Plans are being drawn up by developers Evans of Leeds for an 800,000-sq ft retail/hi-tech/leisure scheme on a 91-acre site south of Leeds.
Evans have been selected by the site’s owners, the Yorkshire Water Authority, to investigate the best form of development for what is currently the Churwell Grange Sewage Works.
The initial proposals are for around 500,000 sq ft of retail space, 150,000 sq ft of hi-tech and 150,000 sq ft of leisure facilities.
Situated adjacent to three motorway junctions — those of the M62, M621 and M1 — the land is surplus to water authority requirements. Should the planning application, which will be lodged before the end of the year, prove successful, Evans will buy the site from the authority.
The only other comparably sized out-of-town proposal for the Leeds area is that submitted by Mountleigh earlier this year on a 50-acre site west of the city in Pudsey — also situated on the ring road.
In April, Mountleigh made an application for 500,000 sq ft of shopping, a multi-screen cinema, hotel, sports facilities and a new British Rail station.
Following the planning authorities’ failure to determine the application within two months, the developers have registered an appeal with the DOE and submitted a second application which is currently the subject of consultations with the council.
