LDF battle continues!

Morley Borough Independents are gearing up for a further Local Development Framework campaign following an announcement that the site specific proposals will go out to public consultation at the end of the month.

The new campaign, to include a public meeting, will involve local residents working with Councillors to put in objections to proposals to allocate Morley Greenfield sites for future housing development.

We are gearing up for another battle with Developers and we are calling on local residents to join us to defend Morley Greenfield sites which are under threat from these proposals.

Morley Greenfields that are under threat include Laneside Farm in Churwell, land to the rear of Highfield Drive in Gildersome, Spring Gardens in Drighlington as well as sites in Tingley.

The target for the Greater Morley area is 7,200 new housing units with a Leeds wide target of over 74,000. Much of this unrealistic and unsustainable proposal is on Greenfield Sites with little priority being given to previously developed brownfield land. It is clear that local schools, roads and health centres cannot cope with this level of overdevelopment. Our campaign will look towards saving these precious Greenfield sites from executive style housing development and focus on delivering affordable homes on previously developed brownfield sites.

The consultation period starts on 22nd September and continues for an 8 week period. A public meeting to discuss the plan will be held in October.

Bruntclife Road Bus Service Campaign

I have called for a meeting with Bus Chiefs to discuss residents’ concerns about bus services serving Bruntcliffe Road. The meeting follows a story in last week’s Morley Observer and Advertiser about the seven year wait residents have endured to improve bus services on the Bruntcliffe Road corridor.

I understand the frustrations of local residents who I have been working with for many years. Over the last few months I have been exploring ways that development money from the new Barratts housing site on Bruntcliffe Road might be used to improve this bus service. Officers from both Leeds City Council and Metro have been looking at the practicability of this approach.

I have met with residents and independent transport consultants over the last year to agree a plan to resolve the lack of bus services.

Presently we have buses covering Bruntcliffe Lane and Scotchman Lane but the bus service along Bruntcliffe Road is inadequate for the needs of the growing community of residents, many of them older or disabled, who live on Bruntcliffe Road. I am hoping this new and imaginative approach might resolve this problem.

Developers of new homes are obliged to provide development funds to improve public transport under legal agreements. Such funds can be used to improve bus stops and bus shelters but can also be used to directly improve bus services.

I have requested a meeting early in September to try and get this problem resolved. The previous bus operator has not delivered the service to an acceptable standard and I hope, with this additional funding, real progress can be made and residents won’t be waiting a further 7 years for the improvements they deserve!

Battling with Persimmons again!

Another Greenfield site under threat?

We are heading for a further battle with Persimmons the house builder following news of a new housing application from the developer proposed for New Village Way in Churwell. Persimmons was recently granted planning permission for a further 200 homes on a Greenfield site off Albert Drive in Morley.

We held a public meeting in April with residents and asked them to back our campaign to oppose development on this Churwell Greenfield site. We got overwhelming support from residents and we promised we would gear up the campaign to oppose this proposal if a formal application was made.

Persimmons have put in planning application for 55 houses on the Greenfield site with access off New Village Way – a road which already serves over 330 homes on the estate.

Leeds City Councils Planning rules say that a single road should not serve an estate of more than 300 houses. If this proposal goes ahead it will serve over 380 houses overloading the road and bringing serious highways and safety problems. As we all know – local schools are full and the local health centre can barely cope with the people presently registered in the area. Adding more strain to these services and bringing more traffic on to Churwell Hill is utter madness!

We have requested that the application is considered by Plans Panel and Churwells Town Councillors are also backing the campaign opposing development.

Dartmouth Park Playground to be improved

Morley Borough Independent Councillors have lined up a third playground to be refurbished following our successful campaigns to find the money to improve playgrounds at Churwell Park and Magpie Lane. The third playground, at Dartmouth Park, is to become part of the improvement plan and we are to meet Parks Officers at Leeds City Council to agree a delivery programme.

We have identified the money needed to improve the playground in Dartmouth Park. The children’s play area is now looking rather dated and we want to bring it up to date. We will be consulting widely with local residents – especially children and young people – to make sure we come up with a design that they want.

