'It would double capacity': Bar owners at Morley Bottoms unite behind calls to pedestrianise route at weekends
“It would allow us to open this entire space up, almost like a venue”
Bar owners at Morley Bottoms have joined forces to call for the popular hotspot to be pedestrianised at weekends.
Home to a plethora of independent bars, the junction at Morley Bottoms was initially permanently closed to through traffic in 2021, but was later fully reopened in 2024 following concerns raised by residents on nearby Corporation Street, Troy Road and Zoar Street.
Despite the closure offering would be punters increased outdoor seating and a more peaceful drinking experience, residents criticised the wasted space during colder months of the year and the build-up of traffic congestion on other key routes.
As part of the Yorkshire Evening Post’s weekly In Your Corner series, exploring the issues that matter to you, we spoke with the owners and managers at three of Morley Bottoms’ favourite watering holes about how pedestrianising the route at weekends could boost business.
“It needs to work for everyone, that’s the key,” Frank Tighe, owner of Seven Hills bar, said. “When people are commuting to work they need this road open, but after 7pm on a Friday very few people are commuting so you could close that road and have very little affect on the surrounding people.
“But it would have massive effect on us and our trade. We’re all very friendly down here and it would allow us to open this entire space up, almost like a venue, where we’re all in this together and collimate that community spirit.”
Recognising that a full-time closure would cause too much needless disruption, Frank and his compatriots have proposed a Call Lane-style closure of the stretch, operating from Friday evening to Monday morning, during the spring and summer months.
A full closure was initially implemented at Morley Bottoms as part of the Morley Town Deal in 2021, a £24.3 million investment program funded by the UK Government, but local leaders were accused of rushing the changes through without proper consultation.
The project, which involved closing the lower end of Queen Street to general traffic and increasing pedestrian crossings, was aimed at reducing pollution in an area of high build-up, but drew criticism for merely shifting all through traffic to nearby Corporation Street.
As the summer approaches, maximising outdoor seating is a priority for all bars, and Mick Steel, owner of Prospect bar, believes that re-pedestrianising the route would improve the overall pub going experience for everyone.
“Since it’s reopened, its not great,” Mick said. “We do our best putting the tables out, but you can hear the grates outside with the cars going over all the time and we have lost a lot of customers because of that.
“We realise that when the road was closed 24/7 it caused chaos in Morley and the bars sort of became the enemy, so we just want to compromise and find a happy medium. Summer time is our main trade, but it’s tough to ask people to sit next to a busy road and have a pint.”
As operating costs continue to rise, bars and pubs across the UK are coming under increased strain, and Morley Bottoms recently said goodbye to one of its own after the closure of the Kirkstall Brewery-owned Station Hop bar in February.
Group Managing Director, Roger Tattersall explained at the time that significantly increased costs meant that a “venue of this scale can no longer operate in a way that is financially sustainable for us.”
Despite these struggles, Morley Bottoms recently welcomed its newest occupant, Dye Works, who are currently working with Leeds City Council to obtain a Pavement Licence, which would allow for the installation of a limited outdoor seating set up.
Opening in December, bar manager, Katie Leham told the YEP, that an expansion of the areas outdoor seating would see them almost double in capacity.
“Our capacity would pretty much double, if we had that outdoor seating area,” she said. “Especially in the summer time you want people to be able to sit out and just enjoy it, but there’s no space to do that when there is a load of cars going past.
“It would be great to have that road closure, even just a temporary one every weekend. That would be the best of both worlds, as people could still get to work and pick the kids up from school, but then we could have that outdoor seating area for everyone to be able to come and just enjoy the sun.”
The local bar owners are also hopeful that such an expansion, combined with being within walking distance of Morley station, would allow them to be added to the famed TransPennine Real Ale Trail, which currently runs from Stalybridge to nearby Batley.
While a surge of young professionals and first-time-buyers has seen the market town thrive in recent years, Morley Bottoms and lower Queen Street has found itself competing with upper Queen Street, which has become a focal point for shoppers since becoming pedestrianised itself.
With retractable bollards already in place, the Morley Bottoms scheme was designed to allow for set closures and Leeds City Council has said that they would welcome discussions with ward councillors to make any weekend closure proposals possible.
An authority spokesperson said: “The current highway arrangements are in place following extensive discussions and engagement with local representatives over the last five years.
“The scheme has been designed so that it could be closed for set times of the day or week, or for specific events, by raising the retractable bollards, subject to the appropriate traffic regulation order being in place. The council would be pleased to work with ward and town councillors on any such proposal.”