MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 29 January 2008
The minutes were duly passed as a true record

a) Constitution
The original signed Constitution has been mislaid. The constitution has, therefore, been re-typed in its entirety and the meeting voted that this be signed by the Chairman and Secretary. This was duly done.

b) Update on Churwell Park Improvements
Joe Tetley informed the meeting that the grant for the CCTV cameras had been deferred for a Police report. Cllr. Finnigan said he hoped that the work in the Park would start no later than May. Joe Tetley said that we now have a Park Gardener and that we had received a Grant of £1,000 from O² towards the Park improvements.

c) Update High Apartments on Manor Farm
Leeds Planning Department had promised to get back to Cllr. Finnigan by the end of February, as he has heard nothing from them he is chasing this.

d) Update Proposed New Community Centre
No progress has yet been made. A discussion followed

e) Bottle Bank
The bottle bank has been in situ for 3 months and the meeting voted unanimously to keep it at its present location. Cllr Finnigan is looking into having the overhanging trees near the bottle bank cut back and a litter bin provided.

f) Road Repairs – Laneside
These have still not been done and we are waiting the Highways reply to e-mails.

g) Planning Application for Café & Take-Away – Phoenix House
The Planning Department has turned this down.

h) Playing Fields – Harwill Avenue
Cllr Finnigan said Cllr Leadley had informed him that new posts and football nets had been authorised. Joyce Sanders to get quotations for new fencing from Parks Department and also from a local contractor.

i) Ginnel between 27/29 Harwill Road & 28/30 Harwill Rise
The ginnel needs cleaning up and also some form of illumination. Cllr Finnigan said he would see street cleaning about this and also check up about lighting.

j) Bus Shelters – Daffil Road and Fountain Street
The bus shelter at the end of Fountain Street has been promised for some time this year. Regarding the bus shelter at the end of Daffil Road being the wrong way round Cllr Finnigan is looking into this.

k) Update Clark Spring Wood & Dog Fouling Legislation
Janet Harrison gave an update on this. A discussion followed.
Wenda Whitehead said Janet had done a brilliant job involving the Churwell Primary School children in the environment. She had taken them round the Laneside Mill Dam area as part of their Environmental Studies. It is hoped that this area can be developed as a miniature "wetland" and wild life area. Janet asked if anyone has, or knows anyone who has, old photographs of the dam and surrounding area that she could borrow.
 

Any Other Business

1) Litter in Hedgerows
During a discussion Cllr Finnigan explained that there are street cleaning teams who are in the process of cleaning up the litter along arterial routes.

2) Refuse Collection
Refuse collection has once again been missed in the Laneside area. Margery Kirk said she had asked for a representative from the Refuse department to attend one of our meetings to address some of the problems being encountered by our members, but was told this was not possible. Cllr Finnigan said he would try and arrange for someone to come to our next meeting in May.
 

Date & Time Annual General Meeting
This was arranged for 7.30pm on Tuesday 20 May 2008 at the Community Centre

INTRODUCTION
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and invited PC John Dixon and PCSO Josh Robinson to give an update of what is happening in Churwell. PC Dixon said the Police had spent quite a lot of time in the Park to try and curb anti-social behaviour. He also said burglary of dwellings, theft from motor vehicles, violent crime and criminal damage were on the increase in Churwell, this could be due to the dark evenings. A discussion followed

ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES
The Committee present were: Joe Tetley (Chairman), Wenda Whitehead, Joyce Sanders, Margery Kirk, Sheena Stevens, Lew Beever, Denise Blower.
Apologies were received from Mr Crowther

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 27 November 2007
The minutes were duly passed as a true record

a) Overhanging bushes/trees on Victoria Road, Churwell
Most of these have been dealt with. We will look at this again in the Spring. Cllr. Finnigan to look into who is responsible for the trees sited near the bottle bank.
Street Signs Requiring Refurbishment or Replacement
These have been repainted
Update Churwell Park Improvements/Sculpture
Awaiting CCTV approval. Cllr. Finnigan informed the meeting that by Spring we should have enough funds to complete all the improvements.
Update High Apartments on Manor Farm
Cllr. Finnigan and Mrs Willerton had a meeting with a senior officer in the Planning Department. They accepted that something had gone wrong, promised a full review of the problem and would report back.
Update Proposed New Community Centre
Cllr. Finnigan informed the meeting that they were looking at several possibilities and that solicitors were still trying to contact trustees regarding Stanhope Memorial Hall.
f) Surveying on Laneside
Cllr Tom Leadley explained that this was green field land. He also said that we cannot stop anyone from surveying the land. He also said that they will strongly oppose any more housing development in Churwell especially as the infrastructure could not cope. A long discussion followed.

g) Bus Shelter – end of Fountain Street
 Cllr. Finnigan said it was proposed that the bus shelter would be erected sometime this year. He was asked to look into why the bus shelter at the end of Daffil Road appeared to be the wrong way round.
h) Bottle Bank
A discussion followed and it was agreed that we would review the situation again at the next Public Meeting, the bottle bank would then have been in situ for approximately 3 months.
Road Repairs – Laneside
The Highways Department have apologised for not doing these repairs. Cllr. Finnigan to ask Highways Department to look at and see if there is anything they can do about the unadopted part of Laneside.

Any Other Business
Road Surface – Harwill Rise
Lew Beever thanked Cllr. Finnigan for his help in resurfacing that part of Harwill Rise that had been missed. Denise Blower said that the area where the stolen car had been parked had still not been resurfaced. Cllr. Finnigan said he would ask the Highways Department to look again at the road surface.
Planning Application for Café and Take-away, Phoenix House
The meeting agreed to object to this on the grounds of ‘no adequate parking’.
Playing Fields on Harwill Avenue
Part of the fence needs repairing and the sign ‘no golf’ sign needs repairing.

Churwell Action Group           HYPERLINK mailto:churwellactiongroup@yahoo.co.uk   churwellactiongroup@yahoo.co.uk           www.churwellactiongroup.org.uk

"We will actively campaign for the promotion of, and to safeguard the amenities and environment of, the residents of the community of Churwell in all aspects of their quality of life and for their mutual benefits"
 

Churwell Action Group
Speaking for your Community
 
 

INTRODUCTION
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting in particular those attending for the first time. The Chairman welcomed Sgt Chris Bennett and a PCSO from Morley Police.

Sgt Bennett informed the meeting of what was happening in and around Churwell. A lengthy discussion followed. Sgt Bennett warned the community of plausible people going round trying to gain access to houses. He said you should keep your doors and windows locked, if you go out leave a light on and open the door to callers with the chain on. He also pointed out that you should always check people’s identity cards. Sgt Bennett gave the following numbers to call if you need to contact the Police:

0113 2382035 Answer Machine only
0113 2382017 Front Desk Morley, not always someone there
0845 6060606 Main switchboard, always answered, calls always logged

ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES
The Committee present were: Joe Tetley (Chairman), Wenda Whitehead, Joyce Sanders, Margery Kirk, Sheena Stevens, Lew Beever, Denise Blower.
Apologies were received from Cllr Judith Elliott, Stewart McArdle and John Wilkes

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 2nd OCTOBER 2007
The minutes were duly passed as a true record

a) Resignation of Vice Chairman, election of new Vice Chairman also election of new Committee Member
The Chairman read resignation letter from Dave Ellis. Lew Beever was proposed and seconded as Vice Chairman and Janet Harrison was proposed and seconded as new Committee Member. There being no other candidates they were duly elected
b) News Letter
The Churwell Action Group Newsletter has been delivered to all homes in Churwell
c) CAG Web Page
Denise Blower informed the meeting that Stewart McArdle was continuing to update the Churwell Action Group website. The members thanked Stewart for his continued support
d) Overhanging bushes/trees on Victoria Road, Churwell
A list of these still needing attention was given to Cllr Robert Finnigan
e) Street Signs Requiring Refurbishment or Replacement
A list of these was given to Cllr Robert Finnigan

f) Update Clark Spring Wood
Janet Harrison gave an update on this.
g) Update Churwell Park Improvements/Sculpture
Cllr Robert Finnigan reported that the Area Committee had agreed to finance the CCTV. Churwell Action Group has also applied for a grant from Green Leeds but could be January/February before we hear if we have been successful in our application
h) Update High Apartments on Manor Farm
Mrs Willerton said she has gone as far as she can go with this, she is just getting nowhere. Cllr Robert Finnigan proposed that he would make an appointment to see the Chief Planning Officer possibly together with a member of Churwell Action Group and ask him to review the case and explore what can be done next.
i) Update Proposed New Community Centre
Joe Tetley recapped on where the proposed site was but reiterated what was said in the Newsletter that full consultation with residents would take place before applications for planning permission were made. Cllr Robert Finnigan reported that Stanhope Memorial Hall was enveloped on legal complications and asked if anyone knew any of the Trustees or who they were. A discussion followed.
j) Bottle Bank
A bottle bank has been sited on Elland Road, just below Westwood Side near the post-box. A discussion followed regarding this and it was agreed we would give it 2/3 months and see how it goes.
k) Any Other Business
1. Sheena Stevens reported that fencing Laneside had fallen down. It was thought this was erected by Builders and Sheena to speak to John Redding at Planning Department about this.
2. The re-surfaced road on Harwill Rise, some areas have been missed and the surface is not very good. Cllr Robert Finnigan said he had spoken to the Highways Department and the missed areas would be dealt with. The Highways Department said the road surface should settle down in a month or so and they would inspect it again later.
3. Cllr Robert Finnigan to look into when the bus shelter will be erected on Elland Road (near the Insurance Brokers)
4. Wenda Whitehead explained that the white marks that had recently been drawn on the pavements on the Harwills were marking out where the services/cables are ready for new street lights. The new lights are more energy efficient and brighter than the old ones.
l) Date & Time of next Committee Meeting

This was arranged for 7.30pm on Tuesday 29th January 2008 at the Community Centre
 
 

1)  Your Chair (Joyce Sanders) welcomed all present.

2)    The Committee present were (Margery Kirk, Lew Beever, Joe Tetley, Dave Ellis & SMc). Apologies were received from Sheena Stevens, Wenda Whitehead, Mick Sykes, Mr. Wilks and also Mrs McGregor.

3) Police Matters. ASB had not been as bad recently. JS had been to the park last week and rubbish had been at a minimum.

4) Youth Club. LB said that the existing Senior Group was going well but, had broken up now for the summer. Setting up the Junior Group was still on-going though this was painfully slow.

5)    Refuse Collection. Missed Saturday collection had been picked up this evening by a "back-up" crew.

6)    4th Anniversary / Summer Sports Day. A provisional date for 23rd September had been suggested but, there had been no news yet. The Summer Sports Day didn’t look like it was going to come to fruition.

7) Any Other Business ?