The finance for the scheme is to come from a developer contribution which is a legal obligation developers have to pay to improve local parks if they are building new homes in the area. The contribution for the improvement plan is coming from the Barratts development on Bruntcliffe Road.

It is an exciting time for playgrounds across the wider Morley area. Both Churwell Park and Magpie Lane playground improvement plans have gone out to consultation with the aim of delivering the improvements by the end of the year. It is the community that is driving forward with new ideas for our playgrounds and we are keen to adopt their proposals.

The Dartmouth Park Playground plan should go out to consultation over the next six weeks and we are hoping to see the work completed by Spring 2016.

Low Moor Farm - Labour betray Morley Folk again!

I have reacted angrily to Leeds City Councils recent planning decision to grant planning permission for 200 houses on Low Moor Farm in Morley which will leave Morley children receiving a second class education. This further Labour Betrayal - the Tories, Greens and MBIs voted against it - is exactly what we expect but on this occasion they entirely ignored their own comrade Neil Dawson who also opposed it. Shows you what influence he has on his own Party!

Children’s Service, who sort out places for local children at primary schools across Morley, have already confirmed that there are 30 children who cannot be guaranteed places at local primary schools next year. This planning decision, supported only by Labour councillors, will generate an additional 50 primary school children who cannot be offered a primary school place across Morley as all primary schools are full!

As schools are already full the only way of providing primary education is by craning in portacabins to accommodate the children generated by the development.

It is accepted by most educationalists that educating children in portacabins has a detrimental impact on the learning experience for children. This decision resigns Morley children to a second class education. Labour Leeds City Council allows developers to rip up more Morley Greenfield sites without having the infrastructure – schools, roads and health centres – to accommodate the additional residents these new housing estates bring.

7,200 new housing units target confirmed

The housing target for the Greater Morley area up to 2028 has been confirmed at 7,200 new housing units at Leeds City Councils Executive Board meeting last Wednesday. The new target, for the Outer South West Housing Market Characteristic area which includes Morley, was confirmed at 11% of the Leeds District Wide total.

This is a disappointing decision by Leeds City Council as this target can only be reached by ripping up Morley Greenfield sites such as Laneside Farm in Churwell and Low Moor Farm in Morley. Local residents are already aware that schools are full, roads are congested and health centres unable to cope with the patients they presently have registered with them. This additional burden of new housing will overwhelm local infrastructure.

The proposals from Leeds City Council Executive Board will now go out to consultation for local communities to comment. The Site Allocation Plan will then be considered at public hearings by a Planning Inspector later in the year who will have the final say on the proposals.

We will again be gearing up to attend the public hearings in the Autumn to put our case to save as many Morley Greenfield sites as possible which are under threat from this overwhelming housing target. Greenfield sites from Drighlington across to East Ardsley could be lost if we cannot persuade the Planning Inspector to reduce the impact of new housing across Morley.

We are supporting initiatives that bring affordable homes to Morley and are having discussions with Developers about how new bungalows can be brought to Morley for older and disabled residents,

We need more affordable homes for local people, especially families and older and disabled residents. This plan offers us unaffordable executive style housing which does nothing to resolve the housing crisis we have in our area. We will be doing all we can to get a housing plan for Morley which is sustainable and provides for the real housing needs of local people.

I have called for a review of road safety and speed limits following a further accident at an accident black spot in Drighlington. The black spot, at the junction of Moorlands Road and Station Road in Drighlington, has seen several serious road accidents over the last two years and residents are calling for action to be taken to make the roads and junction safer.

This is a location that we have had some concerns about for some time. We are already looking at the junction to see what improvements can be made but with this further accident over the weekend it is clear that a full review of the roads and junction needs to be undertaken to include speed limits around the village.

I am arranging a site visit with Highways Officers and Drighlington Parish Council to explore the options for changes to speed limits and junction markings.

We will be working closely with the Parish Council and local residents to explore every practical option available to use to make the roads in Drighlington safer.