Work to transform sports facilities at Woodhall Playing Fields into a ‘Parklife’ community sports hub will finally start in ‘spring or early summer’ – more than three years after first being proposed.
Planning permission was granted in March 2022 for a new community sports hub with changing facilities, a community cafe, reception area and meeting rooms with associated car parking at Woodhall Playing Fields.
The fields between Calverley and Pudsey.
Calverley and Farsley councillor Amanda Carter has provided an update on the proposed facilities on social media. She said: “Trees and bushes are going to be pruned in mid-February for the commencement of the main construction on Woodhall Sports Hub site, which will begin this spring/early summer subject to all approvals being finalised and in place.
“This will make a huge difference to our area, with first-class playing fields, plenty of on site parking (to relieve parking on Woodhall Road), and there will be a hard surface all the way round the site for walkers and hopefully a café.”
Leaders at Dixons Unity Academy ‘have made progress to improve the school – but more work is necessary for the school to be no longer judged as having serious weaknesses’, Ofsted inspectors have said.
The school, based Whingate Road, Armley, was judged to have serious weaknesses following the inspection in March 2023, which said the school was ‘inadequate’ overall. But a monitoring inspection published today said the school is making progress, praising leaders and staff for taking ‘purposeful action’ to improve the school.
It notes the school has made a number of new staff appointments and established an academy improvement board in a bid to raise standards.
New subject leaders are working with their teams to enhance subject knowledge and pedagogical expertise. The report adds: “You are taking important action to strengthen relationships with your local community. You have made the school a community hub, providing direct support for essential resources and signposting families to external services to get them the help that they need.”
The report raised issues with pupils’ attendance and said: “One of the biggest barriers to pupils experiencing an acceptable quality of education remains poor rates of attendance. This currently stands at 82% for all pupils. You have increased the capacity of the attendance team. The team is providing a range of support for pupils and families, including making a high number of home visits. High rates of suspension for poor behaviour add to the problem. You remain determined not to lower rates of suspension by lowering expectations of behaviour. There are signs of improvement for some pupils.”
The monitoring report concludes: “New strategies to improve the curriculum, SEND provision and attendance take time to show impact. However, the pace and purpose of improvement are clear. You have led significant improvement action in a short space of time.”
In a letter to parents yesterday, Luke Sparkes, chief executive of Dixons Academies Trust, said Ofsted’s original report highlighted a number of positive aspects, including that students feel safe at school and that most are happy, and that “behaviour in classrooms is routinely calm and orderly” – but that inspectors had highlighted some areas for improvement.
He said the trust had disagreed with a number of the original concerns and had lodged a formal complaint with Ofsted at the time.
“However, it was also important that we addressed the areas where we agreed there was room for improvement,” Mr Sparkes said. “We have, therefore, been working extremely hard over the last six months to deliver the action plan we drew up to achieve rapid improvement of the school.
“Ofsted inspectors visited Dixons Unity just before Christmas for a monitoring inspection and I am delighted to say their report confirms we are making good progress. I would like to thank all the staff for the work they have done, and for the support and advice provided by our new academy improvement board.
“In particular, they have praised the impact that a number of new staff have made alongside our excellent existing team. These include new subject leaders in maths, PE, business, and information technology; an assistant principal in charge of alternative provision; a number of appointments to increase the capacity of the special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) team, including a new special educational needs co-ordinator; and extra staff in the pastoral team and the attendance team.
“Ofsted says that the hard work the Dixons Unity team has put in has improved even further the quality of education at the school. The inspectors also praise Mr Jacobs, appointed last year, for his leadership.
“The final highlight I would like to pull from the report is the recognition Ofsted gives to our work to make the school “a community hub”. It is so important to us that our academies are central to their communities, supporting families and students beyond the school gates.
“At Dixons Unity, through our ‘Unity Community’ hub, we provide direct support for essential resources, and we signpost families to external services, so they get the help they need. Staff have reached out to families at summer and at Christmas fares; and they make regular calls to parents to build stronger bonds and overcome some of the barriers to students’ education that have intensified in the post-COVID period. Links between home, the community and school have never been as important as now and I am very proud Dixons Unity is a beacon in this area.
“However, the positive comments throughout the report do not mean we will stop working hard for your children. There is always more to do, and we are looking forward to making the school even better. Thank you for all your support as we do this.”
The Wortley Curve – a disused stretch of rail line that was once a key part of rail links in Leeds and Bradford – has been sold at auction for £47,000.
The line connected the Wakefield to Leeds line to the Bradford to Leeds line, but was closed in 1985.
