Beeston Community Forum

Annual Report for the year 2014-15

The Sixteenth Annual General Meeting – 4th December 2014

This was addressed by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor David Congreve, Councillor Stewart Golton, Leader of the Leeds City Council Liberal Democrat Group and Councillor Adam Ogilvie, representing the Leeds City Council Labour Group. The following officers and committee members were elected.

Chair / Christine Thornton
Vice Chair / Richard Bell
Secretary / Robert Winfield
Treasurer / Robert Winfield
Other Committee Members / Bill Birch Doris Brooke
John Fenton Steve Francis
Arthur Kirby Mark Parry
Greg Turton Noor Zaman

Steve Francis rejoined the Committee, which was otherwise unchanged, after an interval of five years. Adam Cooper was elected to the Committee at the Forum meeting on 8th January. Mark Parry resigned from the Committee on 18th February, following his election as Secretary of the Beeston Neighbourhood Forum the previous evening

Meetings

The table below shows the dates of Forum meetings and the details of guest speakers

Date / Guest Speaker(s) / Topic
8th January 2015 / Rt. Hon Hilary Benn, Member of Parliament for Leeds Central / General issues
5th February 2015 / Stewart Robinson (International Fun Fairs)
Martin Wright (Leeds City Council)
Amy Revane, (Leeds Involving People)
Simon Gowler (Asda Stores Limited)
Andrew Lowry (Asda Stores Limited)
Laura Harrison (HardHat communications) / The Valentine Fair at Elland Road .
The use of drugs.
The new Asda store at Old Lane
5th March 2015 / Mark Burns-Williamson , OBE (Police and Crime Commissioner, West Yorkshire Police
Inspector Chris Bowen (West Yorkshire Police)
Res Newnes (Leeds College of Art)
Chris Filby (Leeds College of Art / Policing issues
Production of a film about Beeston Village Community Centre
2nd April 2015 / Dennis Holmes (Deputy Director, Adult Social Care, Leeds City Council)
James Kilroy (Leeds City Council) / Social services in Leeds
Proposals for housing on Parkwood Estate
14th May 2015 / Jeremy Morton (South Leeds Life)
Lucy Potter (South Leeds Life) / South Leeds Life
4th June 2015 / James Bailey (General Manager , White Rose Centre) / The White Rose Centre including future developments
2nd July 2015 / Alan Jones (Asda Stores Limited)
Andrew Lester ( HardHat Communications) / The new Asda store at Old Lane
6th August 2015 / No guest speaker / Open Forum
3rd September 2015 / Rt.Hon Hilary Benn (Member of Parliament for Leeds Central)
Simon Booker (Senior Engineer, Traffic Engineering, Leeds City Council ) / General Issues
The Rugby World Cup matches being played at Elland Road on 26/27 September
1st October 2015 / Philip Joyce (Metro) / Transport Issues
12th November 2015 / Jon Tubby (Leeds City Council )
Ross Housley (Yorkshire Water)
Reuben Horner and Michelle Myers (Morrison Utility Services) / Pollution
Forthcoming Construction work for Yorkshire Water

Committee Meetings

The Committee continued to meet monthly on a regular basis , generally on the third Thursday of each month although the November meeting took place on 24th November

Asda Store at Old Lane

The Forum continued to be concerned about the failure of Asda Stores Limited to consult with the Forum or the local community before submitting planning applications relating to the new store. The planning application for a petrol station on the site, which had been submitted without consultation with the Forum was approved by Leeds City Council. We were also concerned about the decision by Asda to seek planning consent for opening and delivery hours which were longer than those previously agreed with the Forum (this agreement was instrumental to the Forum agreeing to withdraw the holding objection which it had initially lodged to Asda’s Planning application). Concerns were also raised about the proposed Sunday opening hours for the Store; Leeds City Council granted planning permission for the store to open between 10am to 10pm on Sundays. Asda confirmed that the new store is covered by the Sunday Trading legislation which restricts opening hours on Sunday to 6 hours. The old Asda store closed on 31st May. A number of additional concerns arose as follows:-

i)  the closure of Back Lane, a footpath close to Asda’s site which is widely used by local residents

ii)  the submission by Asda of a further planning application for a number of electronic signs, on the site

iii)  aspects of the construction of the new store (which opened on 13th July) including the inconvenience caused by the parking of vehicles, and the noise and dust generated by construction activities (although many of these actually resulted from the actions of constructors employed by Leeds City Council who were outside Asda’s control)

Additionally, a number of local residents complained that they had not received the newsletters produced by Asda in connection with the construction process. As a result of changes in personnel within Asda, the responsibility for the Beeston store was taken over by Alan Jones who appeared as a guest speaker at the July Forum meeting. He appeared keen to improve Asda’s relations with the Forum . The Forum was consulted about a further planning application relating to the store. No further grounds for concern have been brought to the attention of the Forum since the opening of the new store

Plans by Aspiring Communities for the former Ice Pak factory, Barkly Road

Following the resubmission of a number of documents by Aspiring Communities, the Forum submitted a further objection on 12th July. The planning application was due to have been considered by the South and West Plans Panel of Leeds City Council on 6th August, following an Officers recommendation that the application be rejected , Leeds City Council’s Development Department took a decision (the day before the planned hearing) to withdraw the planning application from consideration by the meeting. The Forum noted that it is highly unusual for a planning application to be withdrawn at such a late stage. Despite the withdrawal, the site visit connected with the planning application took place as planned on the morning of 6th August, although some local residents had been given the impression that it had been cancelled. Under the terms of the Freedom Of Information Act, the Forum asked Leeds City Council the following questions/clarifications

i) Who took the decision to defer the application and on what basis?

ii) Details of the minutes of the meeting where the decision was taken, and the time , date and attendees at the meeting

iii) Copies of all communications between the developer (including any agent acting on behalf of the developer) and the planning department, including e mails , letters and recorded telephone calls between 22nd October 2014 and 6th August 2015 .

