Video by Dave Redmond/CVS Digital
Campaigners fighting to stop housing being built on the TV Harrison Sports Ground have outlined their future vision for the ground.
As reported by WLD last month, a High Court judge in London ruled Leeds Council’s refusal to list the field as an ‘asset of community value’ was unlawful. The council are now re-evaluating the campaign’s application.
Leeds City Council already has outline planning permission to build up to 60 local authority houses on the site – but that hasn’t stopped campaigners planning the next steps of their fight to restore the pitch to its former glory.
Chairman Michael Meadowcroft said the TV Harrison CIC has a business plan to transform the whole site and build a new sports pavilion and community facility for Wortley at the same time.
Ideas for the site also include netball courts, five-a-side pitches and a nature area for school children on the far side. He said the campaigners were willing to raise money to buy the site.
In the video former Leeds West MP Mr Meadowcroft outlines the campaigners’ hopes for the future of the ground:
The pitch was disused for about 15 years after the facilities – which were once used by the prestigious Leeds City Boys teams and nicknamed ‘Wortley’s Wembley’ – fell into disrepair.
Members of the TV Harrison Community Action Group have, over the past two years, cut the grass and restored the once-overgrown pitch to allow community matches to take place. They argue the land was originally gifted to the children of Leeds in the form of a trust deed.
Leeds City Council argue that there is a growing need for quality family homes in the area.
Follow WLD’s ongoing coverage of the TV Harrison issue here.