In recent years there have been calls for the link to be re-instated, as it would allow trains to travel from Bradford to Wakefield and beyond without passing through Leeds city centre.
The three-acre parcel of land – including the rail line – had most recently belonged to Railway Paths Ltd, a charity that owns and manages former railway land.
On Tuesday, the land was listed in an online auction, with a £15,000 guide price.
On Wednesday the online auction ended, with the land fetching £47,000 – well over the guide price.
It has not yet been revealed who bought the land.
There had been calls for either West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) or Bradford Council to purchase the site.
At a meeting of the Council last week, bosses said it would not be appropriate for the authority to carry out compulsory purchase powers to buy the curve as there were no current plans to re-instate the line.
A specialist social work service that has helped hundreds of families affected by domestic abuse could be axed as the council seeks to balance its budget.
Caring Dads has helped more than 700 men address abusive behaviour and build relationships with their children since being set up in 2014 at Leeds City Council.
The council would save £230,000 if it scraps the service as part of widespread cuts to plug a £162m budget shortfall.
The service is designed for men who accept they have been abusive towards their partners or children and encourages them to think about their own childhood experiences.
Caring Dads is staffed by the equivalent of 5.5 full-time workers, although Leeds City Council said not all the posts were currently filled.
A council spokesperson said: “The financial pressures on the council, with a budget gap of £162.8m over the next three years, mean that a range of highly-valued services are the subject of review and this reflects just how difficult a position we are in.
“We are currently consulting with trade unions and are committed to engaging with staff as proposals are developed. We wish to stress that the review of the services is in no way a reflection on the work or effectiveness of the team at Caring Dads.”
Caring Dads, which has worked with 718 men in Leeds, was based on a model developed in Canada that has since been adopted around the world.
The council’s revenue savings report said. “This evidence-based programme is informed by research which indicates that men are more likely to engage with services to address their behaviour if they think it will benefit their relationship with their children.
“Whilst there is obvious value in the Caring Dads workstream, it is felt that support can be provided which will allow activity to support this particular cohort of service users to be delivered using existing resources.”
Female partners and children are offered domestic violence support as part of the programme as men’s behaviour is monitored over 17 weeks.
The service does not work with men with a history of sexual offending against children or vulnerable adults, or those whose substance misuse makes them unsuitable for the scheme.
Ceasing the Caring Dads service is proposed as part of the council’s 2024/25 budget.
Building sales and closures – including Pudsey Civic Hall – parking charges and job losses are being proposed as the council seeks to balance its budget.
The post box on Lowotwn will be removed. Photo: Google
A post box outside a former post office in Lowtown, Pudsey, is set to be removed – despite concerns it leaves the area without an immediate post box.
Leeds Council planning department has received notification that the post box outside the house at 111 Lowtown, Pudsey is being proposed for removal by the Royal Mail at the request of the landowner. There are currently no plans to install a replacement, which has sparked local concerns.
The removal has been taken up by Pudsey councillor Simon Seary (Cons), who said: “I contacted the Royal Mail’s appointed agent (Livemore) to consider relocating it to a location nearby. I’m not happy with the response and will follow up as it leaves a large area at the bottom of Lowtown without a postbox.”
In a letter to Cllr Seary, Royal Mail’s senior public affairs manager Michael Hogg said: “I have consulted with the manager responsible for the LS28 postcode area. They confirmed that the postbox was removed at the request of the property owner. We are legally obliged to remove or seal postboxes on private property upon request from the landowner. I want to reassure you that Royal Mail did not want to remove the postbox from service.
“Our regulator, Ofcom, requires Royal Mail to ensure that 98 per cent of all households across the UK should be within half a mile of a postbox. I have been advised there are six postboxes within half a mile of Lowtown. The closest postbox is located on The Lanes which is approximately 320m away. Having considered all relevant factors, including the number of postboxes in the area, within half a mile, and the balance of economy against service provision, unfortunately we will not be replacing the postbox as requested.”
The response brought a lukewarm response from people on social media, which one commenter saying: “It’s a pity they don’t take the terrain into account as someone has already mentioned. If you live just below where the post box is now then access to the one at The Lanes means negotiating a very steep hill. So not accessible to everyone.”
This land next to Oaklands Hand Car Wash at Rodley Roundabout could have become housing. Photo: Google
By John Baron
Plans for seven detached family houses have been submitted for disused and overgrown land off Rodley Roundabout.
Mr Zaffar Iqbal has applied to build the four-bedroom homes next to Oaklands Service Station, off the Outer Ring Road.