The grass between the car park and flats on Hepworth Avenue hadn’t been cut for some time according to JT. There was a general debate about the efficacy of grass-cutting in the area and some were in favour of a more localised approach from a local contractor.

Benches for use in  Harwill Playing Field were still "work in progress" via JS.

A discussion was held about the Mosquito device to combat ASB, particularly around the on-going vandalism of the Centenary Memorial. The instigation of these devices had been sanctioned as consistent with Human Rights legislation by a barrister. One member questioned the fairness of penalising 90% of young people who wanted to use the park, for the misdeeds of the 10% who wanted to abuse its amenities.

The Zion Chapel was having work done to it due to original concerns about the safety of the building. The house adjacent to it had been purchased by the owners of the chapel and work had begun cleaning and clearing the site. Tiles taken from the roof were being retained for future use / development of the original building and a temporary roof was being installed.

Concern was expressed by JT about flats built by Strata which may very well have been  erected but, not to any approved permission. This was being explored by Planners and Strata.

Other items under discussion were;

· an address in Churwell which had encroached on to Parks & Countryside land (the perpetrators had been told to make good any encroachment with immediate effect other than some planting which was to be done in the autumn);
· a plaque celebrating the life of Churwell’s Bobby Peel, who played cricket for England;
· talk of resurrecting the public house "in bloom" contest;
· congratulating Joyce Sanders for her visit to a Buckingham Palace garden party;
· the ancient burial garden being cleared at last;
· a campaign for a bus shelter just above Fountain Street;
· highways improvements, including signalisation at Elland Road / Millshaw which would alleviate some pressure on traffic using Elland Road.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be the Public Meeeting on Tuesday 26th September, 2006 at 7.30 p.m.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary
Churwell Action Group

25th July, 2006
 
 

 1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) welcomed everyone to the AGM and asked everyone to stand for a minute’s silence in memory of Mrs Wilks who had recently passed away. CAG extend our condolences to Mr. Wilks.

 2) On a much happier note, he was pleased to announce that Joyce Sanders had just been elected the Deputy Mayor of Morley in partnership with Bob Gettings as Mayor.

 3) Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) read out his fourth annual report and the Committee stood down as per the Constitution.

 4) The Procedure, as per the Constitution, to elect a Committee for the year
            2006 -  2007 was explained and facilitated by the adjudicator, M.T. Elliott, OBE

 Nominations from the floor were proposed for the following :
· A Chair
A nomination for Cllr. Tetley was proposed and seconded
· A vice-Chair
A nomination for Dave Ellis was proposed and seconded
· A Treasurer
A nomination for Cllr. Sanders was proposed and seconded
· A Secretary
A nomination for Stewart McArdle was proposed and seconded
· A Churwell Community Association affiliate
A nomination for Cllr. Whitehead was proposed and seconded
· Up to) Three other Committee Members
Nominations for; Margery Kirk, Sheena Stevens and Lew Beever were proposed and seconded
 All nominations were accepted and the above people are deemed elected to serve for one year.

 5) There were no calls to make any necessary or appropriate amendments to the Constitution.

 6) A new date of 10th June, 2006 was determined for the park clean-up morning.

7) There was a very frank discussion on the spate of anti-social behaviour being perpetrated by young people in the park and other sites in Churwell. This was deemed to be drink and drug related. There was anger expressed at the destruction of the Centenary Mural, which JT suggested may be due to inter-school rivalry due to it being fabricated by students at Bruntcliffe. Suggestions that CCTV were utilised met with a mixed reaction. This could cost anything from £18k up to £25k. Chris Thomas said that it would be much more effective to catch the perpetrators than waste money trying to protect something that was less than the CCTV equipment. He said that made very little sense. Another member said that it was a Police matter and it would be better if these young people were caught and made an example of. Lew Beever asked what happened to the "name and shame" policy that was talked about some time ago? Costings and grants for a passive/mon-monitored scheme would be explored said Cllr. Finnigan. Mention was made too of the sonic device called the Mosquito. SMc said he would bring information to the next meeting. It retailed at about £550.

The issue of a new community centre and where it could be sited was discussed. Proposals were in the pipeline said Cllr. Finnigan and any sale from Stanhope Hall would be ring-fenced he had been assured. Lew Beever said that CCC needed between £20k & £30k spending over 12 months to comply with DDA requirements and general maintenance and he thought this was throwing good money after bad.

Lew Beever also asked what was happening regarding the wholesale resurfacing of the Harwill estate? SMc said this had been proposed by all Ward Councillors but, each road had a different priority in Highways terms. It was fair to say that all Ward Councillors still supported both the Harwill’s and the Croft House estates being done collectively.

 8) Other concerns raised tonight would be dealt with by Ward Councillors.

Suggestions of a Social Evening were taken on board and it was decided to invite Gildersome and perhaps this could be reciprocated?

 9) Date and time of next Public Meeting. (Tuesday 25th July, 2006 at 7.30p.m.).

10) Closure of meeting. 9 p.m.

SMc   24th May, 2006
 
 

A message from your Chair, Joe Tetley.

Dear fellow Member,

· This has been another good year, but also a year of consolidation for Churwell Action Group. Briefly, we have had such success that, we are running out of things that we, as a non-statutory body, can do although we do need to do more in Clark Springs Wood (below Churwell Primary School). Incidentally, we shall be very sad to see Mrs Mel Curtis leave her post at the end of this academic year and wish her well and bon voyage for the next stage of her career.

· On the 2nd of July, 2005 CAG hosted the Churwell Park Centenary Gala which was attended by over 1, 300 people mainly from Churwell. I think we can safely say that a splendid time was had by all. Everything that was there on the day had already been accounted for via a successful grant application, though a nominal 10p was charged for fairground rides et cetera.

· Many people commented that it was great to see the park so full and wished that a similar annual event could take place. However, it took a lot of time and effort and perhaps we could have another gala …. in 2105!

· I mentioned last year that our web-site www.churwellactiongroup.org.uk had quite a proud boast in that we had reached over 85% of all our objectives since 2002 and that, I believe, is a record in which we could collectively take a great deal of pride and because we have been so successful, it was decided to cut the once-monthly public meetings to a bi-monthly basis, a decision taken by the regular attendees of our public meetings.

· With my fellow Committee Members and Officers, we have continued to work hard in our Community over 2005 - 2006. Some issues have been resolved, some haven’t.

· The pedestrian crossing due to be sited in the vicinity of School Street has been delayed because one or two residents were unhappy with the necessary relocation of the bus stop from outside the New Inn to a point further down Elland Road outside their own houses.  However, CAG expect a resolution to this in this next fiscal year.

· A universal 30 mph speed limit on the Churwell Hill section of the A643 will be operational this year.

· The Youth Club held every Wednesday at CCC is ticking along nicely. With the co-operation of the Youth Service, Alison Foster is to set up an Intermediate Youth Group predominantly for those children below 13 years of age. Working with Young People is not easy and we owe a great deal to Jayne Cullingworth, Alison Foster et al for their commitment to the young people of Churwell and their ethos toward community spirit.

· CAG also pay tribute to the continued support of a committed bunch of about 50 Members who regularly attend our Public Meetings. It was ultimately their decision to move from once-monthly meetings to bi-monthly meetings and your Committee wish to place on record again that it is their support that has made our success what it is.

· I conclude this 4th Annual Report in thanking the Churwell community for their continued support. May we continue all of us, to stay together as a community!

Sincerely

Joe Tetley

Chair, Churwell Action Group
23rd  May, 2006
 
 

1)Your Chair (Joe Tetley) welcomed all present.

2)The Committee present were (Joyce Sanders, Wenda Whitehead, Robert Finnigan, Sheena Stevens & SMc). Apologies were received from Margery Kirk, Mr’s. & Mrs’ Waters and Wilks and also PC McKenzie.

3) WW reported two forthcoming events. A Macmillan morning would be held on Saturday 8th April, 2006 at Churwell Community Centre (CCC) from 10.30 a.m. onwards and on Saturday 19th May, 2006, The Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service Brass Band Concert at Morley Town Hall in aid of The Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

4)Youth Club. Alison Foster said that the existing Senior Group was going well with a regular collective of 25-30 young people but, she and Jayne Cullingworth were experiencing problems in getting hold of Nick Prica with regard to setting up the Junior Group.

5)Refuse Collection. Since Andrew Milnes had appeared at January’s meeting it was noted that the service had improved and as one Member remarked, "probably because the old crews were back on their rounds". The general consensus however, was not unanimous and there was some confusion about the letter which some residents had received which mentioned everything but actual days of collection whether old, new or retained days!

6)Police Matters. PCSO’s were in attendance to give a Churwell community report.
In view of the recent spate of trouble, Churwell had been given a two-shift PCSO patrol spread over most of the day. Both PCSO’s had been getting to know the area and its residents particularly the younger end and building up a picture of the problems of the area. Any information garnered or passed on from the public would be fed back into the ASBO team.

Lew Beever asked if ASB perpetrators could be "named and shamed" with posters showing photographs, to which the reply was yes. JT reported many incidents of a "souped-up" mini being used to drop-off illicit substances. Unfortunately, he hadn’t yet managed to acquire the registration number of the car.

RF said that Morley councillors had supported a budget from the ruling administration that gave two further PCSO’s but, it was still incumbent on all residents to support the Police and report ASB.

Richard Steckles mentioned the "small-scale" vandalism (though he considered that it was certainly not "small-scale" in their eyes) being endured by many elderly residents of Old Road. Moreover, if the NPT were in the vicinity between 6.30 and 7.15 p.m. most nights, they would catch a lot of this disgraceful behaviour. He didn’t find young lads "mooning" as particularly edifying. This was also confirmed by a resident of Park Street whose children had been subjected to this as well.

JT said he had not yet seen PCSO’s in the park. In mitigation, SMc said that he had seen pairs of PCSO’s at all times of the day and in various locations around Churwell (including the park), so they were present.

Diane Nelson asked where these young people were getting their alcohol from and Chris Thomas said we should all keep off-licensees on their guard and challenge them if there was any evidence to the effect that they were supplying alcohol to minors. Lew Beever said that it was a criminal offence to supply alcohol to minors where money changed hands.

SMc said he had asked Trading Standards to look at a number of retail premises over this last few months and under the obligations of the 2003 Licensing Act, off-licenses as well as pubs could be closed down if they were found by inappropriate trading, to cause harm to children and crime and disorder (2 of the 4 principles underpinning the Licensing Act 2003).

Finally, JT said that although originally not a fan of PCSO’s he felt he could at last praise their contribution to local communities.

7)Churwell Park. Disgust was expressed yet again at the mindless attack on the Churwell Park Centenary Memorial. It would be repaired and we would not give in said Joyce and Wenda. A "community" spring clean of the park by Friends of Churwell Park was and all those attending should turn up at the park on Saturday 13th May, 2006 at 9 - 9.15 a.m. All were welcome. The saplings planted by Churwell School children had been destroyed too, according to Wenda.

