Councillors praise Police Action on Travellers

We have praised Police action following the eviction of Travellers from Morley Sports Centre last week. Police exercised their powers to require the immediate removal of the Travellers and their caravans who left the site early on Wednesday evening.

The Police deserve our praise for taking action as quickly as they could and issued a Section 61 notice to require the Travellers to leave. If they had not exercised their powers then an eviction Court Order would have to be acquired which could have taken over a week to obtain.

The Travellers occupied disabled parking spots outside Morley Sports Centre early on Tuesday morning with the unauthorised encampment also occupying greenspace adjacent to the skate park. Leeds City Council made a none toleration decision on the Tuesday and MBI councillors made a formal request for the Police to use their powers to evict after Council Officers undertook the welfare visit they are legally obliged to undertake.

The Police have powers under Section 61 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which requires Travellers to move immediately should a Police Officer issue such a direction. The Police only use these powers selectively and I am pleased they chose to use a Section 61 direction to clear the unauthorised encampment as quickly as possible.

The section 61 notice also bans the travellers from returning to the site within a 3 month period or face court action.

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at Churwell Park

The Mayor of Morley formally opened the new children’s playground in Churwell Park by cutting a ribbon at a short ceremony this Sunday.

The new playground, which cost over £100,000, was built by Parks and Countryside Staff at Leeds City Council with money generated from a Developers greenspace contribution from a new housing development at Daisy Hill in Morley.

We are delighted with this new children’s play area and it has been welcomed by the local community. The playground was built following a large-scale consultation with local residents, Churwell children and Churwell based groups who decided the final design. It is a brilliant playground but we intend to look at improving it further perhaps with a smaller slide for toddlers as well as other play equipment.

The ceremony was attended by Churwell City and Town Councillors and was also supported by Churwell Environmental Volunteers, Churwell Bowling Club and Churwell Action Group who put on stalls and community games for residents and children to play.

We have worked closely with our Churwell Town Council colleagues to find the finance for this project. This is an excellent new children’s playground and we are already looking for additional finance to improve Churwell Park further.

A thousand objections lodged!

Laneside Farm - Churwell

A controversial housing plan on a Greenfield site in Churwell has already attracted a thousand objections with the numbers rising on a daily basis. The planning application for 550 houses - from Housing Developer Persimmons - at Laneside Farm in Churwell has seen residents lodging objections in large numbers since the plan was proposed in June.

I am delighted at the number of objections that have been lodged. A thousand objections show the strength of opposition to this proposal from the local community and how they want to protect an important local Greenfield asset.

The number of objections hit the thousand mark after Morley Borough Independent Town and City councillors put out a flyer and proposed objection letter to all residents across Churwell.

We are grateful for the support we have received from residents. We are objecting because 550 houses on this site will overwhelm Churwell Hill with traffic - worsening congestion that already exists. It will also mean local schools and health centres will be unable to cope with the demand for their services. This Greenfield site is one of the few remaining sections of a green belt which separates Churwell from Morley and we will continue to campaign to save it from overdevelopment.

The decision on the planning application will be taken by Councillors at a Plans Panel with a final decision not expected before the end of the year. Residents can continue to lodge representations up until a final decision is made.

Magpie Lane success

This is a picture of the new Playground on Magpie Lane. The project cost £120,000 to finance and has been warmly welcomed by local residents. My colleagues Cllrs Elliott and Varley have been campaigning for around 18 months to get it refurbished following concerns raised with them by local residents who were commenting on how old and tired the playground looked.

The finance for this playground comes from a Developer contribution that they are obliged to make when they develop new homes in Morley. In this case the funding was linked to the site being presently built on Wide Lane at Owlers Farm. The playground was developed after consultation with local residents and their children, the local primaries and other children’s groups. It is a fine playground with equipment that varying ages of children can use.

We are aiming to bring a similar playground to Lewisham Park later this year or the beginning of next year as Lewisham has no play equipment for younger children. We may have identified the funds needed and more news as the campaign develops!