Your chance to shape the future of Leeds market

People in Leeds are being asked for their views on the future of Leeds Kirkgate Market.

A detailed consultation is launching today (Wednesday 9 May) to canvas thoughts on what the market should look like in the future.

Architectural and design specialists Norfolk Property Services (NPS) are to lead on work into the feasibility studies that were agreed at the council’s executive board earlier in the year.

Before the feasibility work commences, there will be a consultation which will seek to gather together the ideas, experiences and expertise from a wide range of people across the city who have an interest in the future of the market. The consultation will run until mid June 2012. Once this information has been captured, NPS will evaluate five options, which will fit with the views received across the city.

The consultation will take place in two phases. The first phase will collect all possible information which can then feed into a 12 week phase of design, where NPS will pull together five options for what the market could look like. In the second phase these options will be presented to the public and we will be open to feedback on the designs.

There will be a wide range of ways to get involved in the consultation from completing a paper or online survey, to meetings, discussions and workshops. Traders, as on of the key stakeholders in the market, will be asked to attend workshops and submit their views on the future of the market.

The online survey is available to complete at www.leedsmarkets.co.uk/strategy and paper copies of the survey are available at the Kirkgate Market information centre and in libraries across the city.


Councillor Gerry Harper, Leeds City Council markets champion said:

“We want to make sure the views of the city, and everyone with an interest in the market play a big part in this next step towards looking into the options for its future.

“The council is committed to keeping the market under its ownership, and we know what an important role it has to play in the retail offering in Leeds. Its future has been widely debated already, but we now need to make steps towards making definite decisions with help of people across the city.

“We know that the traders at the market will play an important role in the consultation, and we will be engaging with them in a number of ways to make sure their voices are heard.

“Once we have had a chance to gather views from both consultation periods we will take a report to the council’s executive board in January 2013 with a number of recommendations based on these findings.”


Ends

For media enquiries, please contact;
Cat Milburn, Leeds City Council press office (0113) 247 4450
Email: Catherine.milburn@leeds.gov.uk