8)Sports Day. In view of the success of the Centenary Year party, there were representations to the Committee to facilitate another Tug of War and a Children’s Sports Day. However, as most of the Committee were too busy at present with many other projects, they considered that they could not put in the time and effort needed but, if other members of the community were interested, it could and should be done. A member did express grave reservations over the drinking of alcohol in the park last year which manifested itself in some very ugly, appalling violence towards the end of the night where a member of the public was severely beaten up. He suggested that we promote the event by not promoting alcohol so as to set an example to all children and young people. Plans too, for a CAG 4th Anniversary Party (back-dated from January) would be deferred because of other commitments and may well become a 5th Anniversary Party as well as a 4th.

9)Any Other Business ?

Alison Foster asked if someone was prepared to lobby for more youth outreach workers for young people? She believed that kids had nothing to do, poor family backgrounds, are disaffected, disengaged and didn’t stand a chance. This did not have universal support amongst members. Chris Thomas said that as young people from Beeston were using Churwell amenities, perhaps Churwell could have some of its’ regeneration money?

Other matters such as development were discussed and improvements since the new administration had come into being.

Finally, the closure of Stanhope Hall was discussed. Discussions pertaining to both CCC currently being used and Stanhope Hall (closing Friday) would be at the forefront.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9.15  p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be the AGM on Tuesday 23rd May, 2006 at 7.30 p.m.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary
Churwell Action Group

29th March, 2006
 
 

1)    Your Chair (Joe Tetley) welcomed all present.

2)    All of your Committee were present (Joyce Sanders, Wenda Whitehead, Margery Kirk, Robert Finnigan, Sheena Stevens & SMc). Apologies were received from Mrs McGregor.

Andrew Milnes, South Area Manager and Chris Young, Customer Services  Manager, City Services had accepted an invitation to answer criticisms of their service delivery, particularly refuse collection.

 Andrew said that he was responsible for all refuse collection, street cleansing and other such related services in the south wedge, comprising 65, 000 properties on 7 refuse collection routes. Later this year another 3, 000 - 4, 000 properties would come "on stream" particularly in the Ardsley area. This would have a knock on effect in Morley. The alterations in the routes in Churwell had been 8 months in preparation and it was disappointing for the Churwell route to have failed and Andrew admitted responsibility for the failure. The other 6 routes had worked very well. Each vehicle disposed of approximately 20 tonnes of landfill refuse per day and development such as the one up on Victoria Road could generate a further 20 tonnes of refuse per annum, all going to landfill.

 Members asked a series of questions. Alison Foster said that the poor performance of the crews reflected badly on Andrew and Leeds City Council and she considered that  some crews were rude and were evidently not doing their job. Collection on Fountain Street, Churwell was terrible.

 Chris Thomas agreed that the performance was abysmal and that there appeared to be no communication between service and customer. Andrew responded that to send out communications was expensive but, this would be facilitated shortly enabling residents to have collection dates confirmed.

 Mick Sykes asked if the crews were on Task and Finish as he had seen crews going home at 9.30 a.m. Andrew said that he would be grateful if residents contacted him with a registration number should this ever happen again.
 He also said that crews had to make it to the tip, which was owned by BIFFA, not the Council, before 4.30 p.m.

Joe Tetley said that some of the committee had visited SITA Kirklees and asked why Morley couldn’t have such a site? SM said that a cost of £60 million was the reason though, because of its proximity to neighbouring council borders and motorway networks, this was a good idea.

The issues of landfill and national and European drivers and legislation was brought up and incineration was mentioned. Dave Ellis said that the plant in Sheffield had had such adverse publicity with burning dangerous materials that it had or was about to close. Robert Finnigan said that plant was one of the old type and the new "clean burn" plant could be an effective way of countering huge costs of landfill taxes and would be part of the Waste Strategy currently being discussed. He also said that Leeds City Council already used an incinerator owned by Yorkshire Water at East End Park. There was no doubt about it, that there would have to be a culture change in how residents, retailers and Council dealt with waste.

Wenda Whitehead asked why collections took place on Saturday when there were more cars on the streets and why couldn’t crews put back the bins where they took them from? Andrew said that collection had to be a 6 day operation to deliver a service and he took the latter point on board.

Mick Tate said that he was on Assisted Collection but, this was sporadic to say the least and his bin hadn’t been collected for 4 weeks. Andrew apologised and said that he had no excuses, it was unacceptable and took a note of his address.

Problems of access on Hardy Avenue were discussed and a suggestion of employing better drivers to negotiate was put forward. Andrew mentioned that it was a problem and a motorist was in hospital tonight as a direct cause of this specific problem.

Mick Sykes and Alison Foster said that perhaps some of the operations of the crew were due to them cutting corners to get benefits from Task and Finish.

Alison said that the problems were really on the left hand side of Churwell. Would they be improved? Andrew said that he was in this position long-term and would make it work and would discipline any crew if it acted in an inappropriate manner.

Joe Waters has experience of working practices and asked whether the crews were heavily unionised? Yes they were, said Andrew and a number of people foretold of problems in the future because of this.

Andrew and Chris were warmly thanked for their attendance and Andrew said he would be happy to come back at a later date to another meeting and face the wrath of CAG members. (He later sent an e-mail to say he had found it very productive and that all questions were asked politely and all were valid points, for which he asked me to pass on his thanks.)

3) Youth Club. Alison said that she and Jayne had met with John Paxton and Nic Prica last week and permission had been given for an Intermediate Youth Club due to start at the end of February. Joyce Sanders said that Jayne had also received £500 from the Morley Town Council Community Development Committee towards start-up costs. This was available to other community groups.

4)    Police Matters. Chris Thomas said that parking issues around Churwell Primary School had still not been resolved. SM said he would go back to the NPT asking why examples hadn’t been made of some offenders. Parking on Fountain Street was still a problem and a car had had substantial damage done to it recently. Chris Thomas asked if double-yellow lines could be used by the school to alleviate the problem. SM said this had already been explored when the plans for the puffin crossing in Elland Road were being drawn up a few years ago.

Mrs Wooley said she had been targeted by someone dumping empty bottles in her garden. She was asked to report this to the Police as it may well be an off-license selling alcohol inappropriately to minors. SM said he had asked Trading Standards to look at a number of retail premises over this last few months and due to fairly new Licensing Act, off-licenses could be closed down if they were found by inappropriate trading, to cause harm to children and crime and disorder (2 of the 4 principles underpinning the Licensing Act 2003).

Mick Sykes was angry because of the plethora of dog fouling on pavements both on Elland Road and Victoria Road and a similar view was taken by Lynne in Churwell Park. Mick Tate asked if the flag by the 3-valleys gate at the entrance to the park could be replaced as in its current state, a pool of water collected making it difficult to negotiate.

5) A spring clean of Churwell by Friends of Churwell Park was accepted and all those attending should turn up at the park on Saturday 11th March, 2006 at 9 - 9.15 a.m.

6) Schools Admissions. Robert Finnigan said he had spoken recently to the Admissions Manager, Education Leeds and had had a guarantee there wouldn’t be a problem getting children places in a high school in Morley in September, 2006. Woodkirk, possibly but, generally, no problem. There was a question asked and a discussion about the White Paper and how it would impact on Morley schools. General points were that it would have an impact, causing a drift from inner-city to outer areas, leaving the former as poorly supported and leading to unsustainable inner-city schools.

7)    Any Other Business ?

John Wilks asked if the crossing on Queen Street, Morley had been made safer since the fatality last week? Robert Finnigan said that this had been brought forward to February from March. It had been passed months ago but, because of delays and a shortage of contractors and he wondered whether this sort of contract couldn’t be better done "in-house"? SM said that there was something to be said for this because there was, without any doubt, too few contractors and too many contracts and therefore too much work for them all.

Chris Glen asked what was the status of the PAS land going back to Greenbelt and the consequences of the Regional Spatial Strategy advocating over 2, 700 homes to be built? (The Leeds City Council UDP figure is 1, 930) SM said that regrettably, the UDP Inspector had gone against the recommendations of the Council and to go against this would probably be subject to a successful challenge by interested parties.

Once again, the impact of cumulative developments were discussed with regard to infrastructure and as an example, Geoff Crowther counted 500 vehicles pass his house within the space of 40 minutes recently. Traffic and parking was making it difficult for everyone’s quality of life and Robert Finnigan said that it was perhaps time the buses were re-regulated. SM said that until there were more buses, more regularity and better service and cheaper fares, everyone who could would continue to desert public transport and clog up the roads with their cars.

Finally, the closure of Stanhope Hall was discussed. Robert Finnigan said that Ward Members had not been consulted on this and he was asking Officers to ascertain who had made the decision and further asked whether there should be a new building within Churwell to replace the two centres currently being used? On a show of hands of CAG members present, this was accepted and this would be taken back to Officers for exploration.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9.15  p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 28th March, 2006 at 7.30 p.m.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary
Churwell Action Group

25th January, 2006
 
 

Your Chair (Joe Tetley) welcomed all present.

All of your Committee were present (Joyce Sanders, Wenda Whitehead, Margery Kirk, Robert Finnigan, Sheena Stevens & SMc). Apologies were received from Mr. & Mrs Wilks.

Your Chair said that it was so good to see so many people at the Remembrance Day Service held at Churwell War Memorial Gardens. Joyce read out a lovely letter sent from Ernest Rowan, whose uncle Ernest is one of eleven Churwell men whose name is on the newer plaque erected in 2004. In clearing out his late mother’s effects, the information had come to light and he had actually been to his uncle’s last resting place. Mr. Rowan laid a wreathe on behalf of the Rowan family and said it felt really special that his late uncle had been remembered in this way. Your Chair did make a specific point about the rubbish that residents from Churwell were depositing in the Memorial Gardens. He hoped it would cease in future.

The Police were not represented this evening and your Chair had made representations to Inspector Pedley who said his officers would attend future meetings if they were on duty. Wenda said she felt it more important that Police were on the streets and suggested that they attend only if there was a local Policing problem. An Officer had watched over parking issues around Churwell Primary School today and it was believed a few Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) could be served in future for dangerous parking or obstructing the highway. Recorded crime statistics both in Churwell and the wider Morley area were decreasing month on month. In response to a question regarding Designated Public Places Orders (DPPO’s) from your Chair, Cllr. Finnigan said that in the opinion of the Neighbourhood Policing Team, these were not necessary at this juncture. PCSO’s on bicycles may very well become a common feature in the future said Cllr. Finnigan.

Churwell Youth Club was going well according to Wenda. Nothing to report really other than numbers were up - probably due to the dark nights and cold weather.

