Leeds Playhouse: Council approves £1m roof repairs

"Patch" jobs on the theatre's roof had failed to solve the problem, a Leeds City Council report said

A £1m package of repairs to solve a Leeds theatre's leaky roof has been agreed by the council.

Repair work will begin within days at Leeds Playhouse to tackle the "regular occurrence" of water ingress in several parts of the building.

The council-owned theatre reopened after a renovation in September 2019, before being forced to shut because of the Covid pandemic.

The Playhouse will repay the money through its own reserves and grants.

"Patch" jobs on the roof had failed to solve the problem at the Quarry Hill venue, a Leeds City Council report said.

Noting its importance to the city, the report said the Playhouse contributed "a huge amount to community development and social inclusion agendas".

It added the venue had a "formidable" track record of "engaging with all communities, particularly the most marginalised and giving them a voice that would otherwise remain unheard".

Winter weather

Opened by acclaimed actress Dame Diana Rigg in 1990, the theatre started life as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, before being rebranded to "Leeds" in 2018.

Although local authorities are normally supposed to put building contracts out to tender in the interests of value for money, the council enacted a waiver on that process because of the urgency of the works, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The report said: "The contractor has already developed a detailed knowledge and understanding of the project as a whole and, is best equipped to ensure that the works are delivered on time to coincide with the theatre's new performance season and before the onset of the worst of the winter weather."

The authority added that in light of this it was "considered neither practical or offering value for money to seek to procure another specialist contractor to undertake the works".