A shopping centre in Leeds city centre could be demolished under plans set for approval by the council.
The Core Shopping Centre on The Headrow could soon be no more, as a proposal by the council looks to replace the space with students flats and commercial units.
Two new streets would be created as part of the new development, linking together King Charles Street and Lands Lane.
The proposal presented to the City Plans Panel said The Core Shopping Centre had been struggling to attract visitors over recent years.
Image: DPP Planning
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 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
The proposal which will go toward the panel on Thursday, looks to completely redesign the site using classical architecture as inspiration to create three buildings.
The reports said: "This suits the Chicago-style former Direct Line House directly to the north and the Italianate free style classical buildings on the south side and along Lands Lane.
"There have been a number of student residential developments completed within the north of the city centre in recent years, for example in the vicinity of the Merrion Centre.
"These have been successfully accommodated in a busy city centre context without causing amenity issues or conflict with existing businesses and civic uses."
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 -
12th March 2024 
