Leicester City Council has defended its decision to spend millions of pounds refurbishing one city centre street. The local authority said the £5.53 million it spent on Granby Street went on “essential” improvements.
The shopping street is the “first introduction” to the city for anyone arriving by train, city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said. It was, therefore, “important” that the area “makes a good impression”.
His comments come after a Freedom of Information request submitted by Liberal Democrat councillor Zuffar Haq revealed the Labour-run authority had spent the amount on schemes in Granby Street since 2008. The sum includes £1.56m on pedestrian improvements in the street since 2022.
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Councillor Haq has branded the spending a “waste”, particularly at a time when the council is making cuts to services and resident support due to financial difficulties. He said he believed the authority should instead be “investing in other busy streets, flood defences, and our crumbling primary schools”.
Between 2008 and 2012, the council spent £3.97 million on schemes in Granby Street. They included £1.95 million on the Granby Street Gateway Scheme, which saw the pedestrian underpass which connected Granby Street and Leicester Railway Station filled in, and a new “super crossing” created, the FOI response shows. A cycle link scheme was also implemented along the route to Belvoir Street, at a cost of £1.325 million.
Over that four year period, the council received around £3.23 million in external grant funding for the schemes. A further £37,500 of the price tag came from developer funding. This means around £700,000 of council money was spent on the schemes.
In 2022, a £910,757 pedestrianisation scheme was carried out between Granby Street’s junctions with St George’s Way and Dover Street. Some £700,000 of this came from grants. The latest scheme, which covers the stretch from Dover Street to Rutland Street, is entirely council funded, at a cost of £651,171.
Coun Haq said: “I am shocked at the amount of money that has been spent on Granby Street. The street has been dug up and redone time after time.
“To waste so much money on one street, when we are cutting funding for Send transport, adventure playgrounds and council tax support... We should also be investing in other busy streets, flood defences, and our crumbling primary schools.”
LeicestershireLive asked Leicester City Council whether it believed the spending was justified in light of Coun Haq’s criticisms. Sir Peter said: “For anyone arriving in Leicester by train, Granby Street is their first introduction to the city centre, so it’s important that it makes a good impression.
“In recent years, the city council’s programme of phased improvements have helped to transform the area, with the council’s own investment in the street supported by nearly £4million of external funding.”
He added: “Pedestrianisation schemes, wider footpaths and extensive new planting have vastly improved the public realm, helping to make Granby Street a much more attractive proposition for businesses. As a result, we’re now seeing a near 100 per cent occupancy rate and a much more vibrant street scene, as new businesses move in.
“The gloomy subway, linking the railway station to Granby Street and a magnet for anti-social behaviour, is long gone - and with recent investment in shopfronts and heritage buildings complementing the works carried out on street, Granby Street is now a fitting gateway to Leicester’s historic city centre.”
We also asked the council whether there were any further plans for spending on schemes in Granby Street in the coming years. The authority said there “currently” were not.