A planning statement accompanying the application states: “The proposed development site is vacant and a derelict parcel of land. It offers an opportunity to bring it into effective use by the construction of seven dwellings, which would enhance the local environment and contribute towards the Leeds strategy for housing.”
Councillor Peter Carlill (Lab, Calverley & Farsley) has already raised concerns over the latest application for the site. He said today: “I objected [to last year’s application] as this site is completely unsuitable for any scale of development due to the means of access – exiting directly on to the Ring Road this close to the roundabout is unacceptable and dangerous. The layout also was overdeveloped, containing too many houses to fit in the space.
“A further application has now been received which asks permission for seven houses on this site. I will again be objecting, and will be writing to nearby residents to notify them of the application and asking them to submit comments.”
The plans can be viewed in full – and commented upon – here.
A former mill building in Wortley, which has been targeted by arsonists in the past, has been granted planning permission to be transformed into an apartment block.
A planning application submitted in October by Wakefield-based developer Ivan Smith of PH Tong Road Ltd would see the first, second and third floors at empty Swallow Hill Mills, on Tong Road, converted into 18 apartments. The ground floor is not intended to be changed in use and Mr Smith says it will be let to a suitable tenants, such as a nursery.
Council planning officers this week approved the application, subject to a raft of planning conditions, including the developer producing a plan showing details of all vehicle parking and turning areas, and additional plans for Electric Vehicle Charging Points.
The planning application stated: “The former drawing office and printer supplies company previously using the building has ceased trading now for over a year and as such the building is empty and declining in condition due to neglect and vandalism.
“20 car parking spaces will be provided to the existing car park from the former drawing office and printing supplies firm, which previously occupied the building. The car park is fully accessible and is accessed via the existing highway connection to Silver Royd Hill, suitable for both cars and larger service vehicles.”
Inside the mill. Photo: January 2022 by Mark Stevenson
‘Exceptional and highly stimulating’ Pudsey’s Greenside Care Club has been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted inspectors.
The pre-school was rated as outstanding for its quality of education, behaviour and attitudes of pupils, personal development and its leadership and management.
Inspectors say children are inspired and thrive at Greenside Care Club, which is based at Pudsey Greenside Primary School.
“Children benefit from a team of staff who offer exemplary teaching across a rich and varied curriculum,” the report said. “Children are deeply involved in their learning, displaying constant enjoyment and motivation when they play and learn. They have access to an abundance of activities that help them to make progress in their learning.”
The report praises the pre-school’s high aspirations for pupils, the ‘secure’ relationships between staff and pupils and its prioritisation on communication and language.
“The manager is inspirational and continually strives for improvement,” the report added. “She works together with staff, parents and the children to evaluate her practice and provide the best possible experiences for children. Staff are exceptionally enthusiastic and committed to their roles.”
‘Friendly and welcoming’ Summerfield Primary School has a received a ‘good’ report from visiting Ofsted inspectors.
The school, in Intake Lane, Rodley, provides a ‘strong focus on making sure that pupils learn to read as soon as possible’ and the report says that leaders’ passion to provide pupils with an inspirational curriculum is being realised.
“The atmosphere is calm and caring. Pupils enjoy school,” the report said. “They benefit from learning in a caring, safe environment. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported by skilled staff.
“The curriculum is broad and ambitious. The school is aspirational for all pupils to be enthusiastic learners. However, some aspects of the curriculum are in the early stages of implementation. In mathematics, pupils do not get enough opportunities to practise their learning. The persistent absence of some pupils has a negative impact on their education.”
There is praise for the school’s early years provision, a structured and consistent approach to teaching phonics, staff morale is high and safeguarding is effective.
The school has been classed as ‘good’ in its previous inspection, so was not subjected to a full ‘graded’ inspection during last month’s visit. The report says the evidence gathered ‘suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now’. The school’s next inspection will be a graded inspection.
A tiny loom designed to give a miniature masterclass on Yorkshire’s textile prowess has been carefully conserved in the shadow of its super-sized sibling in Armley.
The scale model, less than half a metre high, is housed at Leeds Industrial Museum and recreates in astonishing detail the hulking machines manufactured by Barnsley’s Wilson and Longbottom, who made looms for factories around the world during the golden age of Yorkshire textile production.
Made in 1945, the miniature was once a fully working machine, and comes complete with tiny versions of the tools and accessories used in the full-sized version as well as a hand-written instruction manual penned by its original maker.
Used for demonstrations, the machine even has a half-finished green handkerchief inside along with tiny replicas of the larger punched cards which, in a full-sized loom, would determine the sequence in which threads would rise and fall during production.
