Photos: Kelvin Wakefield
Armley Festival drew the crowds to Armley Moor yesterday, providing a range of community activities for people of all backgrounds.
Here’s a slideshow of photos taken by Kelvin Wakefield.
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West Leeds planning applications: 15 September 2024
Each week we publish a list of the latest planning applications related to the six council wards in West Leeds.
The following applications were published on the Leeds City Council website in the past seven days:
Armley Ward
- Erection of two storey and single storey side extension incorporating dormer window to rear; block up first floor window to rear, 44 Green Hill Road, Armley, Leeds LS12 3QA.
- Retrospective application for the subdivision of first floor two bedroom flat (flat 5) into two one bedroom flats (currently flats 4 and 5), The Barleycorn, 114 Town Street, Armley, Leeds LS12 3JG.
- Erection of an electric vehicle charging facility (Sui Generis) and retail unit (Use Class E) with associated access, parking, servicing and landscaping, New Wortley Gas Holder Site, Wellington Road, New Wortley, Leeds LS12 1EB.
- Change of use of dwelling house (C3) to six person House in Multiple Occupation (C4) including new window in basement, formation of light well and blocking up door internally to front, 64 Conference Road, Armley, Leeds LS12 3DX.
Bramley & Stanningley Ward
- Tree works, 376 Broad Lane, Bramley, Leeds LS13 2AH.
- Dormer window to rear and new roof lights to front, 9 Myers Drive, Bramley, Leeds LS13 1GH.
- Consent, agreement or approval required by conditions 9 and 10 to planning application 20/03244/FU,Land To Rear Of 533 Stanningley Road, Leeds LS13 4EN.
- First floor extension over workshop to form one flat with a raised decked area, Gladstone Works, Gladstone Terrace, Stanningley, Pudsey LS28 6NE.
- Increase height of garden wall to front with addition of pillars, fencing and new gate, 29A Calverley Gardens, Bramley, Leeds LS13 1HF.
- New gated pedestrian access with steps, handrails and additional fencing; additional gate to existing access and associated hard landscaping; new pedestrian guardrail, Leeds West Academy, Intake Lane, Bramley, Leeds LS13 1DQ.
Calverley & Farsley Ward
- Erection of garden room to rear, 5 Woodhall Park Crescent, East Stanningley, Pudsey, LS28 7HG.
Farnley & Wortley Ward
- Tree works, Rear Of Holly Farm, 1C Back Lane, New Farnley, Leeds LS12 5HN.
- Consent, agreement or approval required by condition 4 to planning application 24/00824/FU, The Farnley Academy, Chapel Lane, Farnley, Leeds LS12 5EU.
- Part two storey part single storey rear extension, 10 Highfield Avenue, Lower Wortley, Leeds LS12 4BU.
- Retrospective planning application for the erection of four stables incorporating hay loft, Woodcock Farm, Back Lane, New Farnley, Leeds LS12 5HJ.
Kirkstall Ward
- Certificate of Existing Lawful Development for Use as a House in Multiple Occupation, 16 St Anns Avenue, Burley, Leeds LS4 2PB.
- Retrospective application for single storey rear extension, 34 Latchmere Drive, West Park, Leeds LS16 5DL.
Pudsey Ward
- Demolition of existing single storey cafe and projecting display window and replacement with curtain glazing and new fire doors to southern elevation and 7 new parking spaces, Marks And Spencer, Owlcotes Centre, Stanningley Bypass, Stanningley, Pudsey LS28 6AR.
- Consent agreement or approval of condition 11 of planning application 22/08014/FU, Land West Of Kent Road, Pudsey, Leeds LS28.
- Retrospective application for non illuminated fascia sign, 19 – 21 Church Lane, Pudsey, LS28 7LD.
- Retrospective application for alterations to shopfront including demolition of window stall riser and replacement shutters, 19 – 21 Church Lane, Pudsey, LS28 7LD.
- Retrospective application for conversion of outbuilding into ancillary accommodation, 53 Tyersal Road, Tyersal, BD4 8ES.
Decided applications
Here are the planning applications decided by Leeds City Council this week:
Armley Ward
- Consent, agreement or approval required by conditions 7, 10, 11, 17, 26 and 30 of planning application 20/00006/FU, Land Adj To Holdforth Place And Holdforth Gardens, New Wortley, Leeds.
