West Leeds social enterprise Seagulls Paint – which started in the kitchen of one of its founders – is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a special event, which they preview in a guest post below:
He has urged the council to set realistic housing targets, concentrate on the revitalization of brownfield sites, and protection of greenspace in Pudsey and Aireborough.
Council chiefs say they are putting together proposals to cater for a population boom in Leeds over the next 15 years. Running until 5pm on Monday 16 November, the second and final consultation – Your City, Your Plan – is calling for views on potential locations identified for new housing, employment, retail and green space across Leeds up to 2028.
Issues discussed by Mr Andrew in London included the location of the planned developments, and the need for revision of the housing targets.
Mr Andrew said:
“After hearing from a number of constituents, I was aware of the many concerns within the Leeds surrounding the Leeds Council’s proposed housing target, and its impact on our Greenspace.
“Over the last 15 years, Leeds has seen significant house building that resulted in a number of problems, including congested roads and overcrowded schools, which will be exacerbated by the Council’s housing target.
“I was pleased to find that the Department for Communities and Local Government is taking this important issue seriously. I will continue to press for more sustainable gousing targets, and to represent local concerns regarding Greenspace development.”
The council says the highest allocation of new homes will be in the city centre and ‘inner area’ of Armley, Beeston Hill, Belle Isle, Gipton and Harehills, Hyde Park and Woodhouse, Hunslet and Seacroft.
Land allocated for housing in west Leeds also includes: Airedale Mills in Rodley, Calverley Lane, Hill Foot Farm in Pudsey, Gamble Lane/Tong Road in Farnley, Hough Side Road, Pudsey, Acres Hall Avenue/Troydale Lane in Pudsey, Wortley High School site, Wortley Low Mills off Whitehall Road, and Dick Lane in Thornbury.
A new gypsy and travellers site could be built on land allocated off Farnley Ring Road and Stonebridge Lane, near the reservoir.
There are also longer term plans – post 2028 – for greenbelt land off the back of Hare Park Mount, Farnley (pictured above). Homes could be built at Bagley Lane, Farsley and off Low Moor Side in New Farnley.
In Armley, there are also plans for Wesley Road and land has been allocated for a mixed housing and employment at Armley Gyratory. Included in the land allocation is housing up Kirkstall Road and in the Otter Island area.
Following the consultation, the responses will be reviewed with the plans and comments then submitted to the government for examination.
The Dispatchreported in June how council chiefs rejected government statistics on projected population growth in the city, which showed that the number of households is projected to rise in Leeds by just 44,500 over the next 15 years.
The work of a small team of hardworking volunteers who maintain Bramley’s war graves has been highlighted in a special video.
Filmed using drone camera footage by West Leeds resident David Taylor, the footage names some of the soldiers who laid down their lives in the first and second world wars. Mr Taylor was also responsible for this breathtaking video of St Bartholomew’s Church in Armley, which recently featured on The Dispatch.
The latest strim and clean of the war graves at Bramley Baptist Church took place yesterday.
New find: Willie Crowther, aged 19, 13/03/1917 a member of Leeds Pals.
Volunteers also uncovered another forgotten war grave – that of Willie Crowther, aged 19, who died March 13, 1917. Willie was one of the Leeds Pals.
Bramley Baptist Church can be found on Hough Lane, opposite St Peter’s School.
Councillors will decide an application for an alcohol licence on Branch Road, Armley next week.
Members of Leeds City Council’s licensing committee will consider an application from the Tatra Sklep grocery store to sell alcohol daily between 8am and 11pm. The owners have pledged to abide by licensing laws.
The application has been opposed by Armley ward councillors Alice Smart and Jim McKenna on the grounds that another shop selling alcohol could exacerbate existing problems of street drinking in the area.
The licensing committee meets next Tuesday at Leeds Civic Hall (10am). The meeting is open to the public.
Last month applicant Ranj Rashid Raja successfully applied for his Branch Road convenience store to be able to sell alcohol to be drunk off premises. The success came despite opposition from local councillors.
Work on a new £3.5 million traffic lights scheme to ease congestion at Rodley Roundabout has almost finished.
Road users endured months of delays while the work was carried out, but Leeds City Council says most of the work has been finished, with some minor ‘tweaking’ on the lights to be carried out.