Schools Admissions. Cllr. Finnigan again mentioned that some time ago the Schools Organisation Committee marginally altered the wording of a Policy by deleting the word "Leeds". Thus, "nearest Leeds high school" changed the structure of the Policy completely. This had been ratified by Legal Services. It should be pointed out that this had been facilitated because of the pressure put on from everyone in Morley, from Churwell to Newlands Primary and all Morley high schools. Coupled with the demographic fall, Kirklees children would not find it as easy as they had done in the past to obtain a place in a Morley high school. All three high schools in Morley would have a guaranteed future.

The refurbishment of Churwell Park was almost complete and it was suggested that after Christmas, the Friends of Churwell Park and CAG get together and do some clearing up et cetera. If the "Friends" can suggest a date, we can take it forward. Wenda mentioned that many residents had expressed disappointment that the "Edwardian" gates hadn’t been quite so ornately "Edwardian" has they had perhaps imagined they would be. This apparently was down to mis-information fed to the architect who had designed the gates, for which she does apologise.

Refuse Collection in Churwell. It was patently obvious to everyone that this had deteriorated to the point of incompetence since the collection days had been changed and was totally unacceptable. Both SMc and Cllr. Finnigan had been in touch with senior Officers from Refuse Collection over this last four weeks and indeed SMc was waiting for responses for those responsible. He would feed this back to residents as soon as he could. The service was shambolic and unacceptable at present.

      Any Other Business ?

 Dave Ellis asked about the status of the post box. The response was that a replacement site would be located by the grass verge adjacent to the Old Golden Fleece (Middle ‘ole) but would have to go through the planning process.

 SMc had just received an electronic copy of the UDP Inspector’s report and the Inspector had recommended that land designated as "West of Churwell" and "Laneside" be deemed as retaining their status quo, that is, to remain as PAS (protected area of search) land. In effect this was a land bank for future development and despite support from City Council planning officers and representation from many in the Churwell community, the Inspector had overturned the principle of returning Laneside and other plots in Morley to Greenbelt status.

 Land at Hepworth Avenue was still going through the tortuous legal process in lieu of various representations made in respect of access.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

On behalf of all the committee, can I wish everyone a very happy Christmas. See you in the New Year !

Look out for a possible date for the Churwell Park clear-up in January.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 24th January, 2006 at 7.30 p.m.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary
Churwell Action Group

29th November,  2005
 
 

1)    Your Chair (Joe Tetley) welcomed all present and further introduced Kevin Barker, Manager for Parks & Countryside, Leeds City Council. He also commented on the abysmal turn-out of just three CAG Members, Ken Sanders, Lew Beever and Lisa Drake.

2)    All of your Committee were present (Joyce Sanders, Wenda Whitehead, Margery Kirk, Robert Finnigan, Sheena Stevens & SMc). Apologies were received from Cllr. Leadley, Mr. & Mrs Crowther and Commons.

3) Kevin Barker had kindly agreed to attend this CAG meeting to discuss matters relating to the delay of the MUGA’s, park gates and other parks-related issues. Kevin said that these works should be completed by Friday 4th November. (SMc said that, according to Vicky Nunns Contractors had been given the period 22/08/05 to 28/10/05.) With respect to the ‘shoddy workmanship’ of the new perimeter paths, Kevin conceded that this was true and the work which had been done ‘in-house’ by the Extra Works Team in order to complete some of the works in time for the Centenary Gala. It would be re-visited at a later date, he assured. SMc also added that  there had been problems within the Development Department with respect to the works leading to a delay which had necessitated the work being done ‘in-house’ to enable the Gala Day to proceed.

 Issues around Procurement were then discussed and Kevin acknowledged using local contractors was better and he endeavoured to do this whenever possible. However, CAG Members believed that a more efficient use of public money could be implemented if the Approved List of Contractors was more flexible and allowed more local contractors. This certainly needed to be debated at a higher level as there was the perception that when an Approved Contractor tended to put a figure to a job, they added a further sum "because it was the council".

 Other issues relating to the under-resourced department and how this once again needed to be addressed at a higher level. Parks & Countryside was under-funded yet, conversely had the capacity to contribute so much to everyone’s quality of life. Kevin was looking at the provision of a bowser for next year. A number of potential funding opportunities would be looked at. Kevin concluded that he would be happy to attend future meetings.

4)    Churwell Youth Club. Alison still continued to assist on Wednesday’s and  were to lay a wreath on Remembrance Day. Cllr. Finnigan mentioned the Pilot in Morley North & South that had been led by Ward Members, which was a tacit admission of previous failures by Youth Services. The initiative was to be facilitated by empowering local community groups to be funded directly via this pilot. CRB checks and other training would be facilitated by West Yorkshire Youth Association. £17k had already been allocated locally and it was advantageous that there was an element of learning, social or recreational aspect. Sports clubs had to be a little flexible and not think ‘sports’ entirely.

5) The Police were not represented this evening and your Chair made comment that this was happening all too frequently and similar meetings. In response, SMc said that it was difficult to get around all such meetings and last week Inspector Pedley had attended three such meetings on consecutive nights, in his own time.

6) Schools Admissions. Cllr. Finnigan mentions that last week the Schools Organisation Committee altered a Policy thus .. "nearest Leeds high school" which by deleting the word "Leeds" changed the Policy completely. This did have to be ratified but, had been facilitated because of the pressure put on from everyone in Morley, from Churwell to Newlands Primary and all Morley high schools. Coupled with the demographic fall, Kirklees children would not find it as easy as they had done in the past to obtain a place in a Morley high school.

7)    Action Day – Clark Spring Woods – 24th September. 50 volunteers from the Church of the Latter Day Saints and 5 CAG Committee Members turned up. A truck load of litter and other debris were cleared from the wood. Future Action Days in the park could be discussed when we had a few more Members present.

      Any Other Business ?

 Lew Beever raised a number of issues regarding Churwell Community Centre namely, water backing-up from the drain in next door’s house, water leakage between old and new extension, ball bearings being fired at the north-facing window, a cage for the heater in the extension. SMc would look at  these issues.

 Finally, a reminder to everyone that a Remembrance Day Service in Churwell was to be held on Sunday 13th November, 2005 from 9.30 a.m. It’s a pleasure to announce that amongst many participating groups laying wreathes this year will be Churwell Youth Club and Churwell Primary School. Last year numbers were increased by 30%. We hope to see many more children, parents and grandparents there this year. Refreshments afterwards will be served at Churwell Community Centre courtesy of Churwell Community Association and Churwell Action Group.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 29th November, 2005 at 7.30 p.m.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary
Churwell Action Group

25th October,  2005
 
 

1)    Your Chair (Joe Tetley) welcomed all present and commented on the low turnout.

2)    Five of your Committee were present (Joyce Sanders, Wenda Whitehead, Margery Kirk, Robert Finnigan, Sheena Stevens). Apologies were received from Alison Foster, SMc & Mr. & Mrs Crowther.

3)    Schools Admissions. WW reported that the letters being sent to Churwell parents this year were still indicating Cockburn High School as the nearest school as the crow flies. RF advised that all parents of Morley children should put down all three high schools in order of preference. This would ensure that there was every chance of a place being secured for their child in a Morley high school. Indications were that the demand for places was slowly diminishing.

4)    Churwell Youth Club. RF expressed concern at the lack of support our voluntary and employed Youth workers were receiving in Churwell. He is to meet John Paxton this week and would report back at the next meeting but, he would look into some other way of continuing the Youth Programme without having to rely on LCC for their support. A discussion on funding then arose and RF suggested that Churwell could possibly apply for monies from the Aggregate Sustainability Fund.   To apply for this money we have to be within three mile of a quarry and it was agreed that "as the crow flies", we could just manage that.

5)    Action Day – Clark Spring Woods – 24th September. JT gave details of the offer we had received from the Church of the Latter Day Saints.   He called for volunteers from those present and any other people who could be contacted before Saturday to add our support.   Those wishing to help should be at the entrance on Ibbetson Oval at 9 a.m.

Any Other Business ?

 Mr. Gott supplied photographs of a rubbish strewn footpath in Churwell with two notices marked "Private Land" although, as a member of Morley Walking Club he had maps giving this as a Public Footpath.   RF stated that he believed this was the path which had been diverted temporarily. However, Mr. Gott said that it was nowhere near the New Village building site. RF would have this identified and report back at the next meeting.

JS advised of the meeting between four members of the Committee and Rosie Watts regarding the issues of public footpath maintenance and that specified paths would now be cleaned and cut back three times a year. (To substantiate this, it should be noted that since this meeting Smools Lane has already been cut back by the contractor[SMc].)

Lew Beever asked about results of the UDP enquiry particularly in respect of Laneside Farm area going back into green belt land. RF said he would enquire about a definitive date for the release of this report with the hope that Laneside Farm would be green belt and the Pit Hill site would be designated Public Open Space.

Mr. Beever also expressed concern regarding a mobile phone mast application being  erected on Broadoaks Farm. JT suggested that we look into this matter and request a visit from the people making this application to one of our Public Meetings to enable those in the area to view their concerns.

Mrs Vranic asked about the Harwill Road playing field.   RF advised that it had now been passed out of the hands of Education and vested with Leisure Services which, hopefully, would block any applications for building. (It is a protected playing field.[SMc])

Mr. Gott said that the fencing was again broken away and RF said he would look into obtaining some stronger type of fencing for the complete length of the Harwill Avenue frontage of the fence. It was also noted that people had again been playing golf.   JS said she would ask for the notice "No Golfing Strokes" to be replaced.

 Mr. Beever had been asked to mention the attitude of footballers, who practiced Monday evenings, towards young children who were already in the field when they arrived. WW offered to see these people and request them to moderate their language and attitude.

 Although not in the Churwell Area a discussion took place regarding the illegal and careless parking of cars in the Mercantile and Morrison’s car parks.   Wardens were now on duty in both areas and RF reported that discussions had taken place with the Highways Committee regarding the problem of "park and ride" cars and a suggestion had been made that some sort of specified time parking (of perhaps 3 hours) should be enforced.   A disc system had also been suggested.

JS had displayed photographs of the Centenary Celebrations in Churwell Park and advised that she would obtain copies if anyone was interested.

Several complaints were made regarding the condition of the Park since it’s clean up for the Centenary Celebrations. Apparently park staff were more than halved in number due to holidays and sickness. It was then noted that the promised work was still outstanding and although  WW advised that this work was promised to be effected between 22nd Aug and 28th October it was unanimously agreed that we did the "wait and see" routine when we had been promised completion in May and we could not trust the promises anymore.  It was suggested that Kevin Barker be invited to attend our next Public Meeting (25th October) to address some issues. (Contractors were given access to the site on the first date and had until the second date to complete the works.)

JS advised that SMc had contacted the family of Ernest Field whose name had been inadvertently omitted from the II World War Memorial. SMc had contacted the stonemason who said it would be possible to insert the name on the memorial before November. (Details of full name being ascertained at present.)

