Consultation Results & Next Steps
View the results of the consultation, the next steps, and any design changes.
Armley Town Street
Consultation Results & Next Steps
Consultation Results
Thank you to everyone that fed back on our proposals for Armley Town Street. The consultation ran from Friday 19th July to Thursday 22nd August 2024 and received 447 responses.
Your feedback is important to us and helps to shape the proposals, alongside other information including traffic, pedestrian and cycling counts, bus delay data, and road safety information. We also consider proposals in line with our Vision Zero and Connecting Leeds Transport Strategy aims.
We have reviewed and analysed all the responses and, together with the other factors listed above, have subsequently made some changes to the scheme. These are summarised at the bottom of this page.
Below are the main findings from feedback received from online surveys, paper surveys at events, postal surveys and emails.
How do you feel about our proposals overall?
46% of respondents were positive or mostly positive regarding the proposals overall. 43% were negative or mostly negative and 11% were neutral.
How do you feel about the proposals overall (based upon type of travel)?
The chart shows the split between the type of travel and sentiment of the proposals overall.
- 54% of car/van users did not support the proposals, whilst 32% of them did.
- The majority of people walking (64%), using the bus (77%), and using private hire/taxis (54%) supported the proposals.
- Unsurprisingly, 94% of people who cycle supported the proposals.
Free text comments
Analysing the 250 free text comments, the most common themes were:
- Traffic concerns due to the road closures and changes on traffic flow. Concerns highlighted increased traffic on alternative routes, rat-running, and the potential for more accidents due to redirected traffic.
- Parking issues due to the proposed reduction of parking spaces on Armley Town Street and how this would affect businesses and how people access shops and services.
- Safety concerns, including the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, with suggestions for better crossings, traffic lights, and measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.
- Environmental improvements including adding more greenery, trees, and flowers to improve the aesthetic appeal of the area and creating spaces for community activities and local businesses.
Do you feel the proposals will help meet the scheme objectives?
The chart shows whether respondents agreed or disagreed as to whether the proposals would help to meet the scheme's objectives.
- 47% of people agreed that the proposals would help support economic growth by increasing footfall on street, whereas 43% disagreed.
- More than half of respondents agreed that the proposals would:
- help provide a cleaner, greener place to live, shop and spend time in (56%).
- improve public transport (51%).
- create a safer environment by reducing collisions (56%).
- make the street safer, pedestrian friendly and easier to cross (57%).
Results for individual proposal elements
Recommendations and design changes
Walking proposals
| Initial proposal | Feedback | Recommendation |
| Upgrading existing pedestrian crossings, as well as introducing new crossing provision. | High pedestrian counts on the street, high number of collisions involving pedestrians and 68% of respondents support this proposal. | Proceed with the proposal. |
| Introduction of continuous crossings on side roads along Town Street. | 51% of respondents supported this proposal. Alongside narrowing the carriageway and reducing speed, continuous crossings should help give pedestrians priority. | Proceed with the proposal. |
| Wider pavements along Town Street. | High pedestrian counts on the street and 55% of respondents supported the proposals. | Proceed with the proposal. |
Bus proposals
| Initial proposal | Feedback | Recommendation |
| Upgraded bus shelter and improved waiting areas. | High bus usage on street and 66% of respondents supported the proposals. However antisocial behaviour was highlighted as an issue. | Proceed with the proposal. We are considering improved lighting including in bus shelters for visibility. Leeds City Council are reviewing the current CCTV situation in Armley as well as holding discussions with the police, Anti Social Behaviour and Localities team to encourage more reporting of issues. |
| Bus stop relocated from Karpaty Bakery to in front of the White Horse Pub. | 32% of respondents felt negatively towards this proposal. When analysing the free text comments relocating the bus stop to outside the pub made people feel unsafe waiting for a bus here, especially at night and for women. | Do not proceed with the proposals. We are considering other locations to locate the bus stop. |
| Bus only section introduced on Town Street. | 46% of respondents did not support the proposal whereas 44% did. We have also taken into consideration the high bus usage, bus delays and congestion on Armley Town Street. | Proceed with the proposal. Surrounding roads may see a small increase of vehicles and local car trips may be slightly longer, however the proposals will bring safety and environmental benefits for those walking, wheeling, cycling or using public transport facilities on Town Street. Cars will use the main roads of Tong Road and A647 Stanningley Road instead. |
Car/parking proposals
| Proposal | Feedback | Recommendation |
