Leeds readies £16m Heart of Holbeck spend

Whitehall sign-off is required before the city council can trigger the programme to invest in community assets and home improvements, now rubber-stamped by the LCC executive.

Under the Levelling Up Fund programme run by the previous Conservative government, LCC had successfully applied for support for the Heart of Holbeck project, with £15.9m being committed.

The local authority is working with re-form Landscape Architecture on the project.

This is to be invested across three main projects:

• Refurbishment of the grade two-listed former St Matthew’s church, and the Old Box Office building, owned by Leeds Building Society. These will ultimately become the home of the charity Holbeck Together, which will take forward a multi-use social and events space and instigate a health & wellbeing activity programme backed by LBS, one of the nine founding members of the Leeds Business Anchors Network. In all, 4,900 sq ft will be developed.
• Local centre and Holbeck Moor Park: a redesigned local centre streetscape, with 2,100 sq ft of improved public realm, with enhancements to six acres of parkland. New access points, better through-routes, and open and inviting spaces are the goal; a new perimeter route will be introduced for walking, running and wheeling.
• Energy efficiency improvements in 240 back-to-back homes.

With these projects now agreed, the relevant council officers now have clearance to get on with the job of finalising designs and procuring construction contracts.

Improving health is at the centre of the project. The Holbeck & Beeston ward ranks 25th out of 33 in Leeds across nourishment, safety, shelter and medical care, with high rates of preventable premature death.

Contributing to this aim, an improved Brown Lane East would link the improved park with the new Holbveck sports hub. Pocket parks could be introduced across the area, along with a linear park.

Originally put forward unsuccessfully for LUF round 2, the project was re-entered when the government announced a third round in late 2023.

LCC was informed in May that its bid had passed through the validation stage – following clarifications that had been sought by Whitehall – but final sign-off for the funding was to have come in July/August, a timeline that was scuppered by Rishi Sunak’s calling of a General Election that his party subsequently lost.

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: “Leeds City Council is working closely with partners including Holbeck Together, to develop the plans for the Heart of Holbeck project after the bid was formally entered into the Levelling Up Fund – Round Three in May, subject to final sign off from government.

“The project aims to support the long-term health and resilience of the Holbeck community by delivering much-needed investment into key assets including Holbeck Moor Park, community buildings and the Local Centre, as well as improvements to the older terraced housing stock.  This will form part of our wider ambitions for regeneration in South Leeds, to realise its social and economic potential for the benefit of residents.

“In anticipation of delivering the project as soon as possible subject to confirmation of the funding and necessary approvals, an update report on the project was presented for discussion to the council’s executive board in July. The report was well received by the executive board and with our partners, work will continue to develop the Heart of Holbeck plans as we await further updates from the government.”