The model’s delicate cleaning took place close to the museum’s full-size Hattersley standard loom. The larger loom was made in 1933, manufactured by George Hattersley and Sons Ltd. of Keighley. The firm had a track record of making every type of loom until their closure in 1981, and each loom produced at the Hattersley works was painstakingly packed in specific order to ensure that all the parts worked properly.
Noted for their efficiency and robustness, many Hattersley looms survive today in working order, with the museum’s model even recently being used to create a specially-designed ‘Armley Weave’ cloth on site.
John McGoldrick, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of industrial history, said: “Seeing both contrasting machines side-by-side really brings home the ingenuity and pride behind these remarkable looms, which dominated the Yorkshire textile industry for generations.
“Conserving the model loom, it’s clear that the maker wanted to capture the complexity of the mechanism and show exactly why these locally produced machines had become so popular and well-regarded in mills and factories around the world.
“Looking at the full-sized loom also gives a real sense of the size and power of the real thing, and it’s easy to imagine textile mills filled with these impressive machines which helped establish the county as such an important hub for the whole industry.”
Once itself the world’s largest woollen mill, Leeds Industrial Museum was built in at least the 1600s. The site was bought in the late 1700s by Colonel Thomas Lloyd, a Leeds cloth merchant, who expanded operations dramatically, so much so that Armley was soon the world’s biggest mill of its kind.
Although production ended in 1969, the site reopened as Leeds Industrial Museum in 1982 and today displays vintage machinery including traditional looms and other textile equipment.
New technology should reduce the number of “ghost buses” which continue to show up on digital timetables after being cancelled, transport bosses have said.
Bus operators said they were working to speed up the reporting of cancelled services after commuters were left waiting for buses that never turned up.
The West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s transport committee launched a Ghost Bus Working Group to tackle the problem in January last year following complaints from bus users.
A report to Monday’s committee meeting said: “The customer sees an impending bus arrival on the bus stop display or online, but the bus does not arrive, and the predicted bus arrival disappears from the screen.”
The report said an upgrade of electronic ticket machines to 4G mobile technology should improve the tracking of vehicles.
Oliver Edwards, Labour councillor for Guiseley and Rawdon, asked bus operators Transdev and First for a commitment that future cancellations would be reported immediately.
He said: “It’s a big issue in the area I represent, and it’s an issue in many wards, especially outside of the city centres. And it’s still happening.
“It can be very serious for people if they don’t know whether the bus is coming.”
Mr Edwards also criticised First for not sharing bus performance data.
He said: “When we’ve asked for bus performance data, we’ve either been told it will be provided, but several months later we are still waiting for that, or we’ve been told it can’t be shared because of commercial sensitivity.
“What commercial sensitivity is it when there’s no competition on that route, and there’s not likely to be any competition any time soon?”
Brandon Jones, head of external relations at First Bus, said changes to computer software were starting to improve the reporting of cancellations.
He said: “There are some issues around data flow. We are very aware of these issues that occur for customers. The vast majority of the time it works well.”
Mr Jones said that in principle, the company was keen to share performance data. He said: “We do provide a lot of data through the Combined Authority already and we have had conversions around opening that up. ”
Transdev’s commercial director Paul Turner said cancellation systems were being upgraded at his company.
He said: “I think we do pretty well at getting our cancellations up to date.
Five men have been jailed for nearly 19 years after police raided a cannabis farm in Armley Road.
The men were given sentences ranging from 36 months to 56 months when they appeared at Leeds Crown Court today (Friday).
These convictions followed an investigation by police in Leeds after the raid on 28 July last year at an industrial unit in Armley Road, where a total of 2,342 cannabis plants were seized.
Aurel Alimucaj, 43, was jailed for 40 months
The investigation was carried out by officers from Operation Braylock, which was formed in September 2022 and has now raided 77 industrial-sized cannabis farms across the district, making 97 arrests and seizing more than £20m of cannabis.
Fejzi Canai, 59, was sentenced to 48 months
This work has so far resulted in prison sentences of more than 92 years.
Emiliano Licaj, 26, was given a 36-month term
Sergeant Simon Green, the officer in the case, said: “Operation Braylock was set up to target and disrupt organised criminals who blight the communities of Leeds District through the illegal drugs trade.
Klemend Mezuri, 45, received 45 months
“I hope this outcome demonstrates our commitment to tackling these individuals and sends out a warning to others that they can expect to face a prison sentence if they are found to be involved in such criminal enterprises.”