- One new dwelling house with associated parking and landscaping, Land To Rear Of 22 Victoria Park Avenue, Bramley, Leeds, LS5 3DG.
- Removal of front bay window and erection of single storey extension; part two storey part first floor rear extension; single storey extension to rear of existing garage; rendering to all elevations, 8 Halliday Grove, Armley, Leeds LS12 3PD.
- Demolition of existing building and construction of a residential block comprising of 19 residential units with parking, external communal amenity space and associated works, Salisbury House, Salisbury Grove, Armley, Leeds.
Bramley & Stanningley Ward
- Two storey front extension, 14 Calverley Lane, Bramley, Leeds LS13 3LR.
Calverley & Farsley Ward
- Consent, agreement or approval required by condition 4 to planning application 20/08132/FU, Palmer Plants, Calverley Lane, Farsley, Pudsey LS28 5QQ.
- Certificate of Proposed Lawful Development for a single storey outbuilding to the rear, 53 Chatsworth Crescent, Pudsey, LS28 8LB.
- Single storey rear and side extension; demolition of existing garage and outbuilding; demolition of existing porch; single storey front extension, 17 Wadlands Drive, Farsley, Pudsey, LS28 5JS.
- Conversion of existing garage to rear/side to habitable rooms and associated amendments to fenestration, 11 Carr Hill Grove, Calverley, Pudsey LS28 5QB.
- Consent, agreement or approval required by condition 13 to planning application 20/00320/FU, Woodhall Sports Pavilion, Woodhall Playing Fields, Woodhall Lane, Stanningley, Pudsey LS28 7TT.
- Consent, agreement or approval required by condition 16 to planning application 20/00320/FU, Woodhall Sports Pavilion, Woodhall Playing Fields, Woodhall Lane, Stanningley, Pudsey LS28 7TT.
- Consent, agreement or approval required by condition 13 of Planning Application 20/00320/FU, Woodhall Sports Pavilion, Woodhall Playing Fields, Woodhall Lane, Stanningley, Pudsey, LS28 7TT.
Farnley & Wortley Ward
- Overhead lines application, Beeston Royds To Gildersome, Leeds.
- Change of Use to residential childrens home, 35 Ring Road, Farnley, Farnley, Leeds LS12 5AS.
- Consent, agreement or approval of conditions 4 to planning application 18/04081/FU, B W Skips Limited, 263 Whitehall Road, Lower Wortley, Leeds LS12 6ER.
Kirkstall Ward
- Certificate of Existing Lawful Development for Use as a House in Multiple Occupation, 19 Stanmore Street, Burley, Leeds LS4 2RS.
Pudsey Ward
None decided.
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Farsley Celtic provide pitch update – and appointment of new CEO
By John Baron
Farsley Celtic have announced that work is set to restart on laying their new artificial pitch, following delays.
The Celts are hoping to lay a new 4G pitch at the Citadel but work stopped more than a month ago after the grass pitch was lifted and an unspecified problem was found.
Work to tackle the issue is now due to start on Monday, 23 September with work on installing the new pitch starting the following week.
It’s hoped the pitch will be completed ‘well in time’ for the Spennymoor home game on Saturday, 19 October.
Chairman Paul Barthorpe today said: “These issues relate to the historical use of the site, and its impact on the ground beneath. Unfortunately the impacts of this weren’t detectable until we dug down to begin works.
“Their on-site activity to resolve our issue is seven days – due to the delay they have agreed to work through the weekend to help us catch up on time. They will be on site w/c 23rd September, so we will get the site back on the 1st of October.
“Between now and their commencement date on the 23rd they will be double checking the on-site readings, and will also be doing an additional survey for us in preparation for the floodlights planning application which is being worked on and submitted once the pitch is completed.
“The league are fully aware of all events and have been very co-operative with us to date.
They allowed us to switch a number of home games to away games, but going forwards (including the Leamington game) we have to hire out alternative venues and play them as home games. While disappointing in terms of club finance, fans wanting to watch us play at home and asking fans to travel is unfortunately a short term pain we are going to have to deal with.