Several building plans were discussed and the following points noted :-
Fountain Street Building – refused.
Laneside Garage (3/4 story houses) – Objections being made
Garage at bottom of Churwell Hill (2/3 story houses) – although out of our area it was agreed that this would affect the village and RF was looking into this.

Returning to funding and monies to improve the area, it was suggested that now Morley Town Council had achieved Quality Status we could apply for 106 monies in our own right to be used in our own area.
RF again brought up the subject of the possible closure of Stanhope or the Churwell Community Centre. It was agreed that a meeting should be held with all concerned to discuss the situation.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 25th October, 2005 at 7.30 p.m.
Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Wenda Whitehead
Churwell Action Group

24th September,  2005
 
 

1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Sanders ) welcomed all present.

2)  Five of your Committee were present (JS, MK, SM, AF & SS). Apologies were received from JT & WW.

3)    Centenary of Churwell Park. Joyce said that people were still coming up to her offering congratulations for the day. She was of the opinion that perhaps something could take place next year, possibly a Sports Day for the children and a Tug of War for the adults. Joyce also gave a verbal synopsis of the costs of the day, totalling £4, 800. Funding had been secured from the Community Chest for £4, 700 so it would cost you the members, about £100.

4) Churwell Youth Club was open as usual. Alison Foster hoped to have the Intermediate Club for Primary school years 5 & 6 (9, 10 & 11 years old) in place for September / October. Alison hoped too, to have the graffiti wall downstairs completed soon.

5)    Your Chair said that as there was no Police presence tonight, Policing matters could not be discussed.

6)    Schools Admissions. Two CAG Members who are also Governors at Morley High School said that at their last meeting of the academic year had sent a  resolution to Education Leeds expressing a wish to see the return of catchment areas for Morley children trying to secure places at Morley Schools.

7)    The next  "Action Day" would begin after the refurbishment of Churwell Park, which in all honesty, was likely to be in October after the gates and MUGA’s had been installed.

8)    Any Other Business?

Alison Foster and others had attended to voice their opinion of the planning application pertaining to the proposed development to the rear garden of 11 William Street for 2 off, 3 storey dwellings.

Alison also wanted to voice her concern again over parking on Fountain Street and particularly the company, Tauratec. SM explained what was being pursued by Highways and stressed that it would take time.

Finally, Alison said that she was at the end of her tether with Refuse Collection on Fountain Street. SM once more detailed what he had done and what he would do in an attempt to get this unacceptable scenario resolved to residents’ satisfaction.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 8.45 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 20th September, 2005 at 7.30 p.m.  Please try to put this in your diaries and attend if you can.   Have a good  summer!

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

26th July 2005
 
 

1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) welcomed all present and informed all those that weren’t aware that one of our founder members Jack Whittam had passed away and ask that we remember him and concluded that we would all miss his honest contributions to our CAG meetings.

2)  All of your Committee were present, except for Margery Kirk whose apologies were received. Joe Waters also sent his apologies and good wishes for Saturday.

3)    Centenary of Churwell Park. A short discussion was held about the unfortunate delays in implementing all the promised features for the refurbishment of the park in time for the Centenary Gala Day. JS read out details of the programme. It was decided to bring forward the dedication ceremony of the new mosaic to coincide with the opening of the park. This was one thing that would be ready in time. Your Chair suggested that Vicky Nunns and Denise Preston be invited to a future meeting to answer questions about the delays and failures of the service delivery in this instance of Parks & Countryside. All the 3, 200 Centenary Booklets had been delivered by volunteers just over a fortnight ago.

4) Churwell Youth Club was open as usual. Because of light nights and exams et cetera, numbers were a little thin but, usually there were on average about 25 - 30 children aged between 11 & 15 attending on Wednesday evening. SM would be meeting Youth Services 29th June to discuss the Intermediate Club wanted by Alison Foster. He would feed this into Alison as soon as possible. A heater would be installed downstairs in the future and it was hoped that the graffiti wall would be completed soon.

5) Your Chair introduced PC’s Helen McKenzie and Mark Thompson who has taken over the beat Churwell comes under following PC’s Cini departure. She had been with West Yorkshire Police for 4 years, knew Beeston well and had already identified some Beeston and Cottingley faces in Churwell. She had also identified that the majority of problems were either noise nuisance caused by young people with alcohol or motorcycles or other such off-road vehicles. SM said that he had personal evidence that PC McKenzie had stopped 2 quadbikers exactly a week ago tonight, so inroads were being made into this nuisance and dangerous practice under the instruction of Inspector Pedley who, it was clear wanted to resolve such matters.

6)   All places at all 3 high schools in Morley were now taken and though appeals were still taking place, it was for change of high schools in Morley such as Bruntcliffe to Morley High et cetera. Cllr. Finnigan still maintained that though demographics demand was decreasing in the long run, catchment areas were still the preferred option in his opinion.

7)    The next  "Action Day" would begin after the refurbishment of Churwell Park, though of course, there would be a big one this coming Saturday, 2nd July.

8)    Any Other Business?

A discussion, at the behest of  your Chair, was held about the quality of grasscutting in the area. Everyone agreed it was a shambles but, Cllr. Finnigan said it has almost always been poor and the way to approach this in the future was to use local contractors. Your Chair said that because Morley Town Council had Quality Council Status, this could now be facilitated in the future.

WW said that Kath Naylor ‘ex’ of the ‘ex’ Churwell Post Office had hoped to attend tonight but, unfortunately, had something else on. A short discussion was held about Post Office closures. Cllr. Finnigan noted that Morley’s M.P. (Colin Challen for those unaware) had stated that he would have a replacement Post Office in Churwell within 12 months from the closure in April 2005.

Finally, it was hoped that, underground services permitting, another site for a replacement post box could be used at the end of William Street (by AK News), though planning permission would be needed.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 8.30 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 26th July, 2005 at 7.30 p.m.  Please try to put this in your diaries and attend if you can.

Break for summer in August and back 27th September, 2005.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local paper, The Morley Observer & Advertiser.
 

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

28th June, 2005
 
 

1) Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) read out his third annual report and the Committee stood down as per the Constitution.

2) The Procedure, as per the Constitution, to elect a Committee for the year 2005 -  2006 was explained and facilitated by the adjudicator, M.T. Elliott, J.P.)

 Nominations from the floor were proposed for the following :

A Chair
A nomination for Cllr. Tetley was proposed and seconded
A vice-Chair
A nomination for Alison Foster was proposed and seconded
A Treasurer
A nomination for Cllr. Sanders was proposed and seconded
A Secretary
A nomination for Stewart McArdle was proposed and seconded
A Churwell Community Association affiliate
A nomination for Cllr. Whitehead was proposed and seconded
(Up to) Three other Committee Members
Nominations for Cllr. Robert Finnigan; Margery Kirk and Sheena Stevens were proposed and seconded.

 All nominations were accepted and the above people are deemed elected to serve for one year.

3) There were no calls to make any necessary or appropriate amendments to the Constitution.
4) A lengthy discussion was had over objectives for the coming year. This included organising a programme for the year to be printed on Membership cards for such as Youth issues; Policing; Street Cleansing et al. It was also proposed that meetings should be held on a basis of one every two months and perhaps a couple of social evenings held during the year. Committee meetings would continue to be held monthly and if anything urgent cropped up, the Committee would call an EGM.
5) Report on Churwell Park.  Cllr. Sanders gave a short verbal presentation on the events for the Centenary Gala and that a flyer would be distributed along with the Centenary Booklet prepared by Ronnie Barraclough in early June.
6) Any Other Business ?
7) Date and time of next meeting. (Tuesday 28th June, 2005 at 7.30p.m.).
8) Closure of meeting.

 SMc 24th May, 2005
 
 

A message from your Chair, Joe Tetley.

Dear fellow Member,

This has been another good year for the members of Churwell Action Group.

At the end of our third year of ‘action’ we have just about all of the road safety measures in place for which we have campaigned both long and hard. The speed limit reduction at the bottom of Churwell Hill has just been confirmed and the new crossing located around School Street are all that remains to be facilitated from our road safety objectives and both these will happen this fiscal year.

In fact, our web-site www.churwellactiongroup.org.uk has quite a proud boast in that we have reached over 85% of all our objectives since 2002 and that, I believe, is a record in which we can collectively take a great deal of pride.

With my fellow Committee Members and Officers, we have continued to work very hard in our Community over 2004 - 2005.  Highlights are:

· Safety cameras in Churwell (and right up to Bruntcliffe), are now, in situ.
· The puffin crossing too, is now in situ (at Westwoodside) and has been welcomed by all sections of the community, particularly schoolchildren and their parents.
· In the near future, another crossing will be sited in the vicinity of School Street.
· A universal 30 mph speed limit on the Churwell Hill section of the A643 has just been confirmed by Highways.
· The Youth Club held every Wednesday in this very room is ticking along nicely and along with Youth Services staff, Jayne Cullingworth is now being helped by Alison Foster. Things haven’t gone entirely smoothly at all times but, any problems have been dealt with in an appropriate manner.
· "The Friends of Churwell Park" has had a number of ‘action days’ and Churwell Park is now being prepared for its Centenary Gala Day scheduled for Saturday 2nd July, 2005 exactly one hundred years and a day after its auspicious opening in 1905. Once again, we applaud the efforts of Josie Fletcher, Julie Watson, Karen Rodley, Margery Kirk, Madge Callery, Sheila Crowther, Dawn and Billy Commons, Lynne and all the other people who have assisted us on all our action days, whether in the park (or footpaths). Thanks very much. We could still do with more volunteers, even if it’s only for an hour or so and it really doesn’t matter if you’re 20, 30 or in your 70’s, you can still make a difference in that one hour !
· We have secured funding of £4,700 to hold a Gala Day and produce a Centenary Booklet which will be distributed to every household in Churwell and beyond in time for the 2nd July, 2005. Plans are in hand to re-furbish the park to the tune of over £100k and this may help Leeds City Council to acquire Green Flag Award status for Churwell Park and we hope that Parks & Countryside is successful in that objective.
· For the first time we were able to use the interior of Churwell War Memorial Garden for the complete third Remembrance Day service in 2004; having commissioned a 2nd plaque for the inside of the gardens, which pays wholesome tribute, to those 11 Churwell men who gave the ultimate sacrifice in World War Two. This was blessed on the day by the Reverend Mark Earey. Vegetation in Churwell War Memorial Garden was cut back in order to spruce up the garden and Parks and Countryside has done a wonderful job in maintaining and replanting the interior. Numbers for attendance were up again this year - by 30% - including an even sprinkling of all ages. We hope that trend continues to grow.
· Very little work has been done in Clark Springs Wood this year because we have been trying to acquire funding for the footpath network which has deteriorated very much of late. This is due to barriers and gates having been smashed by irresponsible bikers and horse-riders, particularly at the Westwoodside/Ibbetson Oval access points. These have recently been repaired - along with the access point to the ‘Pit Hills’ at Hepworth Avenue - and Friends of Churwell Park have made great inroads into clearing the overgrown footpaths from Hepworth Avenue to Ibbetson Oval. This is a long and sustained programme which is good fun and very rewarding as something tangible can be seen at the end of any working session. The fell cooping performed last year has had some success as we can already see new growth where the fell coop took place.
· Members also cleared the front of the Mount Zion Chapel (opposite the Top ‘ole) which had fallen victim to dumping of litter and rubbish by those in our own community. This was done on the worst day of this year weather-wise; you name it, snow, sleet, wind, gale, sun and rain, we worked in it!
· The ban on drinking in public places which was initiated via the floor of Churwell Action Group has unfortunately, fallen victim to the ‘in-tray’ syndrome and has therefore not yet been implemented. CAG still hold out hopes.
· Your Committee has attended and made representations into the Revised Unitary Development Plan (RUDP) Public Enquiry from 26th July, 2004 and this has just finished in February, 2005 at the Civic Hall. The final report is not expected to be before November, 2005. It is hoped to have Laneside (along with 7 other sites in Morley), returned to green-belt status from PAS (Protected Area of Search) as part of the final report.
· CAG pay wholesome tribute to the continued support of a committed bunch of about 50 Members who regularly attend our Public Meetings and place on record again that it is their support that has made our success what it is.
· CAG would also like to place on record, our thanks to Cllrs. Judith Elliott, Joyce Sanders, Wenda Whitehead, and a fourth Churwell (Morley) town Councillor and fellow Morley Town and Leeds City Councillors, Cllrs. Finnigan and Leadley (and their colleague, Lisa Drake) for their unstinting work in the endeavours of Churwell Action Group and the wider Community.
· I conclude this 3rd Annual Report in thanking the Churwell community for their continued support. May we continue all of us, to stay together as a community!

