Cottingley Springs Planning Application arrives

This week we received news that the Planning Application for the expansion of Cottingley Springs Travellers site had been formally lodged. As readers will remember we have campaigned against this proposal from the start because of the impact it will have on local residents - especially Gildersome Village - and the lack of support form the Traveller Community.

The application clearly breaches both Central Government Guidance on Travellers sites - sites are suppose to be developed on brownfield sites - and against the City Councils Policy agreed by Executive Board this week which states Travellers sites should be near local facilities such as schools and shopping centres. This expansion on Greenbelt at Cottingely Springs fails all these tests. The only test if passes is making sure that no Labour held ward has to contribute towards resolving the Travellers issue by passing on the burden to other communities who they believe need to be punished for not voting Labour! Indeed you will hear many of the "Socialists" whinging on about how hard done by the Travelling Community is but that claim to solidarity is easily jettisoned at a point that they might have to explain to their residents that they might need to have Travellers site adjacent to them. Then they get rid of their "Socialist" credentials quicker than you can say Clause 4!

Unauthorised Travellers camps are a burden on hard pressed tax payers and an additional £1 million of tax payers money will be needed if planning permission is granted. Local residents will not accept paying out these large sums for a community they believe contributes very little to resolving their own problems.

Smaller sites may be the answer and other areas need to accept their fair share of the Unauthorised Traveller encampement burden. This means discrete sites - possibly on the edge of industrial estates - where Travellers can set up camp without the significant impact they have on local communities.

We will be gearing up again to do battle with this planning application. This has no support from either local residents or the Traveller Community. It is a political stitch up and must be stopped.

Daisy Hill Close Saved

Thursdays Plans Panel refused the housing application for 14 housing units at Daisy Hill Close in Morley. This was a good news story as Planning Officers had recommended granting planning permission but councillors - having hear from local residents and Ward Councillors - refused the application.

I spoke against the application and confirmed the problems with the site on highways grounds. I also raised concerns about the impact this and other developments would have on local schools and health centres along with the lack of public transport - especially a regular bus service - at this location.

It is clear that our ongoing campaign to save Morley greenfield sites is building momentum and this refusal - along with news about the Morley session on the LDF - should fill us all with hope that this ongoing battle is one we are making genuine progress with.

I know local residents will be pleased with this outcome as will MARC and Morley Town Council. We are becoming better equipped to put the arguments on greenfield development and we are beginning to influence the decision makers who are now listening to what we say.

We will continue to battle with Developers looking for an easy option when developing Morley's Greenfield sites. They will find us ready to battle to save every last blade of grass on Morley greenfield sites which are subject to inappropriate development.

LDF Public Examination News

Labour Leeds LDF under scrutiny in October

We have received confirmation that Morley will get its own session when Leeds City Councils Local Development Plan (LDF) is put under public examination in October. The news confirms that Morley is the only area that has succeeded in convincing the Planning Inspector - who carries out the examination- to examine individually the targets of over 7,000 new housing units across the greater Morley area.


Cllr Tom Leadley will be leading Morley’s representations against the 7,000 housing target. It is clear that the Planning Inspector took great note of the number of objections from Morley residents to Leeds City Councils LDF plan. Morley provided over 70% of all objections to the strategy and the Inspector wants to know why Morley has such significant concerns about it!

The Planning Inspector has laid down the areas which he wishes to discuss with objectors and the Council including the impact of this level of development on infrastructure across Morley including local roads, schools and health centres.

I am due to attend the Public Examination as it’s our job to make it clear to the Inspector the concerns our communities have about this level of overdevelopment. We will present our evidence showing that local schools will be full by 2016 and to confirm how congested our roads are. We need to make it clear that this level of development is not deliverable or sustainable.

The Public Examination will commence in October and is likely to take several weeks. At the end of the process the Planning Inspector has to confirm if the LDF is sound. If it is found to be unsound then Leeds City Council will be legally obliged to make fundamental changes to the plan.

It’s clear to us that this plan needs scrapping. Let’s hope it’s just as clear to the Planning Inspector!

Meeting with Planning Minister goes well!



Meeting with Nick Boles MP

I travelled down to Stanford in Linconshire last Friday for a meeting with the Planning Minister Nick Boles to discuss concerns about Labour Leeds City Councils LDF. I went down with Members of MARC (Morley Against Reckless Development) and Conservative PPC Andrea Jenkyns who had arranged the meeting for us.

Despite a rather traumatic journey down (roads works on the A1!) which took over two hours, the meeting with the Minister was a good one with Nick Boles genuinely interested in what we had to say.

We raised our concerns about the whopping 74,000 housing target imposed by Labour Leeds and Morley's unfair burden of over 7,000 housing units. We confirmed that Morley's schools were full, our roads were congested and Health Centres could not cope with this proposed level of development.

Nick Boles is the Minister who wrote the NPPF - the Governments guidance on planning matters which councils are obliged to follow as a matter of law - and gave us a valuable insight into how we could use the NPPF to develop our campaign to get the housing figures reduced. He also agreed with us that a lack of infrastructure - such as school places - should provide enough reason to refuse larger housing applications on greenfield sites.

I was surprised at the interest Nick Boles showed as you are often concerned that their only motivation is to get you out of their office as quickly as possible. In his case he was courteous and listened - giving everyone an opportunity to raise points and answer questions.

Our battle with the LDF continues and we believe we are better geared up to fight Labour Leeds City Councils Plan following our visit to Linconshire. I also raised the thorny issue of Cottingley Springs Expansion - but that a discussion for another day!

No surrender and the battle for Morley Greenfield sites goes on!