“But once the pitch is down it will benefit the club for the next decade, so I have to be positive about the situation and say a few extra weeks damage to my wallet and frustration in the bigger picture is a small price to pay.
“This process hasn’t been easy, and is already hugely over budget and way behind time, but this is the reality of large scale construction and we will just have to accept this and see it through as the changes it will make to our club are significant and will continue to be for years to come.”
Farsley travel to Hallam in the FA Cup tomorrow and then play their first ‘home’ game of the season against Leamington at Alfreton FC’s ground. The Celts have so far played their opening eight National League North games away from home, along with nine pre-season games.
Amid a raft of announcements today, the club also announced the appointment of a new CEO.
Jon Wickham owns three local businesses and has pledged to ‘bridge the gap’ between the club and the community.
He said: “As a lifelong fan of the club, stepping into this role was an easy decision for me. I am super passionate about the club and committed to bringing my experiences within business to help drive our club forward.
“One of my primary goals is to bridge the gap between the club and our community. FCFC has always been a community-centred club and I believe the future success both on and off the pitch will be directly tied to the strength of our relationships with local businesses and the supporters of the club.
“Over the rest of the season and beyond I’ll be reaching out and engaging with the community on all levels to explore how we can work together to not just benefit the club but the wider community as well.”
The Celts have also appointed Jack Wickham as new marketing and media manager.
New banking hub set for Armley – as Lloyds announces branch closure
A new banking hub is to be set up in Armley as part of a wider commitment to protect access to cash.
LINK, the UK’s cash access and ATM network, says the hub will consist of a counter service operated by the Post Office, where customers of any bank can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular banking transactions.
Banking hubs are a shared space, similar to a traditional bank branch, but available to everyone.
Nick Quin, Head of Financial Inclusion, LINK, said: “We are pleased to recommend this new banking hub for the local community in Armley.
“Despite bank closures, many consumers and businesses are reliant on cash, and it is essential that we protect access to cash and basic banking for communities across the UK.”
The move comes after Lloyds this week confirmed the closure of its Armley Town Street branch in September 2025.
Lloyds said that transactions in the latest batch of 55 branches earmarked for closure across the UK had fallen by 55% over the past five years, while use of its mobile banking app had grown.
The banking hub in Armley will be delivered by Cash Access UK, a not-for-profit company owned and funded by nine major high street banking providers which provides cash and basic banking services in communities across the UK.
Over the next few weeks, Cash Access UK will start to engage with the local community and look for potential sites. The hub will likely open in 12 months.
The new banking hub has been welcomed by Leeds West & Pudsey MP Rachel Reeves. She said: “I have been in contact with Lloyds and received assurances that the branch will not close until the new banking hub is up and running.
“This Government is committed to bringing banking back to high streets and I therefore welcome the announcement that residents in Armley will continue to have access to banking services, including to a wider selection of banks, in the new banking hub.”
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Pudsey: Former community facility could fetch £350k at auction
by Don Mort, local democracy reporter
The sale of a former council children’s centre could fetch more than £350,000 after it was put up for auction.
The vacant South Pudsey Community Centre could be redeveloped after buyers were invited to bid for the site.
A sale by Pugh Auctions is open to bids until October 16 for the building and its surrounding land on Lumby Lane.
The singe-storey site has a guide price of £350,000-plus on the auctioneer’s website.
It said: “A potential redevelopment plot located in a residential area of Pudsey, comprising a former community centre situated on a site of approximately 1.38 acres.
“We believe the site has potential for other uses or possibly redevelopment.”
A Leeds City Council report said the property had been vacant since a children and families team vacated to work remotely around March 2020.
It said: “The property is surplus to council requirements and no operational reason has been identified to justify its retention.
“There is a risk that the property may not sell. However, this is unlikely given recent auction results which demonstrate strong interest in similar properties of this type and value.”
The price would reflect the condition of the building and costs of refurbishment for the buyer.
The report added: “In the unlikely event of a purchaser not being secured at auction the reserve can be reviewed and the property re-auctioned, or alternative methods of sale considered.”
WLD first reported on the auction in July.
Follow WLD’s Cutswatch series, which is chronicling council cuts across West Leeds.
