I’ve had many rants about property developers, often because their plans are a cultural wrecking ball, and they force the closures of venues that are integral to our music scene. Sometimes, it’s because they pay no respect to architecture that deserves preservation, and sometimes it’s just because they destroy a beautiful skyline.
I wanted to write a piece about this a while ago, after walking up Kirkstall Road, where I saw that the old Arla Dairies building had been demolished. I was actually quite shocked, because I assumed it would be protected (it was a pretty distinctive building). Not long before that, I’d noticed new apartments creeping up around Tower Works, and I wondered how that also had been allowed to happen.
I used to joke that Tower Works was my muse. I have taken so many photos of the three towers whilst leaving or returning to Leeds, they feature in my sketchbooks, and finally, I have even written a poem about them – something I would find very funny, given my previous facetious remarks – except that the subject matter is quite depressing.
Anyone who has travelled to or from Leeds on the train will probably understand. The view of the towers was always one of my favourite features of the city, and I was definitely not alone in this. A recent post on Instagram from BIROGUY and all its responses echo my dismay at the loss of this distinctive landmark.
When I first saw new building works engulfing the area around the towers, I questioned my conclusion. Was I missing something? Surely, nobody could have signed off any plans that meant Tower Works would be almost completely obscured by new flats? As I wrote the poem (which you can read here, I posted it on The Unnamed Narrator blog yesterday), I still thought that perhaps I was wrong.
I have looked at the drawings of what the developers are planning, and I can see that within the surroundings of the dull but inoffensive apartment blocks that are going up, the towers look great. They looked even better with some space around them, and as something that could be viewed from a distance. I am not always negative about things – I have noticed and remarked on many improvements to the city in the past few years, but this is not one of them. While I can see that the area surrounding the towers needed regeneration, I think it could – should even – have been done in a completely different way.
