Plans for 16 new homes on the site of a former primary school in Armley have been given the green light.
Leeds City Council has approved the proposals for 16 two-storey houses in two rows, on an empty former primary school site on Whingate Road in Armley.
The development comprises five pairs of semi-detached houses, and two short terraces of three houses. All houses are three-bedroomed, except for two properties which have two bedrooms.
The future of the site was discussed at two public meetings in January 2016, with question marks raised at the time over the council’s consultation. Some campaigners in the area had hoped for a park or play area, while others wanted private housing due to the fear of anti-social behaviour.
A planning officer’s report this week said there were no planning grounds to oppose the housing development and concluded:
“The proposal is considered to have no significant detrimental impact on visual or residential amenity or the highway network.”
Armley ward councillors initially asked that a £59,790 greenspace contribution from the developers – Armley-based Leodis Housing – be used to upgrade nearby Charlie Cake Park. Subsequent discussions between the councillors and Parks and Countryside department agreed for the contribution to go towards Armley Park.
The council report can be read in full here.
The former Whingate Primary School building – which was most recently used as a family learning centre – was demolished in 2015 following problems with vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
Cash-strapped Leeds education chiefs decided they no longer needed the building, which had been considered as a possible extension to the existing Whingate Primary School over the road.
NOTE: This article was updated to clarify where the greenspace contribution would be spent.
More than 50% of our swift population has disappeared in just 20 years, they depend on living in buildings but new building designs don¹t provide homes for any wildlife including swifts.
There is a big movement of people around the country working to persuade builders and planners to incorporate simple, cheap swift boxes or leave spaces under eaves in new developments.
To rebuild the Swift population we need to add as many thousands of nest sites as possible especially where there are tall buildings in urban areas.
I appeal to the superb West Leeds Dispatch to add this information to the council about this new housing site.
This is bad news. It’s all ready a pressure cooker in the area with anti-social behaviour rife. It should’ve been a greenspace for children to let loose, instead of causing trouble as usual.