Sincerely

Joe Tetley

Chair, Churwell Action Group

24th May, 2005
 
 

1)     Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) welcomed all present.
2)     All of your Committee were present, excepting apologies were received from Cllrs. Elliott and Finnigan      and SM who would be late arriving. (He never did until after the conclusion!)
3)     Churwell Youth Club was opening now as usual. There were about 20 members attending regularly and two volunteers working with LCC Youth Services staff. Members of the Youth Club had agreed to participate in the Centenary Gala. Grateful thanks were extended to the donation from the Brass Band concert held at the Town Hall, Morley facilitated by Cllr. Bob Gettings.
4) PC Cini, due to give an update on Community Policing was again not here tonight so we were unable to get that update.
5) Centenary of Churwell Park. There had been a universal request for volunteers to come forward to help in whatever way they could to run stalls such as "coconut shys", "Splat the rat" et cetera. JS gave advice on the various stalls that could be there on the day. The Centenary Booklet was finished and it is a credit to its author, local historian Ronnie Barraclough. JS was also collecting names to deliver the booklets (only 3, 500 including the Croft Houses, Rooms Lane  et al !). Work was progressing with the Centenary Mosaic commissioned by CAG. A Gala sub-committee had been formed to facilitate as much as possible. SM had assurances that work could be started as early as the first week in May after the May Day bank holiday.
6)    Only one child had not been allocated a Morley school. SM tried to attend two schools appeals on Friday though for the first he was given the wrong time (which unfortunately, was the aforementioned only child). It would appear that the Appeals Panel were not aware that there isn’t a direct bus service to Bruntcliffe which is a point he made at the appeal he managed to get to. The Independent Panel stated there were 10 students allocated to Bruntcliffe. All Morley children will however, get a place in a Morley school.
7)     Cllr. Leadley explained the streets (off Hartley Street) which were to be formally adopted by LCC. Mrs McGregor asked if Laneside was on any list? Cllr. Leadley promised to look into this matter for Mrs McGregor.
8)     Any "Action Days" had been suspended primarily because of the refurbishment of the Park.
9)     Any Other Business?

A discussion was held about new bins being in the wrong place. SM had requested that these be re-located to their former sites as they were needed there more than in the current locations. Please give it time.

Julie Watson asked if something could be done regarding the pot-holes on the Hepworth Avenue/Ibbetson Oval  footpath? (SM sent an e-mail 26th April requesting this be attended to as a temporary measure). This was part of the improvements that suffered because of the delay caused with Gildersome Playground. The whole footpath network was due to be re-laid but, now sadly postponed.

Churwell Post Office would close at the end of this week. A notice had been put up with the nearest alternative post boxes. It was hoped that, underground services permitting, another site could be used at the end of William Street (by AK News).

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 8.30 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 25th May, 2005 at 7.30 p.m.  M.T. Elliott, JP would officiate.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

26th April, 2005
 
 

1)     Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings, welcomed all Members who weren’t on their Easter holidays!
2)     All of your Committee were present, except for : Apologies were received from Cllr. Whitehead,  Elizabeth Clarkson, Alison Foster and Mrs McGregor.
3)    Your Chair and SM gave a further update on plans for the Centenary of Churwell Park. Churwell WMC, the top, middle and bottom ‘oles had all come on board and would participate in a Tug o’ War. A couple of ideas came forward and JW suggested something already discussed at Committee, that of releasing balloons with name and address tags. Your Chair expressed concern at the very tight time-scales involved in the refurbishment of the park in time for the Centenary. Cllr. Finnigan said that he was putting on pressure on relevant parties to ensure this was facilitated in time. Centenary booklets would be delivered to all residences in Churwell and beyond in time. Cllr. Sanders mentioned that it was nice not to have to worry for once about trying to secure funding because this had already been facilitated. The people of Churwell should get organised for the day and enjoy the day! Public Liability Insurance had already been arranged for the day.
4)    Cllr. Sanders thanked all those Members who turned up for the clear-up of the footpaths at Ibbetson Oval and Westwoodside which took place on Saturday, 12th March. Thanks to those volunteers and the City of Leeds 168 Squadron we cleared up the bottom section adjacent to Ibbetson Oval. We still have about 25% of the objective to complete, so it would be nice to re-convene at some point in the near future. Once again, thanks to all those volunteers who attended. You all did a marvellous job, now let’s come back and finish it at a date to be confirmed. A general discussion regarding litter and fly-tipping and dog-owners not clearing up after their dogs ensued. Your Chair mentioned that Enforcement Officers were in evidence in Morley last week. SM mentioned that he had already approached the Dog Warden with a view to putting Churwell on their rounds. This had already been agreed, so dog owners, you have been warned! Watch out, it could be you ! (Being fined that it is !)
5)    PC Cini, due to give an update on Community Policing was again not here tonight so we were unable to get that update. There had been issues around the off-licenses of late which were being monitored. PCSO’s had been in evidence around the village and because of the proliferation of bikers in the area, SM reported that Police on trials bikes too had been seen this evening.
6)    In Alison’s absence SM reported that Churwell Youth Club was closed last week because all Youth Services staff had decided to take annual leave .. at the same time!  SM said that he had sent an e-mail to the Principle Officer and Lead Member that he considered that Youth Services had let our young people down. Where was the management? Where was the trust? The Lead Member had already responded saying she was felt my criticisms were justified and she would be seeking explanations on Wednesday 30th (after the Easter break).
 7)    Cllr. Finnigan mentioned that there were three schoolchildren not allocated high school places in Morley up to press. It was hoped that after re-consideration forms had been received and sifted through this would change. This was the message coming from the Admissions Manager at Education Leeds and again, it was believed that appeals to get high school places for Morley children would not be necessary.
8)     On 14th February, SM had attended the launch in Bradford of "Safer Roads Day" scheduled for 1st May, 2005. It was hoped very simply, that the campaign would raise awareness of speed and driving and the campaign also had a target of there being no fatalities on any road in West Yorkshire on that day. Watch out for the posters and advertisements in the press, radio and possibly television. SM had spoken about the positive effects that safety cameras had on a local community and that from this launch, Cllr. Whitehead had been featured with her grandchildren in the YEP walking across the new puffin crossing at Westwoodside! In answer to a question from your Chair, it was stated that a zebra crossing would be in situ at/or around School Street sometime in 2005. All that was left was a universal 30 mph speed limit on Churwell Hill and your Chair could put a "Churwell - a 30 mph zone" sticker in his car. JW said he’d have the first!
9)    Cllr. Finnigan explained the ethos and enthusiasm behind Morley Community Radio Society and hoped that all Morley people of all ages would get involved both during the period of a temporary license terminating 10th July and hopefully a permanent license sometime in September, 2005. There were technical and financial hurdles to surmount, but it was felt these could be resolved. What was really encouraging, said Cllr. Finnigan, was the enthusiasm of the young people from Woodkirk High School who were simply ‘buzzing’ with ideas for the radio station. A ‘soap’, local bands, historical programmes were just a few of the ideas. Morley and Bruntcliffe High schools too, were ‘on board’.

10)  Any Other Business?

Your Chair gave notice that the Leeds City Credit Union bus would be in Morley again on Saturday 2nd April. He hoped people would consider what LCCU had to offer for everyone and that enough people would want join to facilitate a branch in Morley. LCCU was now being used as a de facto bank by those with allowances or on benefits (or those without bank accounts), because the business had been taken away from post offices.

Your Chair also gave notice that the Morley Community Archive Group (MCAG) were looking to source old photographs to put into a Picture Archive System (PAS). So far, they had scanned in over 500. They were touring the area

JW mentioned that he had plenty of photographs of the progress of Churwell New Village if anyone wanted to see them.

Marjery Kirk congratulated Cllr. Sanders for her excellent article in last week’s Morley Advertiser on the state of, and the work now going, into Morley Bottoms, much of it due to herself and Cllr. Whitehead.

Marjery Kirk also requested what was meant by the term ‘temporary closure’ of Churwell sub-Post Office? Cllr. Finnigan said that it was ‘temporary’ in name, but ‘permanent’ by nature. There had not been one taker for the business, because there was no business there to speak of. All benefits and allowances as SM had explained were going into banks, the post offices had had the rug pulled from beneath their collective feet. It was as simple as that.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9.00 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 26th April, 2005 at 7.30 p.m.

Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

The meeting in May (yet to be announced but either 24th or 31st ) will be taken up primarily, by the Annual General Meeting.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

29th March, 2005
 
 

1)     Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings, welcomed all Members and introduced Members of Churwell Park Bowling Club who were in attendance to listen to details of the Churwell Park Centenary Gala.

2)     All of your Committee were present. Apologies were received from Cllr. Judith Elliott.
The necessity to repeat the Centenary Booklet inside cover photograph presented itself again and   CAG are grateful to Ronnie Barraclough for once more, coming down to officiate.

3)     Your Chair and SM gave a further update on plans for the Centenary of Churwell Park. Contrary to the discussion and perception at the Public Meeting in January, it was evident from recent conversations with Rose Twitchett, Secretary & Chair of Churwell Bowling Club that they did genuinely want to engage with the Churwell community and participate in this unique event. They would co-operate toward the success of the gala and would facilitate volunteers on the day as well as their Members participation.

