Churwell New Village Public Meeting

Churwell Greenfields again under threat

Local residents filled a public meeting at Stanhope Hall in Churwell last Wednesday to discuss controversial plans by Persimmon Homes to bring over 50 houses to a Greenfield site adjacent to Churwell New Village. The meeting, called by local MBI Councillors, agreed to support a campaign to oppose the application because of Highways and Infrastructure concerns.

It was clear from the residents who attended the meeting that they opposed this proposal from Persimmon. They have major concerns about the capacity of the single spine road that serves the estate to take an additional 50 plus homes and over 100 additional car movements. They are also concerned that local schools and health centres can’t cope with the present demand on them from residents already living in the area and with the impact additional traffic will have on Churwell Hill.

The proposal breaches present planning rules that state that a single spine road serving an estate should not exceed 300 homes. The proposal, if agreed, would mean the single road serving almost 400 homes.

Cllr Bob Gettings tells me “We were asked by residents to launch a campaign to oppose this application should a formal planning application materialise. These additional houses cannot form sustainable development and - along with other sustainability issues – means local councillors will be working with residents to prevent the loss of this valuable Greenfield site.”

Drighlington Meeting Hall Take-Over a step closer!

Drighlington Meeting Hall

A radical plan for the takeover of a local community centre is a step closer following a meeting between community campaigners and councillors last week.

The proposal could see Drighlington Rugby Club take over running the Meeting Hall in Drighlington and taking full control of the building from Leeds City Council later in the year.

This is a fabulous scheme which will deliver the future of the Meeting Hall which is under threat from Council cut backs. The Club have talked to local organisations including Drighlington Parish Council and Community Centre User Groups who all fully support this proposal.

The plan would see the building handed over to the local community group to run. The Group would look to extend the building and run it more efficiently than Leeds City Council.

My colleague Cllr Bob Gettings says the Rugby Club has a long record of supporting local young people. He also says this is an excellent proposal of theirs and will guarantee the long term sustainability of the Community Centre and encourage better community use of this underused building.

It has taken a long time to reach this point but this is a good news story.

The proposal is proposed to go to Leeds City Councils Executive Committee for a decision in June with the aim of the takeover being implemented by the end of the year.

White Rose Jobs Plan

I have welcomed the news that the planning application to bring an IMAX cinema to the White Rose Centre in Morley has been successful. The proposal – which was agreed at a Leeds City Councils Planning Committee – will bring a multi-screen cinema and additional restaurants to the popular shopping centre.

We supported this planning proposal as it will bring additional employment opportunities to Morley residents. We have worked well with the White Rose Centre before on earlier expansion proposals and they have signed up to legal agreements which offer training, apprenticeships and jobs to local residents. A similar agreement on this new planning application could mean hundreds of jobs coming the way of Morley residents.

Planning applications can contain a section 106 legal agreement where Developers agree to use local contractors to provide materials and services as well as guaranteeing that local residents will be offered the jobs generated by the development.

We gave our full support to this application and I am delighted it has been approved. We need to do all we can to offer jobs, apprenticeships and training to as many local residents as we can. This is an election pledge we have delivered on in the past and will continue to deliver on in the future!

Cottingley Springs - a failed political stitch up!

Cottingley Springs Expansion - a political stitch-up!

I have made a formal request to investigate the failure of Leeds City Council to get planning permission for their expansion of Cottingley Springs Travellers site and revelations that the failed venture has cost local taxpayers over £70,000.

I have also formally requested a full breakdown of the cost to local taxpayers of this failure by Leeds City Council to obtain planning permission for their expansion plan at Cottingley Springs and that Scrutiny Board fully investigates the circumstances around this failure as I believe that the whole application was an attempt to use the planning process and public funds to deliver a political stitch-up. This failure has cost local taxpayers dearly.

The Planning Inspector who examined the Planning Application at a Public Inquiry last year found that the council had failed on numerous planning grounds. The Inspector also criticised the Councils regeneration policies which had been used to prevent the provision of smaller family Traveller sites across large areas of Leeds City Council regeneration zone to the South and East of the City.

It was clear from the Planning Inspectors decision that she believed Leeds City Council has breached its own planning and regeneration policies and expanding Cottingley Springs would leave the Traveller community more isolated. Smaller family sites across Leeds are the answer to unauthorised Travellers encampments and the operation of a deliberate Traveller exclusion policy by Leeds City Council needs to be full investigated.

