTIP, have also incorporated new Yorkstone paving and enhanced access on the approach to a set of steps that lead up to St John’s churchyard.
Other HAZ plans for 2022 include Heritage Open Days activity and a two-day festival of traditional heritage skills being held in conjunction with the Churches Conservation Trust.
The various strands of the New Briggate HAZ scheme complement the council’s highway improvements programme and external projects such as the Opera North redevelopment, exemplifying the joined-up thinking that is driving efforts to make Leeds city centre the best possible place for people to work, rest and play.
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