Proposals for fairground rides (Bouncy castles et al), 5-a-side football, a brass band, Tug of War,  a balloon race and other activities had been put in the public domain. The only  tombola and cake stalls et al would be restricted to CAG stalls. A repeat of some of the events 100 years ago was suggested; one of these being a procession ending at the park itself with VIP’s being invited. Details of the Centenary Mosaic were given by Joyce and much to Alison Foster’s surprise, notice was given that the Youth Club may have a Hot Dog stall !

 Public Liability Insurance would be facilitated for the day and the Police would also be notified. It was hoped that St. John’s Ambulance would be on duty on the day too.

 As detailed last month, there would be about £100k spent in Churwell Park in time for the Gala Day in 2005.

4)    Joyce thanked all those Members who turned up for the clear-up of the footpaths at Hepworth Avenue/Daffil Grove which took place on Saturday, 12th February. Due to the volume of work, volunteers only got about 50% of the objective completed, so it was agreed to re-convene on Saturday 12th March. Once again, thanks to all such as Billy and Dawn Commons, Josie Fletcher, Sheila Crowther, Madge Callery, children and Councillors who attended. You all did a marvellous job and it’s hoped we can complete the task in March.

5)     PC Cini, due to give an update on Community Policing was again not here tonight so we were unable to get that update. There had been issues around the off-license of late which were being monitored.

6)     Alison  reported that she was now hoping to facilitate a second junior Youth Club for 9 to 13 year olds. Her proposal had been greeted very positively by Youth Services and it was expected that this would happen sooner rather than later. The Principle Youth Officer had taken on board Alison’s tentative proposal which was to have this on the same night (Wednesday) as the Seniors but to take place between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

7)     A zebra crossing would be in situ at/or around School Street sometime in 2005. It was important that Members understood that sometimes these things took a little longer than was hoped.

8)     A universal 30 mph maximum speed limit from Millshaw to Bruntcliffe was still being pursued. Following a request for a survey, the criteria for a puffin crossing outside Bruntcliffe High school had been established. Elland Road, being the narrower of the two parts not secured with a 30 mph zone was an easier argument to win but, with a puffin crossing outside Bruntcliffe School and a zebra at School Street, Churwell it was felt that this would make it easier to secure this universal 30 mph speed limit (particularly on Churwell Hill).

9)     Cllr. Finnigan had made representations to the Schools Forum regarding school admissions. He had asked that Morley be treated extremely sensitively because of both Bruntcliffe and Woodkirk’s  proximity to the Kirklees boundary and although formally nothing had changed, informally it was envisaged there wouldn’t be any problems with Churwell children getting into Morley schools in September, 2005. Alison considered that the new development at the former Prospect Mill could have a deleterious effect on admissions and wanted assurances that admissions would not be compromised. Cllr. Finnigan said that Demographics could be right in their computations, but that remained to be seen, he concluded.

10)  SM had a supply of npower sponsored low energy light bulbs on offer. Members could take away one pack of 100 watt bulbs provided that they signed for them as "being received". (These all went on the night but, there are plenty left!)

11)  Any Other Business?

Your Chair gave notice that Churwell sub-Post Office was to close with Mr. & Mrs Naylor receiving no compensation for this and he publicly acknowledged their contribution to village life over many years. He wished that more people had supported them and that both they and the Post Office would be sadly missed.

JW gave notice that developers down at Churwell New Village were doing a good job of landscaping as he had noticed a plethora of wildlife in that area of late.

Some Members had noticed the stealth these very same developers (above) had used in managing to sneak in more alterations to the original plans submitted in 2002. They were now actively pursuing changing plans for houses into flats, most likely for more profit (or perhaps, because the housing market was slowing down?).

Joyce gave notice of various ‘parish notices’ and events comprising :

Tuesday 1st March     Churwell School.

Saturday, 5th March from 7.30 p.m.     Morley Charities Concert to be held at The Town Hall in aid of all Morley Charities.

Saturday 9th April.      Mayor’s Ball to be held at The Town Hall.

Thursday 14th April. Phil Fryer as Frank Sinatra in a Concert for Thirukovil to be held at The Town Hall. All proceeds in aid of the Morley for Thirukovil Appeal.

Friday 22nd April.      A Night to Remember, replicating the dinner on the night the SS Titanic sank!

Saturday 23rd April.Morley Schools Music Festival to be held at The Town Hall.

Sunday 24th April.      St. George’s Day Parade from outside the Town Hall to Morley Rugby Club where there was to be an archery competition among many events throughout the day mainly involving young people.

Sunday 9th July.Morley Carnival. Parade from the Town Hall to Morley Rugby Club. Many events including "It’s A Knockout".

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 8.40 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 29th March, 2005 at 7.30 p.m. (yes, it’s Easter Tuesday!). Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

22nd February, 2005
 
 
 

Public Meeting held at Churwell Community Centre, Tuesday 25th January, 2005 from 7.30 p.m. onwards

1)    Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings, welcomed all Members and wished them all a Happy New Year.
2)    All of your Committee were present except Alison Foster who had work commitments. Apologies were received also from Cllr. Tom Leadley.
3)    Your Chair and SM gave a further update on plans for the Centenary of Churwell Park. Proposals for events such as fairground rides, 5-a-side football, a brass band and other activities had been mooted at Committee level. They were still open to suggestions. As detailed last month, there would be about £90-100k spent there in time for the Gala Day in 2005. Ronnie Barraclough was in attendance tonight to finish the Centenary Booklet, namely by the preparation of a group photo of the CAG Members who could attend on the evening. (This was facilitated.) Any stalls such as tombola and cake stalls et cetera  would be restricted to CAG stalls. A repeat of some of the events 100 years ago was suggested; one of these being a procession ending at the park itself with VIP’s being invited.
One thing that was disappointing was the apparent lack of enthusiasm from the bowling club fraternity who had not really appeared to take on board the significance of the event and the need from themselves to co-operate toward the success of this unique event.
4)  Joyce mentioned the clear-up of the Mount Zion Chapel done mainly by herself, Wenda & your Chair in all kinds of weather on Saturday 8th January. It was proposed that a similar clear-up of the footpaths beginning at Hepworth Avenue/Daffil Grove take place on Saturday, 12th February beginning at 9 a.m. Everyone was welcome. Just bring some gloves, loppers and put on your wellies!
5)   PC Cini, due to give an update on Community Policing was not here tonight so we were unable to get that update.
6)   Cllr. Finnigan gave an update of  the progress of DPPO’s. The process had not been smooth, was subject to some controversy but, nevertheless, could be implemented within a relatively short space of time with the support of senior Police Officers.
7)    Acquisition of land at Primrose Walk in a bid to secure a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to effect this project. This would take time for searches et cetera. Cllr. Finnigan said that he was waiting for a briefing from the Legal Officer and that a CPO was the last resort and would enable interested parties to focus on the main agenda which was to clean up this tranche of land. LCC would do this in a measured way.
8)   The bid to secure Fountain St. for residents-only parking was still ongoing, still under survey and review. SM was pleased to report that No. 36 William St. had only last week had the disabled parking bay marked out and Mrs Wilson wanted to express her thanks to CAG for their support.
9)  In Alison’s absence, Wenda reported that the Youth Club project had had a few problems, mainly due to staffing. The Senior Youth Worker was ill and that meant one of the Youth Clubs in the area  - Churwell - because of a lack of paid staff - not volunteers, was being penalised for this. A little ASB from participants outside the area had necessitated a ‘heart to heart’ with Churwell users which would hopefully be resolved in the not too distant future.
10) RF and SM had met with Highways Officers in December and confirmed that a new zebra crossing would be in situ at/or around School Street (pending ‘slippage’) by the end of the year, fiscal or calendar, depending on the length of ‘slippage’.
11)  Elected members were still actively pursuing a universal 30 mph maximum limit from Millshaw to Bruntcliffe as well as a puffin crossing for Bruntcliffe High school and though this wasn’t anything to do with Churwell, would assist in the enabling of a 30 mph speed limit over the two points. Elland Road, being the narrower of the two parts, was an easier case to win but, with a puffin crossing outside Bruntcliffe School and a zebra at School Street, Churwell this would make it easier to secure this universal speed limit.
12)  Your Chair gave a briefing on the successful "Morley for Thirukovil" Project at which CAG Members had been involved, particularly Alison, Wenda and Joyce. They raised in the region of £200 on the CAG stall and in total about £13k was raised on the weekend.
13   Any Other Business?
SM asked;  if anyone was interested in becoming a Primary School Governor? (One member came forward.); if any two people were interested in a free weekend away on 5th & 6th March in Lincolnshire meeting up with the famous arboriculturalist, (that’s tree-speak) Ted Green. Please contact SM.
Wenda gave notice of the Morley Charities Concert to be held at The Town Hall on Saturday, 5th March from 7.30 p.m. in aid of all Morley Charities.
Joyce highlighted the new stile that had been erected at the end of Smools Lane and you do know where it is. It’s the public footpath between Daffil Road and Crossland Road and leads to the site of Daffil Wood (and is one of the three footpaths scheduled for a bi-annual clean-up courtesy of the efforts of Cllrs. Joyce Sanders and Bob Gettings).
Cllr. Finnigan asked if anyone was interested in putting a team together for an "It’s A Knockout" competition to be held on Sunday 9th July, 2005.
JW expressed concern over the condition of the bridges crossing both Elland Road and Old Road and asked elected members to ascertain as and when these were checked. (Cllr. Finnigan had already requested this information at the time of typing this newsletter.)
And finally, Ronnie Barraclough had waited patiently for all CAG members present to assemble for a group photograph which would grace the inside (page 2) of the Churwell Park Centenary Booklet. For those not able to attend, these will be distributed, free of charge to every household in Churwell as soon as they were printed. For any additional copies a nominal price would be charged.
This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.
The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 22nd February, 2005 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

25th January, 2005
 
 

1)    Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members. He also introduced Catherine Hartley, one of the Officers on the new outer south Area Committee (working under the Chair, our very own Cllr. Robert Finnigan), who would do a little presentation later.

2)     All of your Committee were present. Also present was Cllr. Tom Leadley. An apology was received from Cllr. Elliott who was at home preparing food for the Mayoress at Home this Saturday, 4th December. All were welcome and she urged as many as could to attend this Saturday.

3)     SM gave a further update on plans for the Centenary of Churwell Park. He had been asked to provide an appropriate colour scheme for the "livery" of the furniture and bins. As detailed last month, there would be about £90-100k spent there in time for the Gala Day in 2005. Ronnie Barraclough had produced a superb "camera-ready" copy of the Centenary Booklet and the only thing that remained to be done was to prepare a group photo of as many CAG Members as quickly as possible. We intend to do this as quickly as possible so, anyone who wants to be on this photo for posterity needs to ensure they are present at the next meeting in January, 2005. You have been asked! If anyone has any suggestions for activities on the day, please come forward with those ideas.

