Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[RonnieTodger]

Such a grey cloud over the city at the moment. Things closing left, right and centre without anything new or interesting coming along.

[SemperEadem]

12 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Surprised that only 200 or so turned up in Glenfield for the city expansion protests.

Much easier to moan on facebook though.

[SemperEadem]

12 hours ago, brookfox said:

Devastating news about the comedy festival. Really hope it gets taken on, must create work in the city and give people something to go to.

Reckon the couple from the Black Horse who are going might take it on?

[Tommy G]

2 hours ago, RonnieTodger said:

Such a grey cloud over the city at the moment. Things closing left, right and centre without anything new or interesting coming along.

If you had a lump of money would you invest it in the city centre? Better option to flush it down the toilet. 

[Wymsey]

1 hour ago, SemperEadem said:

Much easier to moan on facebook though.

Sounded very underwhelming given the perceived number of people (residents of the towns and villages involved) online who were completely against it.

 

But the decision could actually benefit the whole areas in question in general in the long run.

[davieG]

13 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Surprised that only 200 or so turned up in Glenfield for the city expansion protests.

Well  it was mostly retired people I'd imagine others were at work or on holiday and it's hardly the easiest place to get to by public transport and there's no parking.

 

Should have held it in the City Centre in The Devil's (Soulsby) Lair.

[kenny]

1 hour ago, Wymsey said:

Sounded very underwhelming given the perceived number of people (residents of the towns and villages involved) online who were completely against it.

 

But the decision could actually benefit the whole areas in question in general in the long run.

It could also be terrible.

[Officer Doofy]

14 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Surprised that only 200 or so turned up in Glenfield for the city expansion protests.

Why are they protesting at Glenfield? 

[RoboFox]

14 hours ago, brookfox said:

Devastating news about the comedy festival. Really hope it gets taken on, must create work in the city and give people something to go to.

Haven't the council said they'll take on the organisation for next years'?

 

Which let's face it, doesn't bode well. Besides, nobody's going to want to do it now with the payment debacle. The festival's reputation is ****ed.

[Zear0]

6 minutes ago, Officer Doofy said:

Why are they protesting at Glenfield? 

County Hall

[kenny]

5 minutes ago, RoboFox said:

Haven't the council said they'll take on the organisation for next years'?

 

Which let's face it, doesn't bode well. Besides, nobody's going to want to do it now with the payment debacle. The festival's reputation is ****ed.

Hopefully the original CEO comes back, he stood down in 2023 having run it for 30 years.

[Officer Doofy]

3 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

County Hall

I thought the county council were heavily against the idea? 

[davieG]

With the donut shaped County Council including Rutland where ever they put the 'County Hall' and without any District Councils it'll be a nightmare if you have to visit it. Ironically the best place for it would be in the City Centre as that's where 99% of public transport goes and would be relatively equidistant for most people.

[Wymsey]

1 hour ago, kenny said:

It could also be terrible.

What's the worst that could happen with it?

[kenny]

1 hour ago, Wymsey said:

What's the worst that could happen with it?

Essentially mess up parts of the county that are currently working. Many of the districts currently run at a surplus which means they are ran well. Market Harborough is just spending all its reserves it has built up (I think £10m, i might be wrong on the figure) so it can be used to benefit the area that has built it up.

 

People and businesses want to move to the districts, often by moving out of the city. The city (IMO) sees this as something they need to grab rather than reflect on why those areas are doing better.

 

Furthermore you have a council that should be very good (it isn't) at running an urban and city centre conurbation. It knows nothing about the rural economy and lifestyles. As such, it is highly likely that the rural areas that it has grabbed will do worse than they do at present.

 

Then we look at the silly (where silly can be equated to f*cking ludicrous) doughnut of the county, where its headquarters has been moved into the city. (Will the county have to pay business rates to the city??) It takes (with no traffic) over 90 minutes to drive from side to the other, its going to be a real pain to manage. Both authorities will have around 600k people making them 3rd and 4th largest in the UK (higher populations than Manchester). The government wanted around 500k but the plan for 3 authorities of 400k wasn't considered.

 

Its a clusterf*ck at best. It was comfortably the worst of the presented options. The County proposal was rubbish as it was too large, but at least the rural areas remained with a council that understands them.

[Narborough Road Fox]

54 minutes ago, kenny said:

Essentially mess up parts of the county that are currently working. Many of the districts currently run at a surplus which means they are ran well. Market Harborough is just spending all its reserves it has built up (I think £10m, i might be wrong on the figure) so it can be used to benefit the area that has built it up.

 

People and businesses want to move to the districts, often by moving out of the city. The city (IMO) sees this as something they need to grab rather than reflect on why those areas are doing better.

 

Furthermore you have a council that should be very good (it isn't) at running an urban and city centre conurbation. It knows nothing about the rural economy and lifestyles. As such, it is highly likely that the rural areas that it has grabbed will do worse than they do at present.

