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Plans to demolish an old police station used in a BBC drama, and build flats in their place, have been publicly debated for the first time.

Weetwood Police Station, on Otley Road, closed in 2020 and has since been used as a set in the Leeds-based crime show ‘Better’, which aired earlier this year.

Now, Weetwood Developments Ltd want to put up 127 build-to-rent apartments on the land, though a decision on whether or not the scheme will go ahead is still months away.

The development would include a mix of one, two and three-bed properties and would also feature a designated ‘work from home’ area next to the front entrance for residents to use.

BBC One Better lead actors Leila Farzad and Andrew Buchan, left, and, right, Weetwood Police Station, where the drama was filmed.

But although councillors have welcomed the prospect of the site being regenerated, they’ve expressed concerns about the lack of proposed affordable housing and green space linked to the development.

Representing the applicants at a planning meeting on Thursday, Tim Waring said: “I think it’s a scheme that has a great amount of merit, especially in north Leeds where I know there’s a lot of pressure on housing, a lot of need for housing and where there’s a lot of greenbelt.

“Where we can create housing on brownfield sites such as this I think there’s great merit in that.

“We think it’s a very commendable scheme and meets the particular needs of this part of the city.”

An artist's impression indicating how the proposed scheme would look. Picture from Leeds City Council/Youtube.

However, the developers say they can’t deliver any affordable housing – properties that are offered below market value – on site.

They’ve offered to pay £700,000 to help create some elsewhere, but this sum is below what the council wants, given the scale of the development.

The applicants say inflation and increased labour and material costs are to blame for being unable to meet the authority’s demands.

But Labour councillor Paul Wray told Mr Waring: “You’ve chosen to buy the site, build on the site and you’ve chosen the (build-to-rent) model that you want.

“You’ll forgive us for having little sympathy for your argument.”

The scheme is also short on green space by nearly 1,500 square metres, when set against council policy for proposals of this size.

Councillor Wray added: “You need to do much better on the green space and community facilities that are on site in that regard.”

If eventually approved, work on the scheme would be likely to start at the back end of next year, the meeting was told.

Leeds police station location for BBC drama starring Andrew Buchan and Leila Farzad could be demolished