Today’s topic at Owls Art Class was portraiture in pencil. Photo: Ivor Hughes
By Ivor Hughes
OWLS (Older Wiser Local Seniors) is one of several hyper-local community initiatives supported and part funded by Leeds City Council. Their catchment in West Leeds includes Burley and Kirkstall.
Among OWLS’ wide range of social activities is a beginners’ art class. The class is held every Tuesday morning from 10am-12pm at Left Bank Leeds, an arts and events venue based in the former St Margaret of Antioch Church, Cardigan Road, Burley.
The number of students attending is typically around 20 with a wide range of topics. On the day of our visit it was portraiture in pencil with the model (pictured) on screen.
OWLS volunteer Tom Foster and organiser Jenny Oates. Photo: Ivor Hughes
Leeds Left Bank is an arts and events venue in the repurposed St Margaret of Antioch Church. Photo: Ivor Hughes
Leeds Left Bank is an arts and events venue in the repurposed St Margaret of Antioch Church. Photo: Ivor Hughes
Today’s topic at Owls Art Class was portraiture in pencil. The model was on screen. Photo: Ivor Hughes
Today’s topic at Owls Art Class was portraiture in pencil. Photo: Ivor Hughes
Leeds Left Bank is an arts and events venue in the repurposed St Margaret of Antioch Church. Photo: Ivor Hughes
All materials are provided and the suggested donation £3. First visit free. The art class is followed by a social gathering from 1-4pm.
Flood defences and crime are just two of the topics on the agenda at a public meeting in Bramley this Thursday.
The Bramley & Stanningley Forum will hear an update of the multi-million pound Flood Alleviation Scheme, which runs along the river Aire through the heart of West Leeds. There will also be an update on flood prevention from Leeds City Council’s flood risk manager Jonathan Moxon.
PCSO Sharon Senior from West Yorkshire Police will provide the latest crime statistics and Jessica McCulloch from Bramley Housing Office will provide an update from her department.
Bramley & Stanningley Forum meets on Thursday, 27 July at 7pm in the Eric Atkinson Centre, Wellington Gardens, LS13 2JA.
Calverley United JFC is looking for players to join its newly formed U12’s girls team.
The core of the team have been playing a year up in the West Riding Girls football league and narrowly missed out on winning the league this season.
Calverley united JFC is a fast-growing girls set up with over 160 girls already playing for the club.
Training takes place twice per week by a qualified coaching team. During the winter training is held at Benton Park school facility with games played at Horsforth Vale cricket club.
A spokesperson said: “Twice WRGFL cup finalists we are really excited to see what these girls can do at their own age level, with a few additions we know they will excel!”
Contact James Clayton on 0797 0476741 for more details.
Closing: Halifax Bank in Market place, Pudsey. Photo: Google
By John Baron
Halifax has announced it will close 15 branches across the UK – including its branch in Pudsey.
The branch will shut on 6 November 2023 and customers are being urged to use Bramley and Horsforth branches instead.
The move is part of 44 branch closures announced by Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.
A Halifax spokesperson said: “The world is becoming more digital than ever before and more of our customers are doing their everyday banking online.
“With more customers choosing to use digital ways to bank and manage their money, visits at this branch have fallen. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to close it.”
Figures released by Halifax show 228 customers regularly use the Pudsey branch in 12 months to March 2023.
They say the number of transactions at the Pudsey branch, which is based in Market Place, have declined by 51% over five years, and that almost three quarters of customers have used either online banking, telephone banking or other Halifax branches, with a quarter using the Post Office.
The news has been met with disappointment on social media.
“Maybe if they opened decent hours people would use it more,” said one commenter.
Another added: “As an employee of the group, even I’m disgusted. What about the elderly who use it like my parents, they don’t drive and aren’t online.”
“Looked at the way customers use it? It’s opening times are now so limited that nobody who works can use it… we’ve complained before. It feels the hours were reduced to limit footfall in order to justify closure,” added another.
Another led calls for an alternative: “Most banking transactions are done online, cash is slowly coming to be a thing of the past so banks will all eventually disappear. A banking hub seems to be the future either run by the Post Office or by the banks joining forces and offering it as a service, but also high street banking is mostly a free service until you go overdrawn etc so we can’t really complain.”
Councillor Simon Seary said on Facebook: “We are disappointed to learn of the proposed closure of the Halifax Branch in Pudsey town centre and our initial thoughts are with all the staff and hope that they find alternative work as quickly as possible.
“The closure is planned to take place on the 6th November 2023 and unfortunately as it’s a business decision we are limited to what we can do as councillor to influence their decision.”
West Leeds residents are being invited to a session to learn more about how dementia affects people and what you can do to make a difference.
Support programme Dementia Friends will be hosting a free and open-to-all information session at BARCA-Leeds on Wyther Lane on Wednesday, 23 August at 2pm.
It’s a one-hour session, where people can ask questions, browse an information stall and learn how to become more dementia friendly.
