The Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC), including all licensing teams, will vacate its longstanding Hillcrest House, Harehills address in Leeds from 16 September. Those functions will move to premises in Leeds city centre at Quarry House on Quarry Hill, LS2 7UE.
Teams handling Public Inquiries for the North Eastern traffic area will also make the move, but for an interim period those Public Inquiries will be held at “other venues in the local area” until settling at Quarry House, which is expected during October.
Those called to Public Inquiry in that traffic area over the interim period have been advised to closely follow all details given in the call-up letter to ensure that the correct venue is travelled to. The final Public Inquiry will be held at Hillcrest House on 16 September.
Telephone numbers are not affected by the move but any correspondence, either for the central licensing team or the North Eastern traffic area hearing centre, should be directed to the Quarry House address from 16 September.
Those visiting Quarry House in the future have also been advised to follow all instructions given, including bringing photo ID for access.
The fate of Hillcrest House is not known, but in January 2022 a planning application was submitted to Leeds City Council by a developer for conversion of the building to 45 apartments. That application was withdrawn two months later.
A previous application for conversion to 60 apartments was approved by Leeds City Council in 2020 but did not progress. Leeds Civic Trust described the latter as a plan that would have left the building looking “like a poor-quality prison,” although it is understood that no unsuspecting operator has ever been detained at Hillcrest House by a Traffic Commissioner.
No further planning applications for the building are recorded on the local authority’s website.
