White Rose Centre

[Leedsfella]

Originally Posted by Aaronj09

A lot of companies (and councils) waste money on crap that nobody wants or needs.

I know.

Like the red, black and white gates at the crossgate's round-about.

But I cant see First overhauling the countries bus shelter's.. that would cost a fair amount of money, and it really is unnecassary.

[Aaronj09]

Aye, so are those stupid gates at Cross Gates. (and I guess this brings up the whole topic about First having too large of a monopoly on Leeds buses, which can wait til another day I think)

[Suburban Knight]

Originally Posted by Leedsfella

But I cant see First overhauling the countries bus shelter's.. that would cost a fair amount of money, and it really is unnecassary.

That isn't First's job, it's Metro's. They also maintain the local rail stations, and they REALLY need to put live departure screens at local stations like Burley Park, Horsforth etc!

[lazygamer]

Originally Posted by Suburban Knight

They also maintain the local rail stations, and they REALLY need to put live departure screens at local stations like Burley Park, Horsforth etc!

Northern manage most of the local stations, Metro however have maintained their branding on most of the smaller stations (and its Metro that spend money on things like departure screens). Northern mostly paid for the roll out of improved cycle storage (and the cyclepoint at Leeds station).

[Leeds No.1]

It's been steadily eroded over the years though; the entire rail network once had Metro branded trains and stations. Now the trains all carry private liveries, the station signs are now in Northern branding not Metro (even though there's still an M on the sign), and station furniture has slowly changed from being in Metro corporate colours to Northern's.

[STOPGO]

Called at the new location for the W.H. Smith store yesterday and thought it was a big improvement on the original White Rose Store. The store was all on one level and with ample space to browse and shop.

[Leeds No.1]

So where's the new WHSmith and what's in place of the old one?

[STOPGO]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

So where's the new WHSmith and what's in place of the old one?

The old store is empty. The new store is just round the corner from the old store, it's to the left of Vision Express has you look at V.E. and more or less opposite Superdrug.

[Austin_rothwell]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

So where's the new WHSmith and what's in place of the old one?

New Look is moving to the old WHSmith unit and supposedly according to documents, Superdry will then move in to the current New Look Unit next to Debenhams

[bd250110]

New look "quadrupling in size" to 16,000 square feet. There are another 40,000 square feet in the pipeline, apparently.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/busin...uits_1_4174961

They say supply at WR has always outstripped demand. I do wonder about some of the units in the middle of the centre, under the food court. Some of those have been empty for quite a while.

[Leeds No.1]

They'd attract a load more people if they had a station.

The expansion is to individual stores, not a new wing or anything major like that.

[Leeds1972]

Originally Posted by Leeds No.1

They'd attract a load more people if they had a station.

I'm not so sure about this (although I agree a station should be built). Surely the main attraction at WR and similar places is the free parking. If you are going by train (at least from outside Leeds), you might as well stay on the train to the city centre for a much wider range of shops plus cafes, pubs etc.

[lazygamer]

Originally Posted by Leeds1972

I'm not so sure about this (although I agree a station should be built). Surely the main attraction at WR and similar places is the free parking. If you are going by train (at least from outside Leeds), you might as well stay on the train to the city centre for a much wider range of shops plus cafes, pubs etc.

Agreed. A station at White Rose would be good from a public transport perspective. However it wouldn't have the impact Meadowhall would have (as Meadowhall is as much a full bus/train/tram interchange station as it is a station for the Meadowhall centre). A White Rose station would just be a halt, or at best a connection for the various bus services (which mostly go to locations the train already would).

[Leeds No.1]

I don't fully agree. Yes, many people would still stay on until City, but White Rose has the attraction of containing all shops in a small area under one roof.

For those trips where you're just popping into town to get a specific thing, or for rainy/cold days, I can imagine many might prefer to go to White Rose.

[Leeds No.1]

EXPANSION PLANS AND CINEMA ANNOUNCED AT WHITE ROSE CENTRE



A planning application for a cinema, four new catering outlets and additional retail space, including extensions to the existing Debenhams and Primark stores at White Rose Shopping Centre, will be submitted to Leeds City Council later this year.