The session is being organised by Linda Craven, a Dementia Friends ambassador, which is a voluntary role with the Alzheimer’s Society. Linda delivers Dementia Friends information sessions to enable individuals, groups and organisations to become more dementia friendly as well as fundraise and campaign on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Society.
Bramley & Stanningley’s councillors will also be in attendance.
Police are appealing after a spate of thefts in Horsforth.
Police are appealing for information to help identify a man they want to speak to in connection with a number of thefts and incidents of vehicle interference in the Horsforth area.
He is a white male, with brown hair shaved at the sides and with a top knot. He also has brown facial hair and is about 5ft 10ins tall.
Anyone who recognises the man is asked to contact West Yorkshire Police by calling 101 or go online quoting reference 13230386344. Alternatively, call independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Farsley Celtic's Ben Atkinson on the attack against Huddersfield Town. Photo: John McEvoy
Farsley Celtic again host higher league opposition in the form of York City on Tuesday evening in the final pre-season home match before the start of the 2023/24 season.
The Minstermen will head across to The Citadel following trips to Tadcaster Albion (where City won 4-0) on Saturday afternoon and Selby Town on Monday evening.
It’s been all change at the new-look Farsley Celtic, who have signed 11 new players and a new management team and playing style.
They head into the game against the Minstermen following their 2-1 defeat against Huddersfield Town ‘B’ at the weekend, and they’ll be hoping to improve on their early performances in pre-season after failing to beat Silsden, Brighouse Town or FC Halifax Town.
Farsley head coach and former York City striker Clayton Donaldson said he was encouraged by the stronger performance on Saturday as the new squad continues to bond and gel together with a new-look style being integrated.
He’s hoping the side will build on a more positive first half performance against Huddersfield on Saturday, which saw winger Marley Blair scoring his first goal for the club after joining from the Icelandic Premier League.
“I’ve settled into my new environment really well and this has been helped by everyone connected to the club helping me to do so and I can’t thank them enough,” he added.
The Celts will have a fully fit squad to choose from on Tuesday providing there are no knocks or injuries sustained from the fixture against Huddersfield on Saturday.
Check out all of the important information ahead of the fixture:
KICK-OFF
7:45PM
ADDRESS
The Citadel, Newlands, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5BE
ADMISSION PRICES
Adults: £10
Concessions & Students: £8
Juniors (11-17): £3
Fans can purchase tickets in advance by clicking here or by paying on the gate.
The Celts’ final friendly takes place away at Nethermoor Park on Saturday, 29 July against Guiseley AFC ahead of the National League North opener at Roshall Olympic on August 5.
Buildings and playing fields in West Leeds are among those listed by Leeds City Council as ‘assets of community value’.
Elland Road football ground in south Leeds was last week the latest high-profile addition onto the council’s list, WLD takes a look at what’s currently listed on the council website in West Leeds.
In essence, becoming an asset of community value gives communities a right to identify a property that is believed to be of value to their social interests or social wellbeing and gives them a fair chance to make a bid to buy the property on the open market if the property owner decides to sell.
Currently, only eligible community groups, local parish councils or local neighbourhood planning forums and charities can nominate.
The TV Harrison ground off Oldfield Lane in Wortley.
In West Leeds, the assets of community value are:
The Barley Mow Pub, Bramley
The pub, on Bramley Town Street, was once the subject of a proposed community bid, until the current privater owner stepped in a couple of years ago. It’s still listed on the council’s website though.
A long-running community campaign and several legal challenges finally saw the sports pitches – which were dormant until the community started to use them again amidst plans for council housing – accepted as an asset last year.
Elida Gibbs Playing Fields, Burley
The playing fields were listed in March this year following a nomination from Leeds Hyde Park Football Club, which is an unincorporated group.
Unsuccessful bids listed on the council website include The Farmers’ pub on Bradford Road, Pudsey.
1. Community right to bid: The Localism Act 2011 and the Assets of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012 contain rules relating to the “Community Right to Bid”. The purpose of this right is to give communities a right to identify a property or land that is believed to further their social interests or social wellbeing and gives them a fair chance to make a bid to purchase the property or land on the open market if the owner decides to sell. From the date the landowner informs the Council of their intention to sell “community interest groups” have a period of six weeks to request in writing for the group to be treated as a potential bidder in relation to the land. If they do make such a request, the owner is prevented from disposing of the property for a period of six months (from the date they originally informed the Council of their intention to sell) unless it is to a community interest group. The and owner is free to dispose of the property at the end of the six-month period to whomsoever they see fit.
2. Planning applications: The AoCV status of a property or piece of land would be taken into account – along with other relevant factors – when determining planning applications relating to the site.
3. Compulsory purchase rights: A community organisation can request that a local authority uses its compulsory purchase powers to acquire a site registered as an AoCV if the asset is under threat of long-term loss to the community, subject to funding being available within the local authority or provided by the community organisation to cover the cost of the purchase, compensation, and the compulsory purchase process itself.
