By Mark Sewards, MP for Leeds South West and Morley
After months of work with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, I was genuinely delighted to see ‘Farnley East’ selected as one of the neighbourhoods for the Government’s Pride in Place programme.
This is a once in a generation opportunity: £20 million to be spent over ten years, with local people deciding how that money is spent.
Whether it’s improving parks, supporting community centres, funding local events or backing interesting new ideas, all of the decisions will be made by people who live in Farnley or have a vested interest in its success.
Decisions on how the money will be spent are going to be made by a Neighbourhood Board. This must be made up of residents and people who want Farnley to do well.
That Board will be led by an Independent Chair. The Board must consult with all local people before decisions are made.
The Neighbourhood Board will also determine the final borders for the area called ‘Farnley East.’ To make the original decision, The Office for National Statistics divided up the country into something called ‘MSOA’ areas and this is what the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government used to allocate spending to the area they refer to as ‘Farnley East.’
However, I don’t think anyone has heard of Farnley East. That’s why I’m arguing that the Board should change the boundaries to include all of Old Farnley.
For example, I’m arguing that the Tong Estate, the Stonebridges, the Stonecliffes and Farnley Hall Park should be included, because I want as many parts of our community as possible to benefit. Ultimately, that will be a decision for the Neighbourhood Board, not for any politician.
In order to create (and accelerate) the process required to set up the Board, I set up a Local Reference Group; a group of volunteers from Farnley who could make the very first decisions about the money and the board.
The Local Reference Group has now created that process. We can now recruit the Chair and the Board Members. The sooner these roles are filled, the sooner we can get spend the money.
If you live in Farnley, or have a strong interest in its success, please consider applying to be on the Neighbourhood Board or even be the chair.
More information about each of the roles can be found here:
- Neighbourhood Board Member: https://www.marksewards.co.uk/pride-in-place-board-member-advert
- Independent Chair: https://www.marksewards.co.uk/pride-in-place-chair-advert
All applications and questions should be sent to: PrideinPlace.Farnley@Leeds.gov.uk
The deadline for Independent Chair applications is the 22 March 2026, while applications for Independent Board Members will initially close on the 17 April 2026, with further submissions considered on a rolling basis.
If you’re passionate about this community and want to deliver real, lasting change in Farnley, please apply.
This is the best chance we’ve had in decades to take control of Farnley’s future, and I want as many local people as possible to be part of it.
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