Morley Fire Station and Daisy Hill Updated

Can I first start by wishing all readers - even Labour Party Members - a Happy New Year.

That out of the way lets get back to two contentious issues - Morley Fire Station and the Daisy Hill Housing Application.

I attended the West Yorkshire Fire Service meeting before Christmas where it was confirmed that the Fire Station will remain open. This issue was debated for 6.8 seconds before being passed - I timed it. Although the Station will remain open we still have significant concerns about the new proposed staffing structure which will only have the station staffed during the day. We are looking to get the Fire Authority to adopt the Close Call system. Close Call would construct accommodation on or near the Fire Station which would mean Firefighters on site 24 hours a day. The present system - where Firefighters have to respond to attend the Fire Station within 5 minutes from home - puts a further time delay on getting to a fire. We think this still puts communities at risk. We have asked for these concerns to be placed in front of the Full Council Meeting later this month and we will be looking for cross party support for our campaign. I have already raised the issue with the Chief Fire Officer who is not prepared to re-consider the staffing proposal. We will keep campaigning with the FBU on this to try and force a change. Ill report back after the meeting.

The second issue relates to the housing application at Daisy Hill in Morley. As readers will remember this was bulldozed through using Labour Councillors votes in October. We requested the issue was called in via the MP Ed Balls and the Secretary of State as we believe the decision was made on political and not planning grounds. Those requests were refused. We asked Legal Services on Leeds City Council to formally withhold planning permission on the second planning application pending the outcome of a Planning Inspectorate Public Inquiry. This was refused. Over the Christmas break Persimmons withdrew their appeal against non determination of the first refused application and planning permission is likely to be granted shortly.

Many local residents are disillusioned at this decision. They believe there was a dodgy deal done behind closed doors involving the Labour Party which led to them ramming this application through. Certainly it is a puzzle how Labour Councillors on Plans Panel East voted to refuse the first application but their more accommodating Labour colleagues on the second panel meeting voted - in isolation of all other political groups - and in total unity to hand over this Morley Greenfield site to the Developer. It was clear to many that the second panel was crammed with new and enthusiastic freshly elected councillors who were keen to show their record of loyalty to the Labour Party hierarchy presumably on the basis that future political promotions would be stymied if they didn't follow the Party Line.

We could just give in and refuse to battle other housing planning applications. Indeed we do have the option of allowing Labours LDF proposals for over 7000 new houses for the Morley area to overwhelm and swamp our communities. This would overwhelm local schools - which can barely accommodate the children presently in the system and could not cope with the thousands of new children this development will bring. It will overwhelm local roads with more congestion and other local infrastructure - such as health centres - will not be able to cope. Our communities deserve better than that. We may have lost this skirmish but we continue to battle against Labours LDF plan to swamp Morley with new housing.

My thanks for both the Fire Station and Daisy Hill campaigns goes out to several groups and people. The Fire Station campaign was led by Christine and Brian Guy and fully supported by the MBI Groups on Leeds City Council and Morley Town Council. We received backing from the Fire Brigades Union both regionally and locally and their support is most appreciated. On Daisy Hill  Dave Paul's efforts along with his MARC (Morley Against Reckless Construction) colleagues was brilliant and they should be thanked for all their efforts.

I'm looking forward to campaigning hard through 2013. We have the Churwell By-election to be held on 24th January where we will use the vote as a referendum on Labours LDF plan. I hope to see Wyn Kidger elected who will join the fine Churwell Town Council Team of Janet Harrison, Joyce Sanders and Wenda Whitehead. Joe Tetley will be sadly missed. His experience and support on many Morley and Churwell issues gave those issues real real credibility and momentum. His replacement will have alot to live up to!

Morley Fire Station saved!

Morley Fire Station has been saved from closure following our long campaign. We have worked closely with local residents and the FBU to oppse the closure plan from Labour controlled West Yorkshire Fire Authority.  Although the closure plan is to be shelved we still have some concerns about the new staffing regime that will operate and will be looking for further assurances that community safety will not be put at risk. This may include scrapping the proposals for day time staffing - as proposed in the report - and going for a staffing sytsem called "Close Call". Close Call will mean staff are retained in or around the fire station for 24 hours a day instead of being on call which builds in delays for staff to get to the Station from home.

We led the campaign with  public meetings and the production of objection letters. The number of objection letters topped 2500 - a remarkable achievement with much of the credit going to Brian and Christine Guy  and the FBU.

What are we to make of this victory for People Power? It is a partial victory and we need to keep battling on the shift pattern front to prevent a risk to community safety. We need to accept some of the report but oppose the proposal for only part time staffing at Morley.

However it should give us the confidence to continue to battle with other plans and proposals - such as the Daisy Hill and Bruntcliffe Road housing developments as well as getting stuck in to opposing Labours plans for over 8000 housing units across the Morley wide area proposed in their LDF plan.