Workmen carrying out repairs to St John's Church roof in Wortley back in July. Photo: Wendy Gaunt
By Katherine Turner
Urgent roof repairs have begun at St John’s Church in Wortley.
Discussions first started in 2015 when it became apparent that the ageing roof needed attention.
Wendy Gaunt, church warden and treasurer told West Leeds Dispatch: “We knew that the roof would be coming to the end of its natural life, and we knew it would need massive works on it. In 2017 we started to look at the church and ask: was it viable, did we have enough funds and enough resources to warrant doing the church roof?”
St John’s Church has seen a recent increase to its parishioner numbers and the use of its premises by local community groups such as popular Clubbercise classes and councillor surgeries.
Repairs to St John’s Church roof in Wortley. Photo: Wendy Gaunt
“Within this time we have also had the West Leeds review where the Diocese were looking at the future of church buildings and parishes to see if they were viable and did they work. It was discussed whether the church would be closing,” added Wendy.
“They saw that we had worked hard and the church had a potential to grow. That galvanised us to keep going.”
Luckily for the local community St John’s Church didn’t close and repairs on the roof started last Wednesday. Wendy explained that the repairs should take around six or seven weeks and that rather than replacing the whole roof they have found a system called Storm Flex that enabled the repairs to be completed without the need for scaffolding.
It has taken until now for the church to have enough capital to complete the project. Wendy explained that each church is responsible for its own funding.
Workmen carry out repairs to St John’s Church roof in Wortley. Photo: Wendy Gaunt
Wendy added: “We don’t get any funding, the only funding we get as a church and a parish is what we raise.
“I think there is a misconception that churches are kept going either by the Church of England or that we get government funding. The only money we get is what we raise on a collection plate. We have had to balance whether it is morally right to spend that amount of money on a building that is only used for an hour a week. But if you build your church, the church becomes the people, not the building.”
Some additional funding has been raised from the sale of St Michael’s Church Hall and the sale of St James’ Church at New Farnley. Wendy said that they still need funds to help with new heating, sound and wiring systems but is positive on the future of the church and the many groups and individuals they support in the local community.
July’s washout has still yielded some sunny spells.
In the breaks between the rain photographer Susan Tellum has captured lush flowering and ripening rowan in Bramley Park, with blackberries near Kirkstall Abbey.
Leeds Youth Opera presented a new British Musical at Interplay Theatre in Armley this week.
The theatre was full whilst we eagerly awaited to see the musical “Shackleton”, book and lyrics by Matthew Knowles and music by Simone Chiappi. We weren’t disappointed as the acting, music and singing was superb.
Leeds Youth Opera (LYO) encourages young people from the age of eight to 25 to develop their drama skills and voice development, encouraged by the more mature members taking on the demanding principal roles with youth and experience beneficial to both.
The audience were thrilled to see such a high-quality performance at their local theatre, praise for the cast and the artistic director Anita Adams and musical director Tom Mitchell. It is certainly worthwhile to continue supporting this little gem of a theatre which offers events at very affordable prices.
If you would like to join LYO, the company rehearses at Interplay Theatre every Saturday during term time. E-mail your interest to leedsyouthopera_group@outlook.com.
Community campaigners are aiming to restore the pitch, off Oldfield Lane
By John Baron, WLD editor
I see senior councillors in Leeds have this week defended the removal of public comments from the local authority’s planning portal, amid claims it reduces transparency.
Leeds residents can still object to or support a planning application, but their comments are now not posted on the council’s online planning portal, as part of an initial six-month trial.
For years, people have been able to view details of a planning application in their community, comment on the proposals and view what other people have said, both for and against.
The council says the move has been forced by staff shortages and under-funding in the planning department and also say there is no legal requirement to publish the public’s comments on applications.
The local authority says “antagonistic” and potentiality libellous responses were being posted on its online planning portal more frequently, meaning its staff have to spend more time vetting and redacting comments. There are also concerns that some objectors may fear a digital ‘pile on’ and are reluctant to comment.
But critics argue it will undermine openness and trust in the planning process.
It’s undoubtedly a difficult issue. No-one can argue that the council hasn’t been hit by massive cuts from central government over the years, but I do fear the damage the decision will have on local democracy, if it moves beyond a six-month trial.
The council are losing a lot of scrutiny – and the ability of the press and public to hold them to account or shine a light on planning issues.
Instead we will be awaiting for a general summary in a council planning officer’s report made public a week before the plans are decided and inevitably lose a lot of detail of what people local people were saying.
There’s a danger scrutiny of the council’s processes and decisions – and, indeed, public awareness of such applications – will be much reduced.
And the lack of transparency will do nothing to increase public confidence in a system where a common response from some is that “there’s no point in commenting as they’ve already made up their minds”.
I sympathise with the council’s financial difficulties, but the public will lose far more than they gain from this and democracy and transparency will be the loser.
My thanks to the volunteers who give up their time to maintain this section for us. If you would like your event to be added, please e-mail the details to Win Roddy at whatson@westleedsdispatch.com.
