More support for Morley Traders?



Morley Town Centre



We have welcomed a new business rate scheme which is being considered by Leeds City Council. If the scheme is adopted then new businesses in Morley may be able to claim 3 years of business rate reduction proposed at an 80% reduction for the first year of operation, 50% for the second and 20% relief for the third year.

We have been campaigning for the change for several years as this is exactly what new businesses in Morley need to help them to get established and provides that support through rate relief that can make the difference between a business surviving or going under. This is the kind of support we need to continue to maintain Morley as a thriving town centre.



The present national rate relief scheme has been criticised for offering support for micro businesses where the new scheme will support new independent traders who can show that their business has the potential to create new jobs.

My colleague Cllr Judith Elliott who sits on the Town Centre Management Board has said “This is what Morley Chamber of Trade has been asking for many years. We have previously met with the MP and the Business Rates section at Leeds City Council to lobby for this help for new businesses setting up in Morley. I am delighted our lobbying has been successful and this new programme has been proposed.”

The proposal will go out to consultation through the business community over the next few weeks with a decision taking on the scheme later in the year. I would hope that this is a no brainer and the sooner we get this support to out Town centre Traders the better!

The Battle for Chidswell Greenbelt

Morley Borough Independents support Chidswell Campaigners at Kirklees Council Meeting 

Morley Borough Independent Councillors have joined with campaigners form Chidswell in Dewsbury to oppose a new housing scheme proposed by the Church Commissioners for a 1500 house housing estate on greenbelt land at Chidswell close the border with Tingley. The proposal, which campaigners found lodged deep in supplementary representations to Kirklees Councils LDF Core Strategy, proposes a larger scheme than previously which was for industrial units and 500 houses.

Cllr Shirley Varley said “This is bad news for Morley and bad news for Tingley. An additional 1500 new houses at this location will mean Dewsbury Road becoming even more congested, local schools - especially Woodkirk High School - will become overwhelmed with students from outside the area and local health centre’s will be unable to cope.”

The new proposal will be considered at a public examination by a Planning Inspector later in the year where Morley Borough Independent Councillors and Morley Town Council are scheduled to speak against the plan.

Cllr Robert Finnigan said “The Church Commissioners seems to be putting profit before people. This is greenbelt land enjoyed by many residents in and around the Morley area. If we add these proposed 1500 housing units to the 7000 plus housing units proposed by Leeds City Council along the Dewsbury Road corridor then its clear local schools, roads and health centre will be unable to cope. Both Leeds and Kirklees LDF plans are not sustainable and we will campaign hard with our colleagues at Chidswell to make sure we do everything we can to block these proposals.”

Battling with Bookies and Developers



Owlers Farm



Morley Borough Independent Councillors have backed their colleagues on Morley Town Council who threw out planning applications from bookies William Hills and Developer Persimmons Homes at its planning meeting last Tuesday.

The Planning Committee refused an application for William Hills at a new site on Morrison’s precinct as it breached planning rules for Town Centres. The Persimmon Homes application was refused because of problems with access to the site and its lack of sustainability.

Cllr Shirley Varley – who attended the meeting said “We are fully behind our colleagues on the Town Council with these two planning refusals. We have significant concerns about the William Hills application which would be at a location that is used by many schoolchildren on their way to school. We believe this location is not appropriate for a bookies and will encourage more people to get into debt. We were particularly concerned that rumours are circulating that the shop will run mainly slot machines which often have a negative impact on the Town Centres.”

Over 20 local residents from adjacent to the proposed Owlers Farm Housing Development proposal attended the meeting to hear councillors unanimously oppose the application.

Cllr Judith Elliott said “We were delighted that residents came out to show their opposition to this proposal. We are aiming to get hundreds of objections to his proposal as local schools and health centres are full and local roads already congested. We are sending a clear message to Developers and Leeds City Council that Morley is full and cannot take this overwhelming level of development.”

Councillors have referred both decisions through to be taken by Leeds City Councils Planning Committee rather than delegating the applications to planners and site visits will also be undertaken before any final decisions are taken. Recently released figures show that Morley’s primary and secondary schools will be full by 2016 while also confirming planning permission had also been granted for over 20,000 housing units on mainly Brownfield sites across the Leeds City Council area.

McDonalds Battle continues

Morley Borough Independent councillors are gearing up for a further battle with McDonald's following news that their appeal against refusal of planning permission at Tingley has been ruled as legitimate. The appeal will be considered via written representations and a visit will be paid to the site before the Planning Inspector makes a final decision.

Cllr Shirley Varley said “Local residents are not prepared to be bullied by this large multi-national company. Their applications were refused on legitimate grounds, such as the impact on residential amenity and this is just their attempt to grind the local community into submission. We are not prepared to let that happen and we will be encouraging residents to again lodge further representations against McDonald's.”

McDonald's have lodge several controversial applications for a fast food take-away at the site of the White Bear pub in Tingley. Objections to the proposal topped the thousand mark as local residents cited problems with traffic generation, noise, litter and associated anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Judith Elliott said “We will continue to stand by local residents in their battle with this giant. This is the wrong location for such development and we will do everything in our power to make sure McDonald's do not win this appeal.”