A campaign group fighting to stop the former TV Harrison sports ground in Oldfield Lane, Wortley, from being turned into housing have challenged Leeds City Council over some of the figures on which it is basing its decisions. Here is the group’s open letter sent to the council and senior councillors from all parties.
To Leeds City Council Executives and elected members,
We have considered your responses to the TV Harrison Community Action Group TVHCAG around the preservation of the historic playing field in Oldfield Lane Leeds 12, known as the TV Harrison Ground, which is held in Trust for the children of Leeds by the Leeds School Sports Association.
Aside from other actions which the TVHCAG are taking at this moment in time we have found a major discrepancy or error within your Green Space Paper.
In this document you have allocated to Wortley and Farnley Ward Outdoor Sports provision and come to this conclusion; that the Ward has 0.03 “surplus” Outdoor Sports provision.
In this document you have allocated to Wortley and Farnley Ward Outdoor Sports provision and come to this conclusion; that the Ward has 0.03 “surplus” Outdoor Sports provision.
However the document contains the following error. You have stated that (New) Wortley Recreation Ground (filming location for some of The Beiderbecke Affair) comprises some 12.36 hectares of Outdoor Sports Provision.
Upon this the Council has based its rationale for the loss of the historic playing field on Oldfield Lane.
However is it clear that Wortley Recreation Ground does not contain 12.36 hectares of land. (30 acres). The Outdoor Sports provision to the south of the park is approximately 4 hectares in size with additional green space around it which might be another hectare. (Five hectares is equal to 12.35 acres).
It would appear that the Recreation Ground Sports ground was measured in acres and then the Council have omitted to change the measurements into hectares.
It would therefore appear that Farnley and Wortley Ward is deficient in Outdoor Sports Provision by several hectares perhaps something in the region of 4 – 7 hectares.
According to the data on the Leeds Obsevatory, Farnley and Wortley Ward is an area with significant problems. Educational attainment is well under the Leeds and National Average, a higher crime rate is evident, more than is average for Leeds. There are significantly high rates of persistent school absence, an ASBO rate above the Leeds average and more young people out of education, employment or training than the Leeds average.
The information for Armley is even more challenging. In Armley Ward there is a stated deficiency in Outdoor Sport provision and the Leeds Observatory reveals that the crime rate is in the 1st Decile, the crime rate being the fourth highest across all the wards in Leeds.
Outcomes for children in education are critically below Leeds and National averages with only 25% of Key Stage 4 pupils attaining Maths and English at GCSE.
The population statistics for Armley are important in this matter, because the playing field on Oldfield Lane is in the catchment area for Armley and Farnley and Wortley wards. (Sport England 2012) being on the border between the two wards and accessible to both communities.
The Leeds Council are failing to meet the criteria in Policy G3 of the Core Strategy because of a serious error in their 2017 Green Space Paper linked in the text above.
Please address this immediately so that the error can be corrected for Armley and Wortley communities so that your policies are enacted correctly.
It is apparent that the playing field on Oldfield Lane must be retained as Sports Provision for this area.
Clare O’Keefe and the TV Harrison Community Action Group and friends