My view is that Labour Councillors on Leeds City Council were keen to avoid providing Travellers sites in their areas preferring to expand a site that had no Labour Councillors representing the area. It was nothing more than a political stich-up!

I made his requests at last Wednesday Full City Council Meeting and will be seeking advice on taking legal action against Leeds City Councils failings after the Easter break.

This waste of thousands of pounds of taxpayer’s money on a politicised planning application is unacceptable in these difficult financial times and the matter needs to be investigated thoroughly.

McDonalds appeal again - and we are still not lovin' it!

White Bear at Tingley

Multinational company McDonalds have been accused of attempting to bully local residents in Tingley following confirmation that they are to appeal against the refusal of planning permission on the White Bear Pub site for a second time. The claim comes from my colleague and local resident and Town Councillor Wyn Kidger.

Wyn says she is disappointed that yet again McDonalds have launched a further appeal against their planning application for a fast food take-away which was refused last September. It seems McDonalds are hoping to grind down local opposition and bully them into submission.

The controversial application has been refused by Leeds City Council on 4 separate occasions and an appeal against refusal was also rejected last year.

Wyn tells me residents are weary with having to continuously battle with this rich and powerful multi-national company to prevent this fast food take-away being opened on their doorsteps. The local community has done an excellent job but Councillors are prepared to step up and take on the campaigning role at appeal if that is what residents want. If the appeal goes to a public inquiry then we will represent residents as we did at the Cottingley Springs public inquiry which we won.

We are now waiting for more details on the nature of the Planning Appeal before we again have to battle this giant. But - as we saw at Cottingley Springs – David can slay the Goliath and we expect a victory for local people again!

Labour confused by ONS Housing Figures

We are calling for an early review of Leeds City Councils Local Development Plan following figures published by the Governments official statistics organisation the ONS. The recently published figures for projected new households across the Leeds City Council area during the life time of the plan show that the number of new homes needed across Leeds is substantially lower than the 74,000 confirmed in the LDF.

My colleague Cllr Wyn Kidger says the ONS figures project a smaller housing target of 44,500 up to 2028. This is a whopping 40% lower than those predicted by Leeds City Council. This means the target of 7,400 new homes for Morley is also wrong and an immediate review is essential.

Leeds City Councils higher target of 74,000 was agreed by a Planning Inspector last year although Morley Borough Independent Councillors proposed a lower target of 50,000 at the Planning Hearings.

My ward colleague Cllr Bob Gettings says the figures agreed by Labour controlled Leeds City Council are clearly excessive and their target does not fit at all with the ONS figures which are based on what is really happening with the housing market. This means Morley Greenfield sites, such as Daisy Hill, Bruntcliffe Road and Owlers Farm have been sacrificed to Developers when it was not necessary as the target that supported these developments was wrong!

We have one last full council meeting before the local elections to get all party agreement to a review of the Local Development Framework and reduce the target towards ONS predictions.

The MBIs have consistently argued the 7,400 housing target for Morley was unrealistic and would lead to overcrowded schools, congested roads and longer waiting times for visits to GPs surgeries. Our position has been vindicated.

Unless Labour Controlled Leeds City Council wants to pander to the demands of Developers, then there is no reasonable alternative than to review and reduce the housing target figure.

Bruntcliffe Cemetery Improvement Plan proposed

Bruntcliffe Cemetery could be in line for an improvement plan.

The cemetery, on Bruntcliffe Lane in Morley, has been the local burial centre for Morley for many years.

I visited the cemetery on a recent site visit and thought it was beginning to look a little run down. I have asked for an improvement plan to look at improving the look of the cemetery and also requested a change to working practises to bring in more council workers to work at the site.

The plan will look at improving some of the older graves which have often come under a state of disrepair. The plan is also aiming to cover improving and widening the pavements around the cemetery as well as providing a water supply for flowers.

My colleague Cllr Wyn Kidger - who has been working on the plan - says we have identified that Developer funds from the new Bruntcliffe Road housing development could be used to improve the cemetery and we are having a plan costed up to see if an improvement plan could be supported with these funds.

We are aiming to have a plan in place during the summer and are also aiming to set up a Friends of Bruntcliffe Cemetery group to support future improvements at the site.