£3.4m investment in Leek’s markets gets green light

Ambitious plans to refurbish and modernise Leek’s historic indoor markets will start this Spring after planning permission was granted by the District Council.

The Council was awarded Levelling Up funding of £17.1m to provide enhanced retail, cultural and wellbeing amenities in the town and has also committed Council funding to the project.

Councillor Matt Swindlehurst, Cabinet member for Leisure and Tourism, said:

“This is the next exciting step in the transformation of these buildings. A lot of hard work has been undertaken to get us to this point and it means we can get started with the building works as planned in the Spring when we’ll really start to see these plans becoming a reality.

“These markets have been at the heart of Leek for hundreds of years and the investment we’re making now to modernise and rejuvenate them means they’ll remain so for many more generations to come.”

The installation of solar panels and air source heat pumps will help reduce the carbon footprint of these buildings in line with the Council’s aim of achieving net zero in its operations by 2030.

At the Butter Market, the plans include investing in retail spaces and shopfronts to improve the shopping environment, whilst the Trestle Market will be refurbished to provide a flexible retail and events space with three independent food and drink outlets and customer seating area.

The entrances on Derby Street and Silk Street will also be improved and a new access point, through a former opening leading to Derby Street, will be created. This will enable the Trestle Market to be open at times when the Butter Market isn’t to allow for independent operation of this space. The Derby Street entrance gates and original cast iron signage will be restored and redecorated.

As the market buildings are in the conservation area, features such as the glazed tiling and roof trusses will be preserved and the imitation slates on the roof will be replaced with real slate.

You can watch Councillor Swindlehurst talking about the plans for the Butter Market and Trestle Market on the Council’s YouTube channel.

The Council is working in partnership with traders to ensure that the inevitable disruption that comes with projects like this is minimised and that support is provided to help them continue trading whilst the work is carried out.

Find out more about the LUF programme on our website and listen to the Council Leader, Councillor Mike Gledhill, speaking about the project last year.

Pictured - Leek Butter Market on trading days.