The LDF and more dodgy dossier figures!

Regular readers will be aware of our campaign against Labour LDF plans for 7200 new housing units on Morley greenfield sites. Readers also know Leeds has 26,000 planning permissions already granted for housing units across Leeds, mainly on brownfield sites.

But we are told that the new houses are required because of the expected increase in the size of the population in Leeds. Hysterical figures suggesting a mega city of 1 million residents was offered as "evidence" of the need to build an additional 70,000 across Leeds - stuffing Morley with 11% of the total.

Figures released today show a downgrading of the numbers and are based on figures released by the Office of National Statistics. Those claiming Leeds was to be imminently a City of 800,000 souls have had to downgrade their estimates to 780,000 little more than 30,000 higher than in 1974.

We have always questioned the accuracy of these figures and believe they are fundamentally flawed to provide Developers with a Developers Charter rather than a Local Development Plan.

Clearly these new figures dispute the evidence provided to support Labours LDF and make the whole process unsound. We will be challenging them at every opportunity!

A further piece of good news is that objections to Labours LDF from Morley has topped 500 - the highest from any community across Leeds. Residents are leading this assault and it is reassuring that they see the flaws in this seriously flawed process.

Watch out for a further public meeting to be announced shortly. The Battle goes on!

McDonalds - still not lovin' it!

It is said that you cant keep a Good International Corporation down but the silly burgers at McDonald's are again attempting to put their inedible fayre back on to the pub site at Tingley Roundabout.

We got news of a new application on Thursday when sharp eyed local residents spotted the new application on the Councils Website. By Thursday we had identified the site, requested the application be sent to Plans Panel (where the final decision is taken by Councillors and not Planners) and had started the process of arranging a public meeting to galvanise residents again to campaign against this application.

The new proposal, if anything, is worse than the last one with a two storey drive through proposed. The previous refusal decision, which McDonald's did not appeal, cited impact on residential properties and traffic generation as some of the reasons that led up to a refusal.

We do presently seems to be under attack from Developers on all fronts. The proposed public meeting will discuss this application but will also give residents an opportunity to debate Labours LDF proposals for 7200 houses for Morley - which could mean the loss of greenfield sites at Churchfields in East Ardsley and Dunningley and Thorpe Lane in Tingley as well as the proposed destruction of greenbelt land at nearby Chidswell. We believe the campaign is the same one as the proposals are for inappropriate development at all these locations.

Communities often get weary of continuously battling with Developers but, as we saw with the previous campaign, even McDonald's can be beaten if we get organised and campaign together.

This proposal may be as indigestible as a big Mac but we all need to unite if we are to beat McDonald's for a second time.

Huddersfield Demo and more LDF news

I attended the demo in Huddersfield last Saturday against the LDF proposed by Kirklees Council. As readers will know Kirklees are proposing a massive ripping up of greenbelt land at Chidswell for Industrial and Housing Purposes. We have formally objected to this proposal as its will inevitably impact on Dewsbury Road and delivers a substantial blight on popular greenfield sites used by Tingley and West Ardsley Residents.

The demo was a good one and alternative LDF options were proposed by people representing a wider political spectrum than you would normally expect for such campaigns.

Kirklees LDF was ratified at a full council meeting on Tuesday with Labour and Lib Dems ramming it through despite opposition from Conservatives and the Greens. Disappointingly the Huddersfield's "Independents" - who seem closely aligned to Labour - backed the proposal presumably because it left their area undamaged.

It is clear that Kirklees has not consulted Leeds on its Chidswell proposals as Leeds would not be proposing 7200 homes for Morley, many on their end of Dewsbury Road if it was aware of the high volume of traffic the Chidswell project will bring to Morley and Tingley.

The problem with all Councils LDFs is the lack of cooperation between Councils who all remain desperate to give up their greenbelt and greenfields in some bizarre attempt to attract the business sector. The fact of the matter is that there is only so much private sector cash around to bid for and Developers will go to the lowest common denominator.

Both Kirklees and Leeds LDF has to go through public examination for soundness and this is where we all need to get stuck in to the planning Inspector to confirm the foolishness and unsoundness of all these proposals.

Roll on the next demo!

Greenfields Public Meeting and Labour isolation!

Last Wednesdays Public Meeting was a fascinating affair. We had initially arranged for the meeting to be held in the Council Chamber but the sheer weight of numbers meant we had to switch it to the Alexandra Hall.

The Meeting opened with a presentation form Tom Leadley to confirm details of the core strategy of Labours Local Development Framework which confirms the wider Morley's housing targets of 7,200 new houses. I confirmed information I had received from Planning which shows over 26,000 planning permissions already granted or in the pipeline. As the completion rate is something below 2000 units a year simple maths tells you you don't need any greenfield sites for the next 13 years!

The puzzle for the evening was Labour Councillor Neil Dawson's comments that he voted for the Plan but was against the target! Many residents did not understand how you can vote for something you publicly claim to be against.

The meeting then offered residents their opportunity to ask questions or comment on issue. It was particularly heart warming to see campaigners from Daisy Hill and Bruntcliffe Road coming together with other campaigners fighting to retain Morley's greenfields in a unified way.

At the end of the evening a vote was taken on whether residents supported the MBIs campaign against Labours LDF and inappropriate development at Bruntcliffe Road and Daisy Hill. The meetings overwhelmingly supported our position with just one person refusing to support - Labour Councillor Neil Dawson. Presumably he feels more loyalty to his Party Boss down at Civic Hall than the residents who voted for him!

We will continue to campaign against Labours LDF and would encourage residents to do the same. Objection letters are available at our office and can be completed there. Labours LDF is flawed and the consequences of doing nothing will mean a stark future for Morley greenfield sites.