Farnley & Wortley: By-election date announced
The date for a by-election in Farnley & Wortley ward has been confirmed by Leeds City Council.
The by-election follows the resignation of Labour Councillor Mark Sewards and will be held on Thursday 10 October 2024. Mr Sewards was elected MP for Leeds South West and Morley in July.
Nominations to stand as a candidate in the by-election closed at 4pm today (Friday, 13 September 2024).
WLD will report on the candidates when they are announced on Monday, 16 September 2024.
Applications to register to vote must reach the Electoral Registration Officer by 12am on Tuesday 24 September 2024. Applications to register to vote can be made online.
Armley Festival 2024: Line up, timings and everything you need to know
By community reporter
Armley Festival 2024 is set to be a day of good stuff – according to organisers. Festival goers coming to Armley Moor can expect a full afternoon of live music, arts workshops, games and activities, and food.
The Festival runs 12pm-6pm tomorrow (Saturday 14 September) on Armley Moor, Town Street, LS12 3HD and is free entry.
Festival organisers said: “This year’s line-up is eclectic, joyful and irreverent. It’s our chance to celebrate some of Armley’s creative talent in the form of musicians, artists, makers and play-makers.
“We all need fun, community and camaraderie in our lives so we hope you’ll find some of that here tomorrow.”
On the Live Music Stage:
A range of creative activities are taking place too, including the opportunity to have your cartoon portrait drawn for you by Doctor Simpo, to try out Claymation, or to learn how to crochet and knit with A Close Knit, who meet at Armley Industrial Museum to click and chat.
Assembly House Artists will be live-painting the event, which includes some very unusual wildlife.
The Armley Olympics is open to anyone of any age from 2pm-5pm and includes some dizzingly daft Olympic Games such as jar opening, a wheelie bin relay race, and a hobby horse dressage in memory of Fudge of the Moor.
One aim of Armley Festival is to support local creatives and local businesses. Organisers try to support the local gig economy as much as possible and give different groups an opportunity to perform each year.
“We’re really delighted to have bands like the Armley-based folk group Lonan, and the uplifting Manouche Ganouche (Gypsy Jazz, Balkans and klezmer). They’re on the same bill as local legend Mik Artistik’s Ego Trip – ahead of their latest national tour and new album Pop, and alongside community musicians from Armley and Bramley.
The Festival is a produced each year by local organisations and voluntary groups working in collaboration. This year the event has been funded by Leeds City Council Wellbeing Funding (Inner West Community Committee Funding), UKSPF (UK Shared Prosperity Funding), and a Play Enabling Grant from Child Friendly Leeds.
Fran Graham, of Armley Action Team, said: “We’re really grateful to Leeds City Council and UKSPF, without whom tomorrow would be a very different event.
“This year’s Festival is a smorgasboard of tasty, daft and delightful stuff that proves how much good stuff there is on our little bit of the planet.
“We’re excited about tomorrow and the chance to showcase creative people from the West Leeds area; bring in a few surprises from further afield and encourage as many people as possible to join in, let their hair down, and have fun.”
“And we’re looking ahead to next year already – so if you’d like to help organise or sponsor Armley Festival 2025 please get in touch at armleyfest@gmail.com.”
Armley Festival, Saturday 14 September, Armley Moor, Town Street, Armley, LS12 3HD.
New ‘contemporary’ flats set to be built in Armley
Scaled-back plans for a block of 19 contemporary flats in Armley have been given the green light by council planners.
The proposal includes the demolition of run-down Salisbury House, off Salisbury Grove.
Hyde Park-based Aslam Properties originally submitted plans for 30 apartments in two terraces back in January 2021. But following local concerns the proposals have been scaled back to one block of one, two and three bedroom flats set over three storeys.
A total of 19 parking spaces are to be provided with two accessible spaces and cycle storage.
Approving the proposals subject to a raft of planning conditions, a council planning officer’s report stated: “The proposal is not considered to have a significant detrimental impact on neighbouring residential amenity or the character or appearance of the street scene, whilst contributing toward housing delivery targets.
“In addition the amended scheme provides a suitable highway and access arrangement along with achieving policy compliance in terms of affordable housing provision, greenspace provision and gross internal floor space.”
