The proposal that looks to replace The Core Shopping Centre with student accommodation has been given the green light.
The Core Shopping Centre is soon to be demolished and replaced with purpose-built student flats and a shopping scheme on the ground floor.
The development will include 807 student bedrooms and around 36,000 sq ft of retail space, including two new arcades.
The huge project will be spread over three blocks and will feature low-carbon air source heat pumps, low water consumption fixtures and fittings, and low energy and controlled ventilation and lighting.
Image: DPP Planning
Each of the three buildings will be connected by lightweight bridges running along the western edge of the site.
Formerly known as The Headrow Shopping Centre, The Core was built in 1987 and includes shops such as Matalan, Poundland, Burger King and Blacks.
A report suggests the recent addition of the Trinity and Victoria Gate shopping centres in the city has severely impacted The Core’s ability to fill its retail space.
The initial report, by the Local Democratic Reporting Service, said: “Many key stores are vacant, significant sections are totally vacant and a number of other occupiers have confirmed their intention to vacate the building when their leases end.”
Image: DPP Planning
Paul Miles, construction director at Fusion Group, said: “Achieving planning permission on this scheme is a reflection of the commitment from our team to create a truly exceptional development that benefits both its future residents and the people of Leeds through much improved public realm and commercial space.
“We look forward to beginning construction on a scheme that will support residents to enjoy an active lifestyle, excellent focused study spaces, and an all-around well-balanced time throughout their academic years.”
The tiramisu hype lives on, and this time it's coming to Leeds.
It really does feel like the traditional Italian dessert has taken the world by storm as of late.
Everything from tiramisu cups and tiramisu coffees have been popping up all over our feed, and now tiramisu in drawer form is popping up in the city centre.
Misu Tiramisu is an independent business that began at Manchester's Christmas Markets and quickly became one of the most popular operators, all thanks to its miniature tiramisu ‘drawers’.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The individually portioned and colourfully packaged desserts quickly became one of town’s top puddings, and owners Aleem and Aishah went on to launch a stand inside the Manchester Arndale too.
And now they’re branching out again in Leeds inside Trinity shopping centre for a two month residency.
You’ll find all their delicious flavours of handmade tiramisu, including classic, pistachio, chocolate, Biscoff, mango, and lemon - they'll also have some gluten-free tiramisu on offer as well, so no one has to miss out.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Misu Tiramisu owners Aleem and Aishah spent a year refining the recipe for their tiramisus after a trip to Milan, first launching with their first market stall in Sale.
Misu Tiramisu is now open inside Trinity shopping centre opposite Boots Opticians and Pop Specs.
They're open every day of the week for you to get your tiramisu fix, from 9am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday.
And trust us Leeds, they're just as delicious as they are adorable.
Fossilised 320-million-year-old fish found in Leeds’ Roundhay Park
Clementine Hall
A prehistoric fish fossil has been unearthed at Roundhay Park in Leeds.
The fascinating prehistoric skull bone of a coelacanth fish was discovered by a geologist at Roundhay Park earlier this year.
It is thought the creature was frozen in time aeons ago, during an era when the park was submerged under a vast tropical lagoon.
The remarkable discovery has now been kindly donated to Leeds Museums and Galleries and added to the natural sciences collection at Leeds Discovery Centre.
Image: Leeds City Council
The Leeds fossil was found by Ru Smith of the Yorkshire Geological Society during a reconnaissance walk he was carrying out ahead of a planned field excursion in the north Leeds park.
Describing the moment he made the discovery, Ru said: “There’s a layer of rock in the park which dates from around 320 million years ago, from a time before the breakup of the continents, when what is now the park would have been situated close the Equator and under the warm waters of a tropical lagoon. West Central Africa would be a good place to find similar environments in the present.
“There’s a bed of freshwater mussels called Carbonicola at one level in the rock, and opening a piece of shale from this bed in my hands I saw something unusual – a distinctive skull bone of a large fish. I knew straight away this was something different and very rare."
The bone was verified byexperts as belonging to a coelacanth older than those found elsewhere in Yorkshire, making it the oldest fossil coelacanth discovered in the region.
Ru added: “Coelacanths are pretty amazing fish and it’s just very cool to think that at one time, you could have been standing in Leeds and watching them swim around above a bed of mussels in Roundhay Park.
“That’s really the wonder of geology, looking at the rock and time travelling in the imagination to what was a very different world.”
Clementine Hall -
18th March 2024 