| Removal of Taxi Bays. | 37% supported the proposal whereas 29% did not. | Proceed with the proposal. Taxis will still be able to use the short stay parking bays for pick-up/drop-off on Town Street. |
| New 30 min short stay parking spaces. | 49% of respondents supported the proposals. | Proceed with the proposal. Alternative longer duration parking is located in Home Bargains and Armley Leisure Centre car parks. |
| New Loading Bays. | 42% of respondents supported the plans. | Proceed with the proposal. |
| Disabled parking spaces relocated. | 39% of respondents supported the proposals whereas 35% did not. Issues raised included the limited amount of spaces and mis-use of blue badge bays. | Proceed with the proposal. The number of bays should allow for enough valid blue badge holders to accommodate for the demand and blue badge holders can park on double yellow lines. Use this link to report blue badge misuse. |
| Fewer parking spaces along Town Street. | 47% of respondents did not support the plans whereas 40% did. Officers undertook parking surveys to understand the demand for parking in the area and identified a number of free car parking including a council owned car park at the leisure centre. | Considering amendments to the proposal. Although our proposals will reduce parking spaces on Armley Town Street, we are exploring how we can limit the reduction of parking spaces in the design. Alternative parking is available less than 5 minutes’ walk from Town Street, with free parking available at Armley Leisure Centre as well as Home Bargains. The designs also include 7 blue badge bays, which can be used by those who hold a valid blue badge. |
| Speed Limit reduced from 30mph to 20 mph. | 71% of respondents supported this. | Proceed with the proposal. |
| The Gang closed to motor vehicles. | 42% of respondents did not support the proposal whereas 33% did. No further comments free text box comments were received regarding this. | Proceed with the proposal. Although most respondents did not support it, in order to provide a bus only section along Armley Town Street we would need to close The Gang to motor vehicles. Alternative access to the The Gang car park is via Athlone Street. |
| Section of Wesley Road closed to motor vehicles. | 53% of respondents did not support this proposal whereas 39% did. The main issues raised were the closure would move rat-running elsewhere onto other residential streets and that it is detrimental to residents and vehicle journey times. | Considering amendments to the proposal. We recognise that by putting the bus-only section on Armley Town Street, we need to protect families on residential streets from drivers rat-running and ensure cars stay on main roads. After analysing feedback and discussions with local stakeholder groups, Wesley Road will not have a road closure and will remain open to motor vehicles. However, we are recommending that the proposed road closure be relocated to Hall Road in between the junctions of Esmond Terrace and Back Esmond Terrace. This will help reduce the amount of rat-running on the residential streets of Hall Road and Church Road. By not proceeding with the road closure on Wesley Road we are also ensuring residents around the Chapel Lane area are able to travel westbound towards Pudsey and Bradford. Location of Hall Road closure:
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| Section of Theaker Lane closed to motor vehicles. | 52% of respondents did not support this proposal whereas 31% did. The main issues raised were the closure would move rat-running elsewhere onto other residential streets and that it is detrimental to residents and vehicle journey times. | Proceed with the proposal. We recognise that by putting the bus-only section on Armley Town Street, we need to protect families on residential streets from drivers rat-running and ensure cars stay on main roads. As a result we are recommending to proceed with the Theaker Lane proposals to protect the nearby residential streets. |
Street environment proposals
| Proposal | Feedback | Recommendation |
| Public space created for markets and events. | 62% of respondents supported the plan. However antisocial behaviour was highlighted as an issue. | Proceed with the proposal. We are considering improved lighting including in bus shelters for visibility. Leeds City Council are reviewing the current CCTV situation in Armley as well as holding discussions with the police, Anti Social Behaviour and Localities team to encourage more reporting of issues. |
| New trees and green landscaping. | 67% of respondents supported the plan. | Proceed with the proposal. Once implemented, Leeds City Council’s Parks and Countryside team will be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the green landscaping. The planting will be perennial and climate proof to ensure it does not require intensive maintenance. |
Next steps
A report with the above recommendations will be sent to Chief Officer of Highways and Transportation and the Executive Member for Economy, Transport, and Sustainable Development for a decision.
We will keep residents and stakeholders informed about the progress of the scheme, via Commonplace and Connecting Leeds communication channels.
If you have any further queries, please contact connectingleeds@leeds.gov.uk.
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Proposals and survey
Have your say on the proposals for Armley Town Street
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