Alleygating proposal for Tingley Crescent

Morley Borough Independent Councillors are working closely with residents in Tingley Crescent to explore the options to have a ginnel gated off with an alleygate.

The proposal follows concerns raised with MBI Councillors about high levels of anti-social behaviour and other criminal behaviour associated with use of the ginnel that leads through to Bradford Road.

The support from residents have been overwhelmingly positive and on a recent visit to the ginnel I saw for myself the high levels of destruction and graffiti that blighted this location. An alleygating scheme was successfully introduced into Siegen Close several years ago which has contributed to lower levels of anti-social behaviour and to residents feeling much safer and more secure.

We are taking to Council Officers about how we take the appropriate legal process to have the site gated off and we have identified the finance to support this project and we hope to introduce it as quickly as it is legally possible to do so.

Playground Progress

I am delighted at the progress being made at Scatcherd Park Playground. Much of the new play equipment is already in while the larger central play piece - a large scale climbing frame is going in to the present sand covered section.

The playground refurbishment follows hard on the heels of other schemes we have delivered including Hembrigg and Hesketh Lane and we have further ambitions which will cover improvements at Dartmouth Park as well.

We are presently out to consultation for further work at Hesketh Lane to see if we can provide goals posts and perhaps some activities for skaters and skateboarders. We have had several responses back - some supportive - others no so supportive so we will need to balance the wishes and concerns of the local community before any further work is completed.

I understand the skate park re drawn plans are presently out to consultation and I hope we can progress this project in the not to distant future.

St Marys Public Meeting

I attended the public meeting to discuss the Planning Application regarding St Marys organised by my colleague Cllr Terry Grayshon. The meeting was well attended and mainly good humoured as many people raised their concerns about the application.

The meeting was addressed by a planning officer from Leeds City Council and the architect for the Developer both of whom answered very difficult questions in a fair and honest way. It became clear that most (if not all) of the attenders opposed the present application. The planning officer accepted that the present plan was likely to lead to a refusal on Highways, loss of amenity and impact on the conservation area grounds and the architect was sent a clear message from the meeting that the present proposal is unacceptable for the same reasons.

The architect has agreed to go away from the meeting with residents concerns and to re-work the proposal which, I suspect, will be scrutinised equally closely.

Perhaps any future meetings need to focus on what would be acceptable for the building. It is clearly unacceptable to all for any access to come off coffin corner and for any large scale block which impacts on Troy Road. It is similarly unacceptable to most residents for any attempt to interfere with the graveyard itself although there seemed to be a reluctant acceptance that if the graveyard remains undisturbed, a sensitive placing of grave stones may be more acceptable.

A proposal is being prepared which could see a lottery bid to convert the church to a heritage centre. I wish the proposal the best of luck but having being involved with lottery bids before I know that it can be a difficult challenge to convince funding bodies to stump up the cash. Our own Shirley Varley attended a funding board several years ago in Todmorden to ask for finance to support conversion of the church to a heritage centre but was refused because the building is a grade 2 listed one and not a grade 2 star building which apparently meant no finance could be offered.

I hope whatever happens in the future will deliver a proposal that will retain the church and avoid the need for any disturbance of the grave yard. If this can be delivered within a sensible planning application then we need to consider it fully.

A final footnote about Morley's BNP Councillors. The BNP Town Councillor Joanne Beverley couldn't be bothered to attend at all while Cllr Chris Beverley attended for 40 minutes , said nothing at all and then disappeared! On this occassions he wasnt a "no show" Nazi but more of a "bail out early" BNP Councillor.

St Marys needs to be preserved to continue to positively dominate Morley's skyline for the next 140 years. I hope a proposal will come forward in the near future that achieves this aim.

St Marys in Morley

I have followed the campaign relating to St Marys with much interest.

Many residents will be aware that the Morley Borough Independent Councillors on the Planning Committee rejected the planning application for the church because of concerns relating to highways and loss of amenity relating to the hotel block. They deserve credit for the serous approach they adopted and the decision they reached after hearing about all the relevant aspects of the application.

Cllr Shirey Varley also deserves credit for maintaining the church and its associated heritage for many years and her attempts over the last few years to turn the site over to Morley residents as a Heritage Centre. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, lottery and heritage funding was refused perhaps because of the initial £200,000 repair bill that came along with purchasing the property.

Much has been said about the sale of the church but I understand that the property was offered for sale through an estate agents but that purchasers were reluctant to purchase it because of the £200,000 repair bill associated with it. This process was open to anyone who had an interest but I am told there was little interest from anyone during this period.

The important principle as far as I am concerned is that the building is retained and the graveyard remains undisturbed. It is always possible that without a progressive approach the Church remains under attacks from vandals. It would be regrettable if such attacks led to the need to demolish the building as we will all lose out if the iconic skyline that includes St Marys is changed because of a failure to act positively.

I am interested in the community campaign to save the building but I hope that their actions so late in the day - which follows the valiant but unsuccessful work from Shirley Varley and her team to deliver this building to the community - are not doomed. Now is the time for plain speaking and to come up with realistic alternatives. It is not a time to play fantasy politics which will do little to protect the building and the graveyard in the long run.

The public meeting next week - organised by my colleague Cllr Terry Grayshon - is a welcome opportunity to explore a realistic alternative and I hope residents will attend and make their views heard.

Corporation Street New Housing - demolition starts

The new affordable housing for the over 55s seems to be moving forward positively with demolition crews taking out the old buildings for the significant new build to commence.

We have worked hard to deliver this scheme and we were the first - and only people - who suggested that this location could make way for homes to rent.

The old site was previously in Morley Borough Councils ownership and it appeared has been missed off Leeds City Councils asset book and was therefor available for this much needed social housing. The new 2 bedroomed properties will offer higher environmental standards and more appropriate accommodation for older residents - hopefully liberating other council homes for those on council house waiting lists.

The new homes should be up and available later this year.