Public meeting plans fight to save TV Harrison sports ground

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TV Harrison ground wortley
The TV Harrison ground in Wortley

A group of campaigners fighting to stop the former TV Harrison sports ground in Wortley being developed into council housing is holding a public meeting to plan the next step in its fight.

More than 1,500 people – including Leeds United legend Eddie Gray – have signed a petition to save the TV Harrison ground in Oldfield Lane from development by Leeds City Council, which wants to buy the site and build 50 houses there.

The meeting will discuss ways the community can take ownership of the land from charity Leeds Schools Sports Association, which owns most of the site, and restore it to community sports use.

TV Harrison Community Action Group secretary Lea Westerman said:

“The wheels are in motion for us to become and unincorporated charity and we are putting a constitution together where our objects are to preserve the land as a Sports playing field, provide sports provision for the city of Leeds, create community cohesion in a deprived area and promote health and well-being through sport.

“Once we have done this we are looking at registering the ground as a community asset.”

The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 11, at St John’s Church, Dixon Lane, Wortley at 7pm.

The ground, which had sports played on it as far back as the 19th century, was the home of countless junior football matches which launched the careers of Leeds United players in including John Charles, Paul Reaney, Brian Deane and Noel Whelan. It closed 14 years ago and is now derelict and overgrown.

Campaigners say that the land was many years ago left in trust to the children of Leeds and should be reinstated as sports provision in the area.

The LSSA facilitate and hold junior football tournaments across the city, run school football leagues and organise representative matches between Leeds teams and those from other towns.

They currently hire other pitches across the city to hold those games. The LSSA are refusing to speak to the press and have maintained a wall of silence on the future of the land.

Check out the rest of West Leeds Dispatch’s coverage of this issue here.

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