YEP Letters: February 9

Check out today's YEP letters
Kirkgate Market, LeedsKirkgate Market, Leeds
Kirkgate Market, Leeds

Parking issues killing market: your views

Parking issues are killing Kirkgate Market claim traders and shoppers. Lack of spaces and rising costs are hitting both sides of the stalls in the pocket as shoppers are being driven away. Some say they only come to the market once a year now as it is hard to park close by and veteran traders say they have seen custom drop by half in the last few years. They blame the Victoria Gate and John Lewis developments which were built on a carpark just a stonesthrow from the market and say the alternatives are just too expensive. The privately owned car park for Victoria Leeds costs £3 for one hour and £7 for three hours. To use the car park all day costs £30. We asked YEP readers for their views and here’s what some of them said on social media..

Karl Baxter

Leeds City Council have killed the market with their incompetence.

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I went a couple of weeks ago and it’s a pale shadow of its former self. The once bustling “Butchers’Row” now only has one butcher! All the fancy hoardings proclaiming some nonsense about how wonderful the market is plus the pointless “performance space” can’t hide the reality of the lack of traders.

Luckily the outdoor part still seems to be hanging on but I’m gutted that the inside is an echoing shell when it should be full of stalls and traders.

LCC’s laughable notion that John Lewis would encourage trade for the market fundamentally misunderstands the sort of people who shop at both places i.e. John Lewis – monied customers with the cash to buy their groceries in Waitrose; market – customers on a budget looking for bargains who can’t even afford the parking charges let alone anything in John Lewis.

Christopher Mark Norris

Parking in Leeds has got stupid. Went to a show at the Town Hall last Sunday and found ‘all’ the meters were turned off, forcing people to use an app (if you have a phone with you) which charges extra. Sunday used to be free, now it’s £5 plus the app’s charge which you have to remember to cancel or it seems it continues charging. I tend to go to Morley, Guiseley or Harrogate as it’s often free to park and you’re not constantly looking at the time worrying about getting a ticket.

Tammy Ward

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It’s great that the markets office offer £3.60 parking for two hours in the NCP if you have your ticket validated but it’s not publicised very well. Don’t go over the two hours though as anything above that starts from £12-plus, which is appalling. I previously used the market every Saturday morning when my parking cost no more than £2.50 but now I go maybe once/twice a month maximum as it’s too expensive to park.

Dawn Stanley- Donaghy

Our market is amazing. Shop there every saturday afternoon and get two full bags of veg for less than £5. Park behind music college for £2! Well worth it!

Stephen Brook

Leeds Council treat drivers and people commuting in general as a boil that needs to be lanced. Thou must not park and go to work, thou must not travel by bus to work, thou must just energise like they do in Star Trek to places – and if we did they would charge us £16.50 a day.

Shaun Dolan

The council wants to knock down stalls at the bottom of the outside market, including 19 fruit and veg stalls, to make a short-stay car park for 48 cars. They think this will help the market but obviously haven’t got a clue on how to run a market. The market is surrounded by car parks that nobody uses because they are to expensive. Just make them cheaper, that’s your answer.

Martin Walker

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Market always seems packed whenever I’m in there! Perhaps people just aren’t spending as much?

I’d rather go into the market than Victoria Gate.

Lisa Lumley Moore

Leeds market has been going downhill for years. I can’t see the point in the new “event space” and I agree over the parking. I rarely go to Leeds market any more, which is very sad.

George R Carman

LCC killed Leeds market 25-30 years ago, and now there are problems with car parks disappearing – it’s all down to LCC. Making money, discreetly slipping extra charges on without people realising.

Steph Sykes

The market has been going downhill for years, well before the development. I worked in there for over 10 years and it had a fantastic atmosphere, it hasn’t been like that for a long time.

James Coakley

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I love Kirkgate market, I come four times a year to get all the the cheap goods. I live in Peterborough. At one stage we were going to move to Leeds to live.

Ryan Thomas

It’s all part of a cunning masterplan to get rid the majority of the indoor market leaving, just the grand old building and maybe some of the outdoor market. If you want an authentic, old-fashioned market you will have to travel to the smaller towns around Yorkshire.

Philip Stogden

The market has been dead for a long while, It’s a shame, really, I used to love just going into the market, there were no empty stalls and it was heaving.

Michelle Buttery

Bring the price of the stall rents down and get the market full again .

Aiden Fryer

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Get yourselves to other markets in Leeds – Morley, Castleford, even Bradford Market is better than Leeds city centre these days.

Rick Poppa

creating the food/arts space that has nothing in it killed off the market – that and the fact that when there are places like Victoria and Trinity, why would people shop in a tatty market? Wake up!

Jodi Leah Clarke

I get the bus now but I accept that’s not ideal for everyone who can’t carry shopping home.

Thanks for your kindness

Mike Berry, by email

On Friday February 19 while on my way to Sun Lane swimming baths I slipped on the horrendous black ice in Wakefield town centre and unfortunately broke my left femur.

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I am writing to thank many people who were very kind to me in my hour of need. First of all a gentlemen from Kippax whose name I don’t know who was waiting for a coach to go on holiday to the Isle of Wight. Then Paul and Karen both from Stanley who were outstanding and stayed with me for the two hours while the ambulance arrived. These people kept me warm and comfortable in addition to talking to me.

Thanks to Phillip’s Hairdressers, Tovey and Little Dentists, Scope Charity Shop and Blades Barbers for providing a chair, blankets, towels, an umbrella and hot drinks.

The many passers-by who asked if they could help and the good number of taxi drivers who offered to take me to A and E.

On arrival at Pinderfields it was obvious there was a huge number of fall-related accidents. From constant media reports it is clear that the NHS at this time is in crisis but thanks to the commitment of all staff it works well and certainly met my needs. I was seen immediately in A and E and within three hours I was being wheeled into theatre to have my operation.

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Many thanks to A and E staff, the orthopaedic team, all staff on gate 42 at Pinderfields, ward 8 staff at Dewsbury and physio staff. They are all excellent thanks to their help I am getting back on my feet again.

Run to help beat meningitis

Michaela Ifill, Events Fundraiser, Meningitis Now.

We are urging everyone to lace up for the world’s largest half-marathon – the Great North Run – to help the UK’s largest meningitis charity beat the deadly disease.

Meningitis Now wants anyone lucky enough to secure a place to tread through Tyneside on Sunday 9 September for us, while the unlucky ones can grab one of our guaranteed Golden Bond places.

Full support will be given for the 13.1-mile challenge. Our runners receive a free running vest or T-shirt, a handy information pack with tips on how to prepare and an invite to our post-race reception with refreshments and complimentary sports massage.

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By running for us you’ll be helping to fight meningitis with every stride and move us one step closer to our vision of a future where no one in the UK dies from meningitis and everyone affected gets the support they need.

Last year our runners collectively raised a fantastic £34,635.41 – we are so proud of you all for taking on this tough yet rewarding challenge. This year we’d like to do even better.

Sadly, meningitis and septicaemia continue to affect thousands of people in the UK and kill more under-5s than any other infectious disease.

Help us fight back on all fronts by funding research to eradicate the disease, raising awareness and supporting survivors.

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To find out more and sign up email [email protected] or call me on 01453 768000.

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