Council withdraws housing plans for historic TV Harrison ground

By John Baron

Leeds City Council has withdrawn plans for local authority housing on the TV Harrison Sports ground in Wortley.

Negotiations over the future of the ground are continuing between co-owners Leeds School Sports Association and Leeds City Council along with Leeds United Football Club, who are keen to develop the ground for junior and community sports.

Outline plans for up to 61 local authority homes on the Oldfield Lane ground were originally approved three years ago, despite a campaign to maintain the pitch for community use.

But today council planners withdrew the application, a move welcomed by the TV Harrison Sports Ground Association which has been campaigning to block the houses and retain the land for community use.

Michael Meadowcroft, chair of the TV Harrison Sports Ground Association, said: “This is the formal recognition of the next stage of the negotiations for the retention of the historic TV Harrison Sports Ground as a recreational space for the youth of Leeds.

“The three-way discussion between the Leeds School Sports Association, which was entrusted by Tom Vernon Harrison with the safeguarding of the ground almost 100 years ago, Leeds United, who are keen to develop the ground for junior and community sports, and the Leeds City Council which owns part of the site, have been progressing constructively. 

“We are delighted that at last we have the council’s withdrawal of its planning application as its formal recognition of the progress of these negotiations.

“We look forward to their successful conclusion and the full utilisation of all the site. It has taken our association five years to reach this point!”

The TV Harrison ground has a long footballing history. It was where Leeds United greats like Raul Reaney, Brian Deane and David Batty used to play as youngsters and had been empty for 13 years until plans for council housing were revealed for the site in late 2018.

Local campaigners argued Wortley World War One hero TV Harrison had gifted the space to the children of Leeds before his death in 1931 and that the sports pitches and facilities should be restored.

The campaign group restored the football pitch and regular local junior matches are played on it, alongside training and community events.

The planning application can be found here. Follow WLD’s ongoing coverage of the story, which started in 2018, here.