McDonalds appeal again - and we are still not lovin' it!

White Bear at Tingley

Multinational company McDonalds have been accused of attempting to bully local residents in Tingley following confirmation that they are to appeal against the refusal of planning permission on the White Bear Pub site for a second time. The claim comes from my colleague and local resident and Town Councillor Wyn Kidger.

Wyn says she is disappointed that yet again McDonalds have launched a further appeal against their planning application for a fast food take-away which was refused last September. It seems McDonalds are hoping to grind down local opposition and bully them into submission.

The controversial application has been refused by Leeds City Council on 4 separate occasions and an appeal against refusal was also rejected last year.

Wyn tells me residents are weary with having to continuously battle with this rich and powerful multi-national company to prevent this fast food take-away being opened on their doorsteps. The local community has done an excellent job but Councillors are prepared to step up and take on the campaigning role at appeal if that is what residents want. If the appeal goes to a public inquiry then we will represent residents as we did at the Cottingley Springs public inquiry which we won.

We are now waiting for more details on the nature of the Planning Appeal before we again have to battle this giant. But - as we saw at Cottingley Springs – David can slay the Goliath and we expect a victory for local people again!

Labour confused by ONS Housing Figures

We are calling for an early review of Leeds City Councils Local Development Plan following figures published by the Governments official statistics organisation the ONS. The recently published figures for projected new households across the Leeds City Council area during the life time of the plan show that the number of new homes needed across Leeds is substantially lower than the 74,000 confirmed in the LDF.

My colleague Cllr Wyn Kidger says the ONS figures project a smaller housing target of 44,500 up to 2028. This is a whopping 40% lower than those predicted by Leeds City Council. This means the target of 7,400 new homes for Morley is also wrong and an immediate review is essential.

Leeds City Councils higher target of 74,000 was agreed by a Planning Inspector last year although Morley Borough Independent Councillors proposed a lower target of 50,000 at the Planning Hearings.

My ward colleague Cllr Bob Gettings says the figures agreed by Labour controlled Leeds City Council are clearly excessive and their target does not fit at all with the ONS figures which are based on what is really happening with the housing market. This means Morley Greenfield sites, such as Daisy Hill, Bruntcliffe Road and Owlers Farm have been sacrificed to Developers when it was not necessary as the target that supported these developments was wrong!

We have one last full council meeting before the local elections to get all party agreement to a review of the Local Development Framework and reduce the target towards ONS predictions.

The MBIs have consistently argued the 7,400 housing target for Morley was unrealistic and would lead to overcrowded schools, congested roads and longer waiting times for visits to GPs surgeries. Our position has been vindicated.

Unless Labour Controlled Leeds City Council wants to pander to the demands of Developers, then there is no reasonable alternative than to review and reduce the housing target figure.

Bruntcliffe Cemetery Improvement Plan proposed

Bruntcliffe Cemetery could be in line for an improvement plan.

The cemetery, on Bruntcliffe Lane in Morley, has been the local burial centre for Morley for many years.

I visited the cemetery on a recent site visit and thought it was beginning to look a little run down. I have asked for an improvement plan to look at improving the look of the cemetery and also requested a change to working practises to bring in more council workers to work at the site.

The plan will look at improving some of the older graves which have often come under a state of disrepair. The plan is also aiming to cover improving and widening the pavements around the cemetery as well as providing a water supply for flowers.

My colleague Cllr Wyn Kidger - who has been working on the plan - says we have identified that Developer funds from the new Bruntcliffe Road housing development could be used to improve the cemetery and we are having a plan costed up to see if an improvement plan could be supported with these funds.

We are aiming to have a plan in place during the summer and are also aiming to set up a Friends of Bruntcliffe Cemetery group to support future improvements at the site.