Work on Dortmund Square in Leeds city centre – which will see a 10-metre-tall tree planted at its heart – has resumed.
From today (Jan 17) the project to improve walkways, street lighting and seating at the space located off The Headrow gets back under way.
Tools were temporarily downed over the Christmas and new year shopping period.
But now engineers are back to work to get existing flagstones taken up and a hole excavated ready for the new London Plane tree, planted to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Leeds City Council executive member for the environment Councillor Mark Dobson said: “Now the Christmas and new year periods have come and gone, we can get on and carry out this refurbishment project which will greatly improve the look of Dortmund Square and make it more attractive for pedestrians, shoppers and visitors.
“The new tree is going to be a great sight when it is planted and we look forward to completing the work so people can enjoy the new-look square for a long time to come.”
The tree will initially measure 10 metres in height, and will weigh 1.5 tonnes.
It will be placed in a specially-designed tree pit which will contain state-of-the-art engineering to allow for healthy long-term root growth and drainage.
Once fully grown it is estimated it will reach over 30 metres (100 feet in height) and live well over a hundred years.
Once the tree has been installed, the surface of the square will then be recreated with new flagstones put in place, while there will also be improvements to lighting, the existing benches replaced and CCTV cameras being realigned.
Leeds City Council’s parks and countryside and highways teams are leading the project, which is expected to be completed by the spring.
During this time parts of Dortmund Square will be closed, but access to the adjacent shops will continue via pedestrian pathways.
Disabled parking spaces on Mark Lane will be closed throughout.
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