The site was used as a former asbestos factory in the 1950s.
The plans can be viewed in full here.
Council appeals for investor to breathe new life into Wortley park sports buildings
By Katherine Turner
Leeds City Council have advised the Friends of Western Flatts Cliff Park group that the three disused sports facilities buildings are set to be removed.
Located by the newly installed playground the buildings have not been used for years and have been subject to graffiti and vandalism over recent times.
The buildings could be saved if an interested party is willing to repair, lease and maintain one or more of the buildings.
The buildings, which were previously used for storage, sports changing room facilities and the old cricket pavilion, require investment to repair them to the council’s minimum standards.
In return for this investment, Leeds City Council have advised they would be willing to consider a rent-free term in the lease agreement. They have also indicated they would be willing to consider a change of use for example to a coffee shop or other commercial venture.
Investors will be asked to submit a fully funded business case to the council that demonstrates long-term viability including repair, ongoing upkeep, maintenance and running costs.
The Friends’ group posted on their Facebook page: “With the playground, sports facilities, the rose garden, parking and picnic areas all within metres of these buildings, this news presents a genuinely exciting opportunity for an interested investor and the local community.”
Local residents seem keen on the idea of having a cafe and toilet facilities and hope an investor will come forward.
If you are an interested investor, please make the Friends’ group aware by contacting fowfcp@gmail.com. They can provide further details on the opportunity and requirements, and put you in touch with contacts at Leeds City Council.
The deadline for registering an interest with the Friends of Western Flatts Cliff Park Committee is Sunday, 6 October 2024. E-mail friends@fowfcp.org.
If there is no genuine interest by this time, the council will be advised to proceed with their demolition plans.
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Farsley table top sale offers variety of goods
By Ivor Hughes
One of the numerous community activities held at Farsley St John’s Church Hall on New Street is the six-times-a-year table top sale, held usually on the second Saturday of the month.
September’s event saw the regular capacity of 18 tables slightly depleted due to some short-notice absences.
Nonetheless, there was a good selection of books, CDs, DVDS, games, toys, household and decorative wares and clothing. With the usual excellent cafe facilities. And, on the day, a
table top full of jams and marmalades offered by a World Certificate winning local maker.
The next table top sale at St John’s is on Saturday 9 November starting at 9.15am. Tables are excellent value at £7. Enquiries to Christine Glover on 0113 2290704.
Here are some photos from the event:
Leeds: Councillors debate fuel payments cut
By Don Mort, local democracy reporter
Labour councillors defended the government’s cut to pensioners’ winter fuel payments in a debate on the controversial move.
A full council meeting heard accusations over which party was to blame for the loss of cold weather payments of up to £300.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Labour MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, announced a restriction on the payments to just those on pension credit and certain other benefits.
The city’s controlling Labour group defeated calls for outright opposition to the move in a debate yesterday (Wednesday).
Alan Lamb, Leeds Conservative leader, said Labour’s own figures showed 4,000 older people could die as a result of the cut.
He tabled a motion which said: “The council believes the pensioners’ winter fuel allowance is an invaluable lifeline to thousands of older people in Leeds at risk of not being able to heat their homes.”
Alwoodley Conservative Lyn Buckley said it would have been simpler for Labour to maintain the winter payments.
She told the meeting: “After only weeks in power the Labour government has shown its true colours.”
The Labour government has said cutting the payments would save around £1.5bn.
Coun Buckley added: “Labour has made an active decision to take £1.5bn from vulnerable pensioners.”
Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, said the government had been left with a £22bn budget gap by the previous Tory administration.
She said: “The country simply can’t afford to let the economy slide.”
Opposition members disputed the £22bn figure, saying it was partly down to public sector pay rises by the current government.
But Debra Coupar, Labour’s deputy council leader, said: “The coffers are empty following years of economic mismanagement and ill-judged decisions.
“It is not wasted money on public sector pay. It is sorting out the public sector so they can deliver for the people of this country, finally, after 14 years of austerity.”
A Labour amendment to Coun Lamb’s motion, calling on the government to “maintain the winter fuel payment for those pensioners that need it” was passed at the meeting.