 

Then we look at the silly (where silly can be equated to f*cking ludicrous) doughnut of the county, where its headquarters has been moved into the city. (Will the county have to pay business rates to the city??) It takes (with no traffic) over 90 minutes to drive from side to the other, its going to be a real pain to manage. Both authorities will have around 600k people making them 3rd and 4th largest in the UK (higher populations than Manchester). The government wanted around 500k but the plan for 3 authorities of 400k wasn't considered.

 

Its a clusterf*ck at best. It was comfortably the worst of the presented options. The County proposal was rubbish as it was too large, but at least the rural areas remained with a council that understands them.

Why do you think they do better? What could Leicester City Council learn from them? 

I'm asking this as one who wants a better Leicester to live in. The problems seem to run very deep. 

[kenny]

12 minutes ago, Narborough Road Fox said:

Why do you think they do better? What could Leicester City Council learn from them? 

I'm asking this as one who wants a better Leicester to live in. The problems seem to run very deep. 

They have made their economic centres work for them. Look at fosse park Vs the city centre.

 

The only benefit to the city really is the tax grab, the rest of the reasons they have cited for the necessity don't really exist imo. They just want the money.

[Narborough Road Fox]

11 minutes ago, kenny said:

They have made their economic centres work for them. Look at fosse park Vs the city centre.

 

The only benefit to the city really is the tax grab, the rest of the reasons they have cited for the necessity don't really exist imo. They just want the money.

Sorry, perhaps should have made it clear that I meant a better Leicester in its' current form. Given the opposition from the people from the affected areas, I'm inclined to think the expansion shouldn't happen.  

[davieG]

[kenny]

1 hour ago, Narborough Road Fox said:

Sorry, perhaps should have made it clear that I meant a better Leicester in its' current form. Given the opposition from the people from the affected areas, I'm inclined to think the expansion shouldn't happen.  

Agreed.

 

The big mistake (only my own opinion) the city council has made is to fail to deal with the transport into and around the city. This failure has made people rely on their cars, which means you may as well spend your money or site your business in the county.

 

There has been too much focus on cycling and nothing on mass transit. They are proud of the electric buses, but these haven't improved the transport as they have just replaced existing services. Nottingham built a tram and now the city centre is full of development.

 

The train station shambles is far to reflective of the failures of the council.

[Parafox]

6 hours ago, Officer Doofy said:

I thought the county council were heavily against the idea? 

They are if you look at social media. Actually turning up in person is a different proposition.

 

Keyboard warriors don't tend to travel far.

[Parafox]

47 minutes ago, davieG said:

I'd be interested to see the response, if there ever is one.

 

The whole plan means that the reorganisation can be used by the City council to effectively "land bank" areas for further housing and other developments without the current borough or local councils having a voice. They’re being steamrollered.

 

It stinks. The people haven't been listened to. SPS has got his way and his cronies in Gov aren't going to consider any objections by the people actually affected. It's Gov policy and nothing is ever going to stop it especially when you have *** lickers like Soulsby leading the city council.

 

How on earth can Willoughby Waterlees, for example, be considered as part of the "city"?

Edited 7 August by Parafox

[davieG]

Plans have been unveiled for a £2.5m revamp of streets in Leicester's Cultural Quarter.

Leicester City Council said the scheme would involve new tree planting, installing new street lighting, drainage works, as well as works to footpaths and road surfaces.

The authority said the work would take place in Queen Street, Southampton Street and the St George Street link and take about seven months to complete.

Officials said they would make every effort to minimise disruption to residents and businesses in the area.

Geoff Whittle, assistant city mayor for environment and transport, said: "This new investment will enhance the area's unique character, support local businesses and make it easier for people to get around and enjoy everything the Cultural Quarter has to offer."

The council said it would host an information session at City Hall, on Charles Street, from 13:00 BST to 17:30 on Wednesday.

It will give people the chance to view the plans, discuss the work and ask questions about the scheme

[leicesterseddon]

On 05/08/2026 at 09:19, SkidsFox said:

As already mentioned it probably omits people who work there but live elsewhere. Very low figures for the City of London too, to demonstrate this.

Yes it just shows total income tax paid by the residents of different local authorities (not necessarily where economic activity is actually happening).

 

In and of itself it doesn’t affect the city council budget because income tax is paid to central government (although deprivation scores are relevant to the amount councils receive in government grant funding).

 

What is more relevant to the city council budget right now is 1) the base for council tax and 2) the base for business rates.

 

However, a future idea that has been floated by Burnham is to allow mayoral/strategic authorities to keep a designated % of income tax paid in their area in exchange for giving up some central government grant funding.

This would not currently apply in Leicester because (unlike Nottingham) there is currently no strategic authority. But it would be relevant if/when there is one. 

[The Quick Brown Fox]

I took a walk around the city centre for the first time in many years last week. I was shocked by the amount of homeless, junkies littered about. It's not like they are tucked away, there was one guy sitting in the middle of a doorway to one of the shopping centres just clearly off his tits. 

Disgusting how they let to rot, I know they need to want to help themselves but it's so sad they get that way. 

 

But yes the city is a dump.