Its Electryfying!

Morley Town Centre to get a street electricity supply

I have welcomed the news that an electricity point is to be introduced on the pedestrianised section of Queen Street close to the junction on Peel Street. The finance for the supply was agreed at a recent Area Committee meeting and will mean concerts and street events will now have access to electricity which was previously provided by generators.

This is a good news story and will support the Town Centre to continue to be vibrant. When we have street events, such as the Christmas Light Up event or Street Concerts, we suffer from not having an electricity supply to use. This means bringing in noisy generators. This grant from Area Committee will allow us to support the Town Centre better.

The grant of £2500 will provide a lockable street pillar which can be accessed when events are being held. A similar supply already exists in other local towns.

The need for an electricity supply for concerts and other events has been raised at the Town Centre Management Board on many occasions and this partnership approach with Area committee allows us all to support the Town Centre.

Valley Road Traveller Site Update

Over 800 people attended the MBI Valley Road Traveller site Public Meeting

I’m calling a further public meeting following news that the Valley Road Travellers Site planning application is to be refused with the formal refusal decision expected on Monday. The meeting will discuss the future use of the site and the potential for an appeal from the applicant.

The final refusal decision should be available on Monday and it appears the application is to be refused on amenity, highways and breach of planning policy reasons. This is a victory for the people of Morley and I thank those hundreds of residents who joined our campaign to oppose this inappropriate development.

The application for a large Travellers Site at Valley Road drew over 800 people to a public meeting organised by MBI Councillors in Morley Town Hall earlier this year. That was followed up with over 1500 objections lodged by residents opposing the application.

I am delighted we have been successful with our campaign but we need to go further and come up with a positive alternative use of the site. This could include an overspill car park for Morley Train Station or other industrial use. We also need to agree to continue the campaign in case the applicant decides to lodge an appeal.

Curiously Labour Councillor Neil Dawson was briefed on this decision before his ward colleagues and prior to Planning making the formal decision. Not surprisingly it was an attempt by the Labour Party to try and claim credit for the work done by others and to portray a firm line on Travellers sites. This is of course baloney as we have seen with Labours position on Cottingley Springs. This is a cynical attempt by the comrades to try and prop up Cllr Dawson in his failing attempt to be re-elected next year. I suspect it won’t succeed!

The date of the meeting will be set as soon as the refusal decision is made public.

Bruntcliffe High School



Many readers will perhaps be aware of the problems emanating form Bruntcliffe High School over the last few months. The school had poor exam results released in August but it has been clear to parents for some time that there were structural problems and questionable leadership up at the school.

We were inundated with parents with legitimate concerns about the school and their children's education. We already shared many of their concerns and have been raising our worries with the relevant authorities for some time. Following the release of the poor exam results we demanded action from the Local Education Authority and joined with parents with their campaign for a change of direction for the school.

We have attended three public meetings arranged by the Parents campaign group. The sole Labour Morley Leeds City Councillor turned up after the first meeting had finished - he had a Labour Group meeting which was more important - didn't show at all for the second and crept in late for the third! We shared Parents concerns that we needed a new headteacher to take charge, the Governing Body dissolving and the school taken over - in the long term - by one of the two Academy schools in Morley, Morley or Woodkirk.

We are pleased to see that a new Executive Headteacher has been appointed - Dave Gurney. Dave has an excellent record down at Cockburn with good achievements on exam results and behaviour at a school that deals with a tough neighbourhood. His decision to attend the last public meeting was an important one and gave parents and students the opportunity to ask questions for over 40 minutes on all aspects of their concerns. Dave did not buckle at all and gave a clear message about his commitment and vision to put the school back on track. Dave Gurney and his management team have our full support as he works towards driving up standards and behaviour at Bruntcliife. His strategy will deliver a third excellent high school which in the long term - we hope - becomes a close partner with Morley or Woodkirk High Schools.

What should we make of this challenge? Perhaps we should listen to parents more who wanted a clear and traditional approach to teaching their children and not some pink rinsed trendy lefty approach. They want the best for their kids and that means making sure we get the best qualified children across Morley achieving the highest standards possible. This is the best way to give them real options and opportunities for the future.

Bruntcliffe has seen some dark days but is now clearly on the way up. It needs the minimum of political interference and the support of Morley parents if it is to succeed. I believe it will and we will have three excellent high schools covering the whole of Morley.

Meeting with Police and local groups

Improvements to Clark Spring Woods delivered by the Churwell Environmental Group

I met with the Morley Policing Team last Friday along with members of the Friends of Springfield Park and volunteers of the Churwell Action Group Environmental Team. We met to discuss with the Police a plan to reduce vandalism and criminal damage which have significantly impacted on the Park and at Clark Spring Woods in Churwell to come up with a plan to reduce it.

Both locations have suffered recently with levels of mindless vandalism and as they rely on volunteers to keep both locations in excellent shape then it is not surprising they feel disappointed when their work is undermined. The Policing Team have agreed to extra patrols and were also keen on getting local young people involved in supporting the work both Groups do. This is an excellent idea and helps young people gain ownership of an area. This in turn sends a clear message to others who might be tempted to vandalise places to stop their anti-social activity or face the wrath of their peers.

We also had a good conversation about the use of POCA (Proceeds of Crime Act) funds to support the work both groups do by improving crime prevention work. This is something to explore in the future but does mean that criminals ill gotten gains could be used to improve the quality of local public open spaces that communities value. This seems an entirely positive thing as the same criminals have often blighted the lives of the same communities.

I hope the plan works as both groups undertake excellent work and provide brilliant public open spaces to their respective communities.