We continue to articulate local residents concerns and the victories for the joint campaigning with local communities are clear to see with the Knowle Manor closure plan being overturned, the LDF plan having more objections lodged to it from Morley than the rest of Leeds put together and the retention of Morley Fire Station. We follow no party line here - unlike local Labour Councillors. We put the local community at the heart of our decision making process. They decide - not party leaders who are all detached from the reality of local peoples lives.

The Fire Station victory is a clear lesson to us all that you don't have to accept the decision making of out of touch authorities. We can influence the outcome and we can protect local people from barmy decisions.

Here's to future campaigns!

Another Labour By-election Drain

Morley Labour Party have again called a Town Council by-election which will cost local taxpayers over £9000. This is money which could have been used for additional policing or to support local pensioner or youth groups. This adds to Labours' previous by-election blunder where they called a similar by-election in the Central Ward costing local tax payers over £7000 in election cost while failing to deliver a candidate for the election.

Labours' desperate desire to waste hard earned local cash in now becoming legendary with over £15,000 wasted on their personal vanity projects - that's the cost of half a Police Officer. The MBI way would be to co-opt a councillor, an option which doesn't cost local tax payers a penny.

Labour continue to bleat on about cuts - including Police cuts - yet do everything to waste cash which could support the services they claim they want to protect.

We are again gearing up to battle with Labour and to put a localised campaign which will focus on the Fire Station closure proposal from the Labour controlled Fire Authority and Labours' proposals for over 8,000 housing units to swamp Morley proposed in their LDF document.

We will be working hard with our colleagues who represent the Churwell Ward on Morley Town Councillor to find an honourable replacement for the legendary councillor Joe Tetley who is sadly missed.

Labours' proliferation of cash when in Government previously is the root cause of many of our present financial challenges. Its interesting to see that locally their desperate desire to waste money continues unabated!

Morley Fire Station Campaign tops 2000 0bjections

Christine and Brian Guy delivering Morley's 2000+ objections to Morley Fire Station closure

The Campaign to retain Morley Fire Station has topped 2000 objections and campaigners visited West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority to hand over the objections personally to the consultation team based at Birkenshaw.

The campaign commenced when proposals were first raised to close both Morley and Hunslet Fire Stations merging them at a new building proposed for a site adjacent to the White Rose Centre on Dewsbury Road.

Campaigners believe the closure of Morley Fire Station will put lives at risk - especially in the outlying areas such as Drighlington and East Ardsley - as well as creating a delay for fire engines reaching the M62 - the location for many of the areas serious road traffic accidents.

The campaign has been supported by Brian and Christine Guy whose efforts have reached the magnificent target of over 2100 objection letters. At a visit to the Fire Authority I was privileged to attend with them we saw additional objections form the Morley area and received confirmation that the Morley District had raised the most objections to the wide scale reforms which impact on all communities across the West Yorkshire area.

Morley Folk are to be congratulated on the support for this campaign and indeed a similar large number of objections came from Morley residents against Labours LDF proposals to dump over 7,000 new housing units on greenfield sites across the Morley area. The Morley Community is clearly articulating its concerns and we hope the Labour controlled Fire Authority will listen to the overwhelming opposition to their plans.

The financial arguments for closure are feeble and we have asked, but not received confirmation, that any future Government will commit itself to reversing these cuts and delivering a fair funding package for West Yorkshire. Our own MP Ed Balls - despite stating he is campaigning against the closure - will offer no such assurances. As ever with Labour they moan about the problem but will do nothing to resolve it!

Christine and Brian deserve full praise for their battling efforts. Their commitment is typical of the independent thinking in Morley and the MBI group are delighted to get their support with the Fire Station Campaign.

The final decision will be taken by the Fire Authority in December. We will be there to make sure we hold accountable those councillors who make the final decision!

Labour betrayal in Morley

Despite promises made in several local and national elections the Labour Party in Morley has reverted back to type and agreed 300 housing units on Morley greenfield sites at Daisy Hill and Bruntcliffe Road. The Labour dominated Plans Panel agreed both applications - despite strong representations from campaigning local residents - with Labour using its majority to ram through the proposals which have no local support.

But perhaps we should not be too surprised at Labours duplicity. It smacks of their approach to Morley when they were last in power at Leeds City Council with 1000s of houses dumped onto Morley's infrastructure which could barely cope. Now they are back to inflict more pain and this time have the support of Labour MP Ed Balls who backs house building at this level. Indeed Mr Balls failed to lodge an objection to either of these housing applications preferring to stay quiet about housing figures he agreed in the last Labour Government in the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) which dictated wholly unrealistic and unachievable housing figures across Leeds of over 3200 houses each year for the next 15 years! Unsurprisingly these are very similar figures to those contained in Labours LDF proposals presently doing the rounds at Leeds City Council.

