Armley is set to benefit from a £75,000 grant to boost trade and the vitality of the Town Street area, council documents have revealed.
Leeds City Council’s local centres programme has awarded the money to Armley as part of an overall city-wide programme to support the vitality, viability and resilience of town and local centres.
It hasn’t been decided exactly what the money should be spent on in Armley, but a council report released this week says initial ideas include:
- Introducing signage at the bottom of Branch Road to welcome people to Armley Town Street shopping area;
- Increasing the number of street markets on Armley Moor and Town Street and the creation of flexible public realm areas to enable this;
- Improved street lighting on Armley Town Street;
- Provision of public toilets on Armley Town Street.
The report adds that Armley councillors have agreed to use the £75,000 as match funding towards a separate £2.9 million scheme to revitalise Town Street, funded by Active Travel England, the government’s executive agency responsible for making walking, wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for people to get around.
The scheme was announced last May and WLD understands could include the partial pedestrianisation of Town Street and the installation of a bus gate. Public consultation – which was called for in July last year – is still to be held over the £2.9m scheme, with last week’s Armley Forum meeting being told no consultation would be held until after May’s local elections.
The local centres report published yesterday added: “The £75k of [local centres] funds will create added value to the Armley Town Street Active Travel scheme with a series of project ideas being promoted by the Armley ward members in conjunction with local stakeholders that will generate additional footfall to the town centre thereby supporting local businesses and the local economy.”
It is anticipated that work on the main Active Travel Armley Town Street scheme will start on site towards the end of the 2024/25 financial year and be completed by the end of the 2025 calendar year.
The local centres report can be read in full here.
WLD reported in 2018 that local centres funding was originally due to be spent on a ‘New Wortley Gateway’ scheme. Improvements includes potential green space and public realm enhancements to the corner of Green Lane and Tong Road, but it is understood those proposals never progressed.
Maybe this should be brought up at the next Armley forum? We already have signage at the bottom of hall lane, which is neither use nor ornament, public toilets were removed years ago for safety reasons (drug dealing and other not so favourable reasons) the implementation of extra street lighting won’t stop the drug and drinking, it will probably make it a more nicer place to stay longer….as for more bike riding we have more bikes on the pavement and e than ever before. As for stalls on Armley more…think about the residents who live near the moor? And the dog fouling on the moor and the horses on the moor and the feast on the moor. Armley town street will never change unless you get better law enforcement on it and parking wardens to get control. Nobody that I’m aware of are on Armley Town Street after the shops have shut apart from those wishing to buy alcohol or possibly drugs