“The Rodley Roundabout Signalisation Scheme is now operational and the traffic lights became active on the 27 August 2015. Some tweaking of the traffic light timings is still ongoing and we thank you for your patience whilst this happens.”
During September work to complete the splitter islands was completed, which included the final surfacing of the islands as well as the installation of street lighting, bollards, pedestrian crossings and guardrails. This month sees landscaping works being carried out to complete the overall appearance of the scheme.
The Rodley roundabout scheme was carried out at the same time as Horsforth Roundabout, which became operational this week.
Have your say
What do you think about the new-look Rodley Roundabout? Have your say in our fun poll and comments section below.
Detectives investigating the stabbing of a man in Pudsey are looking to trace drivers who passed the scene of the attack.
The 32-year-old victim remains in Leeds General Infirmary in a critical condition following the incident which happened in Bradford Road, Pudsey, near to Thornbury Barracks, at about 9pm on Sunday.
Police, who are now treating the incident as attempted murder, were alerted after the victim attended hospital with a stab wound to his chest.
Detective Chief Inspector Elizabeth Belton, of West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said:
“We believe a number of vehicles drove past the scene at the time the victim was being attacked and we would like to hear from those people. They may not have realised at the time how serious the incident was and we would urge them to get in touch even if they don’t think they saw anything of note.”
A 19 year-old man from Huddersfield was arrested in connection with the incident remains in custody.
Police say they are ‘working overtime’ to try tackle a spurt of Yorkshire Stone thefts from pavements and gardens across inner West Leeds.
A number of incidents have recently been reported all over the inner West Leeds area, most notably in Rodley and Armley. According to reports, thieves recently targeted three 200-year-old Yorkshire Stone slabs from near the boat yard in Rodley.
Rodley PCSO Luke Stead said:
“We are aware that Yorkshire stone is being targeted at the moment. This is currently happening all over the Inner West area.
“We have NPT officers and PCSO’s working overtime until 2-3am in Rodley, Calverley and the surrounding area to try and combat this problem. Enquiries are on going to locate the suspects committing the crimes.”
One Rodley resident, who asked not to be named, said:
“It is mad, I’ve never known anything like it. These aren’t just stones, they are the heritage of this village. The thieves are essentially dismantling that heritage. I guess people need to very vigilant! Ears and eyes out methinks.”
A group of dedicated Pudsey residents who regularly take to the streets to tidy their community have announced three new clean-ups.
The Pudsey Litter Action Group is made up of local residents who pick up a pair of litter pickers and bin bags to clean away dropped rubbish. They hope to encourage more people to take more of a pride in their town and are encouraging new people to take part in their litter pick events.
The next clean up will be on Saturday, October 31 at New Pudsey Station, starting at 10am.
That will be followed by another litter pick on Valley Road, Pudsey, on Saturday, November 14 at 10am on Bradford Road.
On the group’s Facebook page, residents are being urged to sign up to a pledge: “I pledge to drop no litter, no matter how small, and to pick up one item each day”.
A fundraiser is being held in Wortley for local resident Helen Thompson, who has cancer. Her friend Jo Gittins writes a guest post on how Helen has inspired her and how YOU can help a cancer charity and Helen’s two young daughters through a fundraiser at The Brick pub.
I hope you don’t mind but I would like to share this post with the good people of west Leeds in the hope that you will be inspired to pull together and support one of our own.
To me, a good community is built by the people within it.
This post is about my very good and very inspiring friend Helen Thompson who, in my view, represents exactly what community means.
Every night she walks the old chap at the end of the streets dog, because he is not steady enough on his feet to do it anymore. She isn’t related to him, she is being neighbourly. She cleans and sorts his shopping when he needs it.
She knows all her neighbours by name, would never ever walk by without saying hello, no matter how bad a day she was having. If one of us needed help, she helps and doesn’t expect a thing in return. Inspirational really.
Now I want to remain positive, so will say only this, Helen has cancer, it is rare and serious.
Most people would fall to bits, but not Helen. She decided to cope with this by raising a bit if money for cancer charities.
Her family and friends, decided to follow her lead and a fund was started. HELEN STILL PUT OTHERS BEFORE HERSELF and has decided to split the money raised between the Bexley Wing of St James’ Hospital where she is having her treatment and the rest equally between her two daughters in a trust fund.