It also called for measures to boost home insulation, extend the Warm Homes Discount and tax oil and gas companies.
A Green Party amendment calling for the government to raise the pension credit threshold and introduce a wealth tax was also voted down.
Farsley’s Sunny Bank Mills celebrates ‘A lifetime of making’ with Yorkshire artists
Sunny Bank Mills Gallery is celebrating the lifetime’s work of two Yorkshire artists, ceramicist York-based Loretta Braganza and Leeds artist Sheila El-Hassani.
Loretta Braganza was born in Mumbai, India and came to the UK in 1965. She began her practice as a ceramicist in 1990 via a career in dance, graphic arts, textile design and sculpture. She now works from her ceramics studio in York.
Her distinctive style, comprising taut edges, clean lines and complex mark making swiftly earned her exhibitions and commissions as well as awards from the Crafts Council and Arts Council England.
Her work is grounded in her training in sculpture and consists of abstract forms which she hand builds and then decorates with coloured slips from an austere colour palette.
Loretta Braganza said: “I am delighted to be showing my ceramics with painter Sheila El-Hassani at the beautiful Sunny Bank Mills Gallery.
“The exhibition has been curated with much thought and skill by its new art director Anna Turzynski . The result is a marvellous interaction of ceramics and paintings – each in their own space but adding to the visual pleasure of the whole experience.
“My latest series Fruit and Bloom which has never been shown before reflects the rich inspiration that these fruit remembered from my childhood continue to provide. Real fruit embody a feeling, aroma and luminosity of tropical colour while the imagined are stretched into surreal abstraction.”
Sheila El-Hassani studied at Leeds College of Art in the 1950s where she specialised in Graphic Art, graduating from the University of Leeds in 1955. She then entered the teaching profession, first in England and later in Iraq, where she travelled extensively with her husband, Mahdi, who was working for the United Nations at that time.
It was while she was living in Iraq that she began to further her interest in drawing and painting; both personally, through sketching the everyday lives of people, and also through professional practice, producing freelance graphic design work for the Iraqi Ministry for Education and also for Iraqi Industries.
Sheila would sketch on location in the streets, in the souks and around the mosques, drawing individuals and groups of people amid the social landscape of everyday life in Baghdad in the 1960s.
After her retirement she developed a vast body of artworks: drawings, gouache paintings and pen & ink wash images of the stall traders, the environment and the public as they went about their everyday business in Leeds City (Kirkgate) Market. Many of the stalls and shops that Sheila has sketched and painted through the years have since ‘gone’ and become the stuff of memories, but her paintings and drawings are alive with the characters and stallholders who inhabited them.
Sheila has exhibited her paintings and drawings locally and nationally over many decades, and notably, her artworks were selected for inclusion in the Leeds City Art Gallery Open Exhibition for ten consecutive years, from 2000 – 2010.
Sheila said: “It’s an exciting adventure going on the bus to town prepared to draw… the anticipation of what I might see, who might appear. I don’t know what or whom I’ll see to draw, or if I will see anyone at all whom I want to draw. Sometimes I see no-one.
“I’m open to receive and I’m receptive to it happening when I go among people.
“It’s to do with shape, rhythm, movement and legs… especially legs. It’s about bodies moving in space and often my drawings are sequential… one of my personal favourite drawings is of a girl in a bowler-style hat at the bus station.
“She was full of movement. She paused. I drew her and she spun off into more movement and I drew her again. The moment of connection with whom I choose to draw is totally unpredictable.”
Sunny Bank Mills Arts Director, Anna Turzynski said, “This exhibition takes you on a journey through the artistic development of both makers. It is fascinating to see the changes – some apparent , others more subtle that mark this journey through many series to the present day. You will glimpse familiar places, patterns and textures and delight in their hidden similarities. This is a unique chance to reflect on the work of these two local female artists as they exhibit together for the first time, and an opportunity to buy some gorgeous artworks.
Loretta Braganza and Sheila El-Hassani: A Lifetime of Making is at Sunny Bank Mills Gallery until 13 October 2024. Opening times: Tuesday-Saturday 10-4pm, Sunday 12-4pm. Closed on Mondays. Free entry.
For further information, visit the SBM website.
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