Part of Leeds’ bid to become the European Capital of Culture for 2023 included many schemes to celebrate what makes Leeds such a great city. And despite the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union rendering Leeds ineligible to bid for the title of European Capital of Culture, Leeds Council has agreed to stage an independent Leeds 2023 series of events instead.

Amongst the plans for Leeds 2023 was quite a bizarre suggestion. This was to build a lighthouse in the South Bank area of Leeds to celebrate the city’s connections with the arts. This week, the Leeds Lighthouse plans were approved with the local council confirming that an agreement was in place to get the project started with funding coming from local businesses.

The South Bank area of the city is receiving large investment and this will surely become a beacon of that. Many have, understandably, asked the question – “Why does the city of Leeds, a city near enough as far away from the sea as you could wish to be in the UK, need a lighthouse?”. But local businesses seem behind the idea with one supporter saying to the Yorkshire Post.

“The Leeds Lighthouse was one of most eye-catching ideas put forward by the people of Leeds, originally in support of our bid to be European Capital of Culture 2023. It has caught the imagination of a local business leader who is talking to us about funding the entire installation. There has have never been any discussion about council funding being used for this project.

“It will celebrate the iconic designs of the great Leeds Civic Engineer John Smeaton, and incorporate an international programme of light, sound and design commissions. It is just one highlight of a six year cultural programme culminating in 2023.”

It led to the team at Holdsworth’s Removals listing some of our favourite “weird but wonderful” buildings in the city of Leeds which included the following:

• Leeds Corn Exchange
• Leeds City Library
• Broadcasting Place at Leeds Beckett University.
• Roundhay Castle
• Bridgewater Place