Yorkshire Evening Post Leeds clock tower could yet be saved, councillors told

Developers Urbanite Ltd want permission to build around 1,635 student flats on the Wellington Street site, which had been home to the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post until 2014.

The site has since been demolished, except for the old clock tower, which used to display the time and temperature, along with the mastheads of both newspapers.

Despite a pre-application report by council officers suggesting the tower would be demolished, a Leeds City Council meeting heard this week that the tower could in fact remain standing, if it was possible to replace the clock and temperature gauge at the top.

A presentation to Leeds City Council's City Plans Panel also heard the site would include a "micro forest" and public art structures.

More in planning: Plan revealed to create 1,200 student flats and new events space on site of former Yorkshire Bank HQ in move developers say will add £13.5m to Leeds economySpeaking during the presentation, a representative for the developer said: "One of those public art structures will be a reinvented Yorkshire Post tower. The idea of that structure is that it helps deal with the micro climate of southwesterley winds, and it also gives us the ability to relocate the temperature and clock gauge from the existing tower, which is seen by many as a city icon of Leeds.

"We want to recreate what you see at the top of the Yorkshire Post tower at the moment, because the key is just bringing that identity back to the site. People see it at a low level and they identify where they are in the city."

This would appear to contrast with a report by Leeds City Council officers into the proposals which stated: "It is proposed that the existing clock tower on the site, which is a legacy of the former Yorkshire Post use of the site, will be demolished and 'reinvented' as a major piece of public art which will also act as wind mitigation."

Coun Caroline Gruen (Lab) said during the meeting: "I think I understand that your first intention is to restore the clock and temperature gauge if you can, and plan B is to reimagine it. I get that."

According to a pre-application report by Leeds City Council officers, "Building A" would rise from 13 to 40 storeys high, and feature around 1,065 "units" of purpose-built student accommodation - said to be a mixture of "cluster and studio apartments", as well as 1,352 square metres of "ancillary spaces".

"Building B" would be 30 storeys high, and include 550 student units, while "Building C" would sit at 25 storeys high and would include 320 general apartments.

Coun Graham Latty (Con) expressed concerns around the number of student flats on the site adding: "We had a council meeting which finished late last night, and it was a nice evening. As I drove home, I drove through a student area, and you couldn't move for the beggars!

"They were walking, cuddling, skateboarding, you name it - in the road!

"We are here, we are going to have an awful lot of students in a big building, and a not quite so big building full of people who've moved beyond being students.

"On a night like last night, are we happy that the space we've got for people to mix and mingle - bearing in mind that what students do is slightly different from what some older people might want to do, are we happy with what we've got on the ground.

"To me, everyone will be moving towards the river bank - that's where the fun is. That's where you can throw things in, and see things float past. It's not a very big area for all these people."

He was told there would be a management company looking after the public space, and that antisocial behaviour would be "managed".

The tower, which displays the mastheads for the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post, was part of the building which once housed the two newspapers. It once featured a large LCD display clock, which displayed the time and air temperature. The building was opened in 1970 by Prince Charles, but was vacated in 2014 and demolished shortly afterwards.

More detailed plans for the site are expected to be submitted to Leeds City Council in the coming months.