Fundraising event
I am inspired and doing all I can to help. With her family and friends, we are hosting a fundraising event at the Brick, Tong Road on Saturday, 14th November 2015.
I hope you are inspired to help too. Please attend of the day and make this a great event.
If you have any prizes suitable to be raffled or sold please donate them – contact me via email on r_helen@outlook.com.
If you can lend a hand in any way please get in touch.
At the fundraising event we have a raffle and tombola. We have been overwhelmed with support from local businesses who have donated prizes – so far more than 25 businesses have helped. The main prize is a week-long caravan holiday at Primrose Valley at Easter donated by Helen’s brother. Tickets for raffle are £2 a strip or £5 for three strips.
Morning commuters in west Leeds faced serious traffic delays around the Dawsons Corner and Thornbury Barracks area after a man was stabbed in Pudsey.
Officers were contacted shortly after 9.30pm last night when the 32-year-old man, from Bradford, attended Leeds General Infirmary with a serious stab wound to his chest. He is currently in a stable condition.
It is believed he suffered the injury during an incident in Bradford Road, Pudsey, near to Thornbury Barracks, at about 9pm.
The scene in Bradford Road is undergoing forensic examination and scene investigations have also been taking place at the Asda petrol station at the Owlcotes Centre, where the victim’s car was found.
A 19-year-old man, from Huddersfield, was arrested this morning in connection with the incident and is currently in custody.
Detective Chief Inspector Elizabeth Belton, of West Yorkshire Police Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET), said:
“This is clearly a very serious incident and we are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding it. We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident in Bradford Road at about 9pm last night or who has any information that could assist the investigation.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact HMET via 101 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Businesses in Pudsey have turned to crowdfunding to support the town’s Christmas lights this year – and are asking local residents for their support.
Following criticism that the festive lights switch on in Pudsey might have been a bit of a lacklustre affair in recent years, the Pudsey Business Support Group (PBSG) is hoping to raise £5,000 to change all that.
PBSG is a group of local businesses and individuals campaigning to get Pudsey back on the map and once again be a thriving market town.
The lights are funded annually by Leeds council, but the authority has been hit by a series of budget cuts from central government and can’t provide as many lights as it used to.
PBSG has set up a JustGiving page where people can pledge donations towards the 2015 lights. All proceeds raised will go to the Christmas lights and so far £40 has been raised. They say:
“Many of the PBSG members are local residents and business owners who just want to support the local community. In recent years the funding for such events has been limited, and with our help and local council continued support we can make a improvement on the current Christmas light display enhancing its appearance to attract old and new visitors to give a vibrant feel to Pudsey town centre.”
Local Businesses, families or individuals have a chance to sponsor a Christmas light display,and each sponsored light will have the option of advertising/ display their family or companies name under each light.
For more information on sponsoring a light, email sales@trendysteps.co.uk.
PBSG also held a Pudsey fun day earlier in the year to raise money towards the lights.
Armley Gyratory could be set for much-needed revamp after being named in a major report into the future infrastructure of transport in Leeds.
A report to be considered by senior councillors on Leeds City Council’s powerful executive board sets out a vision for the future of transport in Leeds, including supporting HS2 and the reduction in traffic in the city centre through improvements to Leeds’s infrastructure.
These changes include measures to the M621 and Armley Gyratory. The council says it will also review long-term options for the Inner Ring Road, although more details on the proposals aren’t yet included in the report.
The report also recognises the challenges of changing the way people travel into and around the city in order to create a more people friendly and productive ‘urban core’. It also identifies the principles that the council will need to adopt to deliver a transport system fit for a Leeds as a 21st century city. It says:
“We need to invest now in a transport infrastructure fit for a 21st century city if we are to harness the increasing opportunities provided for by devolution and maximise the benefits of HS2 and Trans North (the proposed fast East-West network between Leeds and Manchester and across the north).
“Transport investment from the 1970s has created a legacy where traffic dominates parts of our city, with roads engineered for capacity rather than streets that cater for people.
“Changing our highway infrastructure to create a more people friendly city centre will be challenging and take major capital funding.
“Creating a more people friendly, productive and accessible city centre will also require transformational change in the way we travel into and around the city centre.”
The executive board meets at the Civic Hall on Wednesday at 1pm. Members of the public can attend. You can read the full report here.