Land Securities, which owns and manages the centre, will seek permission for an additional 120,000 sq ft of retail space and 65,000 sq ft of leisure space at the 76-acre site.

If approved the expansion will bring hundreds of new jobs to south Leeds, adding to the 3,500 already employed at the centre.

Land Securities’ portfolio director Gerald Jennings, said:

Since its opening in March 1997, White Rose has proved extremely successful, attracting up to 13 million shoppers a year and providing employment for thousands of local people.

An indication of the centre’s strong performance over the past 15 years is the fact that Debenhams, which has been at White Rose since the centre opened, is looking to increase its floorspace and Primark, which opened in 2006, also wishes to expand.

Mr Jennings, added:

If our planning application is approved, it will enable the expansion of both stores, see the introduction of new catering outlets and the opening of the only cinema in south Leeds, which will be a valuable amenity for the local community.

These improvements will add to the vibrancy of White Rose and contribute to its future success, while ensuring that the centre remains competitive and continues to provide employment opportunities.

This investment, combined with the £350 million that we are investing in Trinity Leeds in the city centre, is designed to strengthen the city’s overall retail and leisure offer.

The proposals for White Rose will be on display at a public exhibition being held at the Alexandra Hall in Morley Town Hall between 11am and 8pm on Friday 14th September and at White Rose Shopping Centre from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 15th September.

Mr Jennings, said:

We hope that as many people as possible visit the exhibition and give us their views as this will help us in shaping the planning application that we submit later this year.

[Leeds1972]

Being generally unsympathetic to out-of-town centres, I'm always a bit uneasy at the prospect of any new developments at WR, but I suppose if Land Securities own both WR and Trinity, they must know what they're doing and perhaps see the 2 centres as complementing rather than competing with each other. Also, it seems to be limited to expanding existing stores rather than creating new ones.

A cinema there seems a good idea - the public transport links to WR are better than for Birstall and would be vastly improved by having a rail station there.

[Skychaser 2005]

Great news for jobs and Leeds leisure/retail offering. With Leeds city centre retail scene growing at such a pace, I can't see this new expansion of WR affecting the success of the city centre. It's just a shame we can't seem to look a bigger picture when planning new developments as I would see the Ice Arena working well on this site rather than Elland Road.

[Leeds No.1]

With the exception of the arena, it's private investment so I'm not sure how much scope there is for planning in terms of a bigger picture.

LandSec obviously see enough demand in Leeds for both Trinity and WRC, but I wonder if they're doing it to make Eastgate less viable and have a bit of a monopoly on retail in Leeds.

Having said that, if you look at the target catchment for the WRC, it is primarily south and west Leeds as well as Dewsbury. It doesn't reach much beyond West Yorkshire, suggesting they see it as having a different role to Trinity, which is being geared up to be a centre that will attract people from across the north.

In this case, it probably wouldn't affect Central Leeds too much, but could have adverse effects on district centres like Morley or Pudsey, or town centres like Dewsbury or Batley. Dare I say it could make Bradford's Westfield even less likely than it already is..

[LeedsLad]

1) I can't see how they can expand any further on the current site without increasing car parking (presumably this development reduces car parking) OR funding a rail halt. I would urge everyone to comment on the need for a rail link once the planning application becomes available for comment

2) I presume the addition of cinema/restaurants is to give the centre far increased nighttime footfall, which in turn will make late night opening of the shops much more viable

3) I'm not sure the effect of White Rose is too bad on centres like Morley - Morley would never likely have an M&S/Debenhams/Primark etc so not really competing for the same customers.

4) As there are no real new shops proposed - just bigger existing stores, I don't see this will impact on Leeds City Centre shops much at all.

5) MORE investment/development news in Leeds - just seems to keep coming at the moment!

[Leeds No.1]

I've never seen all of the car parks full, including those at the back... They should start look at multi storey car parking now though.

Well, Debenhams at the WRC already has a better offering than that in Central Leeds, but then I suppose it's good to have a bit of balance where some stores are better at the WRC than in the City. I'm surprised that M&S haven't asked for more space in the same way Primark/Debenhams have; their store at the WRC is unusually small- although I have to say with limited space well utilised.