By John Baron
Armley people will decide how a £20 million pot of money is spent in their community, a public meeting has been told.
As first reported last September the Armley and New Wortley area is one of 146 across the UK which will be part of the Plan for Neighbourhoods fund, which the government hopes will pioneer a new way of deciding how to spend public money on local projects. It will receive £20 million over 10 years.
Residents attending the latest Armley Forum meeting heard Leeds City Council’s Taj Virdee say that the fund would see £2 million distributed each year over ten years for capital projects.
She said the project was still in its early stages and that an independent board would be created, which would be made up Armley residents, businesses and partner organisations. The board will be appointed by Leeds West and Pudsey MP Rachel Reeves and interested parties will be able to apply to join.
The meeting heard that the scheme would be based around what improvements the community wanted to see. This could range from anything from local park improvements to fixing up empty buildings and high streets – but it is up to the residents to decide what they want doing.
WLD reported in November that a consortium of Armley community organisations is aiming to bid for funding to build a state-of-the-art community hub in Armley.
Some residents at the Armley Forum meeting expressed concerns that the proposed bid was already ‘signed, sealed and delivered’.
But meeting chair Cllr Andy Parnham (Lab, Armley) refuted that and said that it would be down to the board to decide how all the money would be spent.
Ms Virdee agreed to return to the next Armley Forum meeting to discuss more about the board and to provide an update on the scheme. The forum meets at Armley Community Hub.
Parts of Farbley have also been awarded £20 million from the fund.
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I don’t belive for one second, that the people of Armley, when I say that, I mean the people of Armley who have lived there all or most of their lives. Will have a say in the matter, What good is a state of the art hub, When we already have Armley hub which gets very little use apart from Housing problems, What good is a hub for the working people of Armley, the ones who have paid taxes all there lives, The place is a mess, its been in decline for years and the council have closed their eyes to it, I’m not wanting to sound racist in any way but take a look at Armley Town st,
An state of the art Hub, What a joke just look at the Photo at top of page, not a soul in site just a security guard looking absolutely board who’s getting paid, and how many more council workers inside doing the exact same, being paid wages out of the tax payers money
I must admit whats the point on wasting money on people who dont care,the real problems are the those who wont work,causing trouble for the real people of armley and the system we are under.l have lived in the leeds 12 for sixty years.and have never seen the area as bad .
I quite agree… it’s the people who make Armley…need I say anymore just look around.
I lived there for many years and it was a great community but now I find it quite intimidating and don’t shop there anymore. Even sat on the bus passing through is enough for me.