New playground and outside table tennis table delivered

New Churwell Park Children's Playground

This is the new Churwell Park children’s playground which is opened to the public for the first time today. It is an excellent scheme and incorporates many of the proposals that came through the public consultation process. The park has been financed through Section 106 Developer contributions but has taken slightly longer that planned to deliver. It is an excellent new children’s play area which the community has been campaigning for many years and will accommodate the wishes of both younger and older children. We are grateful for the patience of local residents who have had to wait for a significant time for the playground to be refurbished but we are sure that when they use the playground they will accept it was well worth waiting for!

On a separate matter we have also delivered a permanent outside table tennis table for ping pong enthusiasts next to Scatcherd Park. The table is a permanent and robust one and follows a successful pilot programme last year where residents were able to play table tennis outside at nil cost. The project was jointly funded by the Town and City Councils and aims to get people – both young and old – to get more active and to play table tennis outside for free. We are encouraging everyone to bring their own bats and balls and to give the new table a good work out.

Both schemes have taken a great deal of work to deliver and I am grateful for the support of my MBI colleagues on both the Town and City Councils for putting in the effort to deliver two brilliant projects that initially stemmed from the local community. We are community politicians and we listen to the communities we represent. Perhaps other political party’s – especially those involve in the EU referendum - could learn from this approach!

Laneside Farm Public Meeting Tuesday 7th June at 7pm at Morley Town Hall

Proposal for 550 homes on Laneside Farm Greenfield site

Dear Resident,
A Planning Application for 550 houses for a Greenfield Site at Laneside Farm in Churwell has been lodged by Persimmons Homes.
Morley Borough Independent Town and City Councillors are opposing this application for 5 separate reasons. The first is the levels of highway congestion on Churwell Hill and the associated increase levels of pollution. This proposal will make things worse. Secondly local primary and secondary schools are already full and cannot accommodate the additional 137 primary school children and 55 secondary school children this site would generate. There are presently less than a dozen spare places in primary schools across the Morley wide area. Our third reason for objection is that the local health centre cannot cope with the additional 2000 + patients this site will generate putting more strain on an already busy local health service. The fourth is that this is a valuable Greenfield site which offers a positive “greenbelt” barrier between Churwell and Morley. The fifth reason for objections is the site is also allocated as a Phase 2 site in Leeds City Councils local plan and releasing it for development is premature and unnecessary.

The Development is likely to be modelled on Persimmons Daisy Hill site with the majority being 4 bedroomed executive style housing with little affordable housing. This will still leave over 2,000 people on the Morley housing waiting list without offering any real hope for residents needing a home at an affordable rent.

You can raise your concerns about this application by attending a Public Meeting at Morley Town Hall on Tuesday 7th June at 7pm.

You can also lodge a formal objection by completing the attached objection letter and returning it to the address on the letter or leaving it at the Town Council Offices in Morley Town Hall.

We hope we can count on your continuing support to keep Laneside Farm a Greenfield site. We believe in putting people first - not Developers profits. We recently defeated Persimmons application for housing on a Greenfield site at Churwell New Village and defeated McDonalds at Tingley to prevent a fast food takeaway next to Woodkirk High School. Together we can win this campaign.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. If you require any further information please ring the Independent Helpline on 0781 3322737.

Yours truly

Morley Borough Independent Town and City Councillors