The agreement of 300 additional houses brings at least an additional 600 vehicles onto Morley's already busy roads. Children's Services confirmed that Morley Schools were already full but this was ignored by the Labourites who have added an additional 60 primary school children to Morley's schools waiting list with nowhere to put them. If we add in over 22,000 planning permisions - most on brownfield sites already agreed across Leeds by Leeds City Council its clear that no Morley greenfield needs to be developed - at the present rate of new build - for over decade.

What do we make of this further Labour betrayal of Morley. It is clear that the Labour Group are happy to sacrifice Morley's solitary Labour Councillor Neil Dawson over this greenfield assault. Labours vote this year went backwards and his fragile majority has been overturned. Its also safe to assume that they believe Ed Balls is Teflon coated and this "Friend of the Developer" tag Labour now has will not stick to him. I think that's unrealistic. Labour at both national and local levels are prepared to sell Morley's greenfield and greenbelt sites out to Developers as the money associated with such Development can be re-cycled to Labour areas miles away from such overwhelming housing development in Morley.

I pay tribute to the campaigners such as Morley Against Reckless Construction (MARC) especially Dave Paul and Brian and Christine Guy who have run brilliant campaigns against the Daisy Hill and Bruntcliffe Road Developments. They will feel disillusioned and devastated that the views of local people have been entirely ignored by Labour Councillors who find such views irrelevant and are prepared to rip up any greenfield sites as long as they are not in areas they represent. But campaigners should not be downbeat. We have lost the opening skirmish but not the Morley Greenfield War. We must continue to oppose Labours crazy LDF policy which will bring over 8000 housing units to Morley's greenfield sites if agreed. We will explore the options to refer both applications to the Secretary of State and ask him to call them in as neither application supports sustainable development - the bedrock of the Governments flagship National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Labours LDF goes to public examination next years. Its our job to get it dumped and to continue with our campaign to protect other Morley greenfield sites on Labours Development hit list!

Morley Fire Station - Public Meeting

A public meeting has been called by the Morley Borough Independents to discuss the proposals for the closure of Morley Fire Station and its merger with Hunslet Fire Station at an undisclosed location on Dewsbury Road.

The Meeting will be held in the Council Chamber in Morley Town Hall on Monday 8th October at 7pm.

Our opposition to the closure is well recorded as we have significant concerns about the fire safety of residents in outer communities - especially in East Ardsley, Drighlington and Gildersome - who may be put at risk if it takes longer for a fire engine to attend. We all know about the problems with Dewsbury Road and the difficulties that can face vehicles - especially when the M62 is clogged up as often as it is. If we add into this challenging scenario additional housing proposed for the Dewsbury Road corridor then communities may be being put at risk. 

Morley Fire Station does an brilliant job in dealing with road traffic incidents on the M62 and is often called for assistance along the stretch of motorway that runs along the length of Morley. The local firefighters also do an excellent job is reducing the risk of fires breaking out by visiting vulnerable groups - such as pensioners and the disabled - to offer help and advice to support a reduction in the potential for a fire. This successful approach has seen the number of deaths from house fires drop dramatically over the last few years and prevention is always better than the cure.

 The Fire Brigades Union has been invited to attend and we are hoping as many resident as possible will also attend to make their views clear. This will form the basis for our representation during this public consultation stage.

 A final decision is to be taken in December. It si vital that that decision takes into account local views and does not reduce the safety of local communities.

Daisy Hill victory

Many readers will have watched with interest a number of Developers circling several Morley Greenfield sites like vultures waiting to pounce. Daisy Hill is one of those locations which was lined up for almost hundred houses on this pleasant greenfield site.

The area is well known for flooding and Highways problems - especially on New Bank Street and King George Avenue - are well known. Added into this is the lack of places at local primary schools and the poor bus service within the area then it is difficult to see why Leeds City Council would approve planning permission for the site.

Local residents campaigned - along with MBI councillors - to oppose this proposal. No such opposition was found within Morley Labour Party with neither the local MP Ed Balls or his Morley Mate Neil Dawson offering any objections.

I attended the Plans Panel meeting and was delighted to hear representations from Dave Paul - Chairman of Morley Against Reckless Construction - who spoke passionately against the application. I offered my views about the lack of sustainability at this location and how it breached new Government Planning rules. The Panel agreed with us and turned over a recommendation of granting planning permission to a refusal.

There is little doubt the Developer will appeal as they are desperate to shovel their developments on to greenfield sites across Morley. We must continue to resist with the same commitment.

The battle for Morley Greenfield sites has just begun but I am delighted we won the first skirmish!