New 'affordable' flats plan approved on site of former Leeds community centre
New block of flats approved on site of former community centre
A new block of council flats will help address a housing shortage in the city after plans were approved.
Leeds City Council will build 21 homes on a vacant plot of land off Queenswood Drive in Kirkstall.
A four-storey building will house 15 one-bedroom and six two-bed apartments.
It will be on the site of the former Beckett Park Community Centre and the Queenswood Day Care Centre, both demolished in 2023.
A planning officer’s report said: “All dwellings are proposed as affordable, socially rented housing.”
The report said all the flats would have open-plan kitchen and living areas.
It said: “Large windows and doors are proposed to provide natural light.
“Parking is proposed for 15 vehicles, including two disabled spaces. Electric vehicle charging points are proposed for all bays.”
Two public objections were received, raising concerns over parking, road safety and the appearance of the building.
One objector was worried about “noise and disturbance associated with a higher intensity residential use.”
Council highways officers raised no objection to the scheme, subject to conditions in the planning application.
The report said there was heavy demand for one and two-bedroom properties in the Kirkstall ward.
It said: “City-wide pressures are also significant, with approximately 26,000 people on the Leeds City Council housing register and an identified shortfall of affordable and social rented homes.”