We received a 119 page long document in response to this . It was stated that personal information had been redacted, but we have queried a number of the redactions which in our view are difficult to justify on this basis. In particular, the names of members of the Steering Committee set up by Aspiring Communities in connection with the planning application were redacted, even though this information is available on the Aspiring Communities website.

We wrote a further letter to Leeds City Council, in which we expressed surprise that no minutes of the meeting were taken. We were informed that the decision to withdraw the application was based on the quality of the planning officers report and the need to ensure that any decision taken by the Pland Panel would not be vulnerable to a legal challenge. Aspiring Communities subsequently appealed to the Planning Inspector on the grounds of non-determination. This means that the application will be determined by the Inspector, not Leeds City Council, although the Plans Panel will still take a view about the application, possibly at its meeting on 10th December.

We wrote to the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire about the fact that two members of the Aspiring Communities Steering Committee were clearly identified on their website as Police Officers . A photograph of one of the officers, in uniform, appears on the website. We expressed the view that this might lead a reasonable person to believe that the officers are serving on the Steering Committee in an official police capacity, or that the application, which is strongly opposed by local residents , is supported by the police. We were informed that the officers were given consent to serve on the committee on the basis that they remain neutral on the planning application, and that they withdrew from the committee when the nature of the committee changed

The documents sent to us under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Leeds City Council Planning Department themselves extended the deadline for the determination of the Planning Application from 21st January to 1st April, then again until 31st May, despite the fact that some information from Aspiring Communities was still outstanding. Even this latter deadline has failed to be met by several months. We have asked Leeds City Council, who would have been well within their rights to reject the application on the grounds of lack of information, for an explanation of these delays.

There was a discussion about the Planning Statement which will be made on behalf of the Forum to the Plans Panel, when the application is eventually considered. Concerns were raised that other groups, such as the Save Our Beeston Campaign, which also opposes the application, would have no input. However we learned that the three minutes allocated to objectors at a Plans Panel meeting can be divided between various groups, and feel that the time should be divided up between the various objecting groups .

We will continue to oppose this application, for a development which is far too large for the area, which is not wanted or needed by local residents, and which appears largely to be promoted by outsiders to this area.

The Beeston Neighbourhood Forum

The Beeston Neighbourhood Forum was designated by Leeds City Council, and thus achieved recognition as a Statutory Body , on 5th January. The Beeston Community Forum organised an inaugural meeting for the Beeston Neighbourhood Forum on 17th February . This was chaired by Christine Thornton , with Robert Winfield acting as Secretary. The meeting elected Greg Turton as the Chairman of the Neighbourhood Forum, Robert Winfield as Vice Chairman, Mark Parry as Secretary and Bill Birch as Treasurer. Subsequently, the Neighbourhood Forum elected a full committee. The Beeston Community Forum, as the Sponsoring Body for the Beeston Neighbourhood Forum will continue to give its utmost support for the Neighbourhood Forum. Individuals who live, work or carry on Business in the Beeston Neighbourhood Area and who are not already members of the Neighbourhood Forum are strongly encouraged to apply for membership by e mailing , stating their address (if qualifying by living in the area, or their business address (if qualifying by working or carrying on business). A report of the Neighbourhood Forum’s activities is given at each meeting of the Forum. We recognise that as the Neighbourhood Forum has been designated and is fully operational, the Neighbourhood Forum should have the main responsibility for reporting its activities. Greg Turton resigned as Chairman of the Neighbourhood Forum on 3rd November

Beeston Village Community Centre

We continue to support efforts by Health for All (Leeds) , which rents Beeston Village Community Centre from Leeds City Council, to redevelop the centre. This is likely to result in the demolition of the present building and its replacement by a new building which is better able to fulfil the functions of a community centre. News of the outcome of an application, by Health for All (Leeds) , for a lottery grant which is necessary for the proposed redevelopment is awaited, although a meeting with a representative from the National Lottery will take place on 2 December Health for All (Leeds) held a number of consultation sessions about their proposals for a new, two storey building. The Forum made largely supportive comments about the proposals. The redevelopment will almost certainly require the Forum to seek a temporary venue for its meetings whilst the Community Centre is unavailable. Members of the Forum will be consulted before any decision is taken. At a meeting of the Beeston Village Community Centre Users Committee on 9th November, it was stated that if the bid for funding is approved quickly, the existing building might close in as little as 4 to 6 months. It will then take a further year to build the replacement community centre

The Forum continued to be concerned about the safety of individuals visiting the Community Centre, including for meetings of the Forum. Three issues were identified;

i)  the poor lighting around the area,

ii)  the uneven nature of the paths leading to the centre, which cause particular difficulties for users of the centre using wheelchairs and

iii)  the tendency of the paths to become muddy, and slippery in wet weather.

The Forum again raised these issues with Mark Atkinson of Leeds City Council We were surprised to see, from a map showing adopted and unadopted roads and pavements in the area around the Community Centre , that many of the footpaths leading to Hugh Gaitskell School, and even a part of St Anthony’s Drive which has road makings street lights and even traffic calming measures, are apparently unadopted. We wrote to Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, calling for the adoption of various footpaths on Health and Safety grounds, and for remedial measures to be taken. Robert Winfield wrote a separate letter to Tom Riordan in his capacity as Secretary of the Beeston Village Community Centre Users Committee. This led to action being taken, which has so far involved the tarmaccing of a number of paths in the area.