Kirkgate Market needs £2m

Kirkgate Market in Leeds needs almost £2m of investment to bring it up to standard – but that won’t make it any better for shoppers, according to a new council report.

A report by the city council’s acting director of city development shows that £1.8m is needed for ‘imminent and essential’ jobs on the market, which is operated by the council. An extra £600,000 of repair work is also needed, the report said.

The city council is under pressure to cut £150m from its budget over the next four years, however. But the report says the repair works need to be carried out in 2011 and 2012.

‘The 1976 and 1981 buildings were erected as temporary buildings and are now well beyond the 15-20 year life expectancy of buildings of this type,’ it said. ‘The total budget cost for the work is estimated at £2.4m of which £0.6m is deemed to be for imminent works and £1.2m for essential works to ensure the indoor market complies with legislation.

‘Clearly this will present a real challenge to the council given the pressures on the capital programme.

‘These works will not materially improve the customer experience: they will not for example address issues such as the lack of ventilation in summer when temperatures can on occasion exceed 35 degrees centigrade or the very low temperatures in winter...or the sloping floor.’

The report also said that traders’ rents would not be increased at the market, ‘despite the pressure on the council’s budget and the general desire to increase income wherever possible.’

The council said that many tenants would be ‘disappointed’ that rents were not likely to be reduced in difficult trading conditions, despite a drop in business rates.You can view the full report here.