4)     The Remembrance Day Service on Sunday 14th November was an unqualified success.  Attendance was up by 30% on last year and the service, led by the Rev’d Mark Earey and his counterpart at Back Green Methodist Church, Jane Parker, included the blessing of the new World War Two Memorial Plaque purchased primarily by CAG Members with grants from Morley Town Council and Friends of War Memorials (London). Alison Foster laid the wreath on behalf of CAG and the Churwell Community. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Morley and their consorts, Morley Town Councillors and Leeds City Councillors were also in attendance at the service. Our thanks as always, go to The Royal British Legion for their help and Laura Glaholm for her role as bugler for the third year  running.

5)     PC Cini, due to give an update on Community Policing was not here tonight so we were unable to get that update.

6)     Cllr. Finnigan gave an update of  the progress of DPPO’s. The process had gone through the appropriate channels and the decision now rested with Inspector Pedley with whom Cllr. Finnigan was due to speak any day now. In answer to a question from the Chair, this did include areas bordering directly on to the designated areas defined within the DPPO’s, giving the Police additional powers.

7)     Acquisition of land at Primrose Walk. No news as yet from the Director of Development, Leeds City Council in a bid to secure a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to effect this project. This would take time for searches et cetera, certainly wouldn’t happen in 2004 and possibly not even in 2005. Cllr. Finnigan said that a CPO was the last resort and LCC would do this in a measured way.

8)     Parking problems of Fountain St. and William St. were still ongoing and were still under survey and review. This too, would take time.

9) Alison reported that the Youth Club project was going very well with no problems. Cllr. Whitehead said the Youth Club had just acquired their youngest member as Jayne Cullingworth had just had a baby boy, Calum last Saturday. Congratulations Jayne and Chris (and little Ted)!

10)   Cllr Whitehead too, had been instrumental in organising a public relations coup in securing the presence of Steve Thornton, Chair of West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, along with headteacher, Mel Curtis and pupils of Churwell Primary last Wednesday 24th to "cut the ribbon" at the new puffin crossing just above Westwoodside. Children were being given training on how to use the crossing, which is really "state of the art", with such things as sensors to help both pedestrian and motorists. A very positive event for Churwell and hopefully, someone from CAG would be able to flag this up in some other capacity in the not too distant future.

11)   We can also report that some elected members had put forward their proposals for re-surfacing of roads in Churwell and this involved primarily, the Harwill estate, the Croft House estate and a number of others in the area. CAG were still actively pursuing a universal 30 mph maximum limit from Millshaw to Bruntcliffe as well as a crossing for that school (though this wasn’t anything to do with Churwell).

12)   CAG were still looking for a site in the New Inn area for a new puffin crossing. The principle had been agreed, what was needed was a site. Some residents obviously didn’t want a puffin grossing outside their own house which was the main problem here. SM said the crossing needed to be either just above or just below the bus-stop outside the New Inn and he had just received an e-mail tonight from Simon Booker of METRO to discuss the issue at a site visit. SM would keep all informed as to the progress. Perhaps there could be room for some different approach with highways and METRO, who knows? Mr. Waters enlightened everyone with the definition of a pelican (pedestrian light controlled) and a puffin (pedestrian user friendly). Thank you Joe!

13)   Catherine Hartley gave a brief talk about the work of the outer south Area Committee, which was chaired by Cllr. Robert Finnigan. The Area Committee was a new team focusing on issues around the outer south area of Leeds. Areas city-wide had been split into 5 wedges, each then comprising an inner and outer wedge. Outer south served Morley North; Morley South; Ardsley & Robin Hood and Rothwell wards. The next meeting (of the 6 to be held per annum) was at Thorpe Primary School on the 13th December. At the start of each Area Committee meeting there was a 30 minute Open Forum where the public were invited to attend the Area Committee to speak on issues that were of concern to them. Certain (limited) delegated powers had been handed down to the Area Committee and issues already being looked at were pockets of deprivation within local wards. Work had already begun by the Area Management on a Profile and Priorities document that would inform and engage them in the Area Plan due in 2005. This would address and hopefully improve the quality of local decision making and give communities a voice. It had been recognised that local communities, particularly those not in the inner-city, had been forgotten. Other issues being looked at were positive diversionary activities for young people, improvement of Morley and Rothwell town centres by active town centre management, local street scene and environment. Already 9 areas had been confirmed as "priorities" in terms of deprivation including a lack of educational results and educational aspiration; health issues, such as Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) high rates of teenage pregnancies; high rates of crime and ASB and poorly maintained housing. The first 3 areas to begin to be addressed were to be John O’Gaunts (Rothwell) (because the groundwork had already been set), the Newlands & Denshaws and the Smithy Estate in Tingley (both in Morley South). There was the potential for small sums of funding up to £500 to be allocated via the "well-being" fund. SM did warn however, that the Area Committee did not have ‘pots of money’ and was more of a ‘monitoring service’ for all the other LCC departments and partnership bodies, such as the Police, the Primary Care Trust, Education Leeds, Housing, Planning, City Services, who were active city-wide.

The contact for this was the Area Management team and Catherine could be contacted

on  0113 224 3040  or via   e-mail      catherine.hartley@leeds.gov.uk

Any Other Business?

Cllr. Finnigan asked members to consider what were their views on Stanhope Hall? Could it be utilised more? Would it be possible to have an open and honest debate about having two community centres virtually across the road from each other? The issue of there being many underused centres across the city areas was being looked at and there was a chance for local people to influence any eventual outcome that may or may not come out of a review of local community centres.

Your Chair also mentioned that for those who had not paid their subscriptions - long overdue - they would get no further reminder!

A final reminder for those wanting to be on a CAG group photograph, please make sure you come to the meeting on Tuesday 25th January, 2005 where you can record yourself, in pictorial fashion, for posterity on our Centenary booklet. Please try and attend!

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9. 20 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance and wishing everyone a Happy Christmas !!

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 25th January, 2005 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

 1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed Members old and  new.

 2)   All of your Committee were present except for Cllr. Whitehead, Elizabeth Clarkson & Alison Foster whose apologies were received.  Also present was Cllr. Tom Leadley.

  3)  SM gave a précis of the meeting CAG had had with concerned parents over schools admissions. He was confident that problems encountered in Churwell and Newlands over the last two years would not occur in September, 2005. Parents had unanimously agreed that of  the 6 options available to them, which included catchment areas, feeder  schools was the best possible compromise and this would be pursued by the appropriate Councillors at a meeting with Chris Edwards of Education Leeds in November.

 4)   PC Cini and colleague gave a synopsis of Community Policing. There had been a general trend to a reduction in both burglary and vehicle crime in Churwell. Fireworks was a problem but retailers were under restrictions on selling fireworks to the public; there was a curfew from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.; it was an offence to use fireworks in a public place without a license and from 1st November, Police could issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s) if anyone was so caught. In answer to a question, there were two designated PCSO’s for Churwell, one of who was PCSO Gunn.

 5)   Cllr. Finnigan gave a precis of  the progress of the alcohol ban. It had been agreed by Police that in the interim Dispersal Orders would be used in the fight against  ASB. This was the easiest, most cost-effective mode to prosecute and although SM considered that DPPO’s were the most appropriate form of enforcement, he would see how Dispersal Orders panned out.

 6)   Cllr. Sanders had got one price for the clearing of the land at Primrose Walk and SM had approached the Director of Development, Leeds City Council in a bid to secure a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to effect this project. Project pending.

7)  SM reported that the parking problems of Fountain St. and William St. were still  ongoing..

8)   Although Alison wasn’t here to report Cllr. Sanders said the Youth Club was going well.

 9)   SM showed everyone the plans drawn up for the regeneration of Churwell Park in its Centenary Year. All in all there would be about £90-100k spent there in time for the Gala Day. Ronnie Barraclough had already produced a superb draft of the Centenary Booklet and if anyone had any suggestion for activities on the day, please come forward with those ideas. Proposals thus far had been for a Brass Band, dancing and 5-a-side football et cetera.

10)  Members were informed by Cllr. Sanders about the Remembrance Day Service on Sunday 14th November. Beginning at 9.30 as usual, the service by the Rev’d Mark Earey, would  include the blessing of the new World War Two Memorial Plaque facilitated by CAG Members who, would be invited and encouraged to attend the actual service and refreshments (tea, coffee, biscuits and sherry) afterwards with children and grand-children.  Alison Foster will lay the wreath on behalf of CAG and the Churwell Community.

11)  Parking on both William Street and Fountain Street were still being addressed by council officers and the Police.

12)  Any Other Business?

The Chair of Planning, MTC had given your Chair a copy of the plans to erect a fence between Wood View and the viaduct which corroborated Mr. Crowther’s response to Mr. Whittam at the meeting last month.

Mr. Whittam asked about access points to certain areas in New Churwell, bearing in mind the issues with travellers over this last few months.

Mr. Whittam also asked when the new diverted footpath at the New Churwell estate would be re-instated to which your Chair responded that the time limit could be extended

Marjery Kirk asked for information regarding the scenario with the availability with litter bins locally. Cllr. Sanders said the council were going through a process of replenishment and this would correct itself.

In a response to Mrs McGregor wanting to know why the Rate Office at Morley Town Hall had  closed on a particular Wednesday afternoon, SM had been given a response sent to Cllr. Finnigan which informed him that the cash office at MTH would close from August 2005.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 8. 45 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 30th November, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

All of your Committee were present except for Cllr. Whitehead & Elizabeth Clarkson, whose apologies were received.  Robert Finnigan would come from another meeting. Also present were Cllrs. Judith Elliott & Terry Grayshon.

1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members to the first public meeting after the summer break.

2)     SM showed a draft of the Centenary Booklet, which had been drawn up by Ronnie Barraclough. It was hoped that a more than significant quantity could be printed for distribution and ideas were wanted to promote a one-off Gala which could include, a brass band, games, comestibles, floral displays, local community group stalls and the like. Really, the ideas were wanted from CAG Members and the public. This is your Gala !!

3)    PC Cini and colleague gave a synopsis of Community Policing. There had been some duff information regarding quad bikes; in Old Road there had been a number of cars damaged and burglaries so please in view of the night drawing in, please light up your properties for extra security. He also explained the change in legislation (01/08/04) pertaining to fireworks which, banned their official use after 11 p.m. (excepting certain days). The decibel rating  had also changed preventing official purchase and use of certain "bombs" so prevalent in destroying litter bins et cetera.

4)    SM reported that the parking problems of Fountain St. and William St. were still ongoing and in all honesty wouldn’t be resolved this side of Christmas.

5) Cllr. Sanders had met with someone to price up the feasibility of clearing the land behind Granny Avenue known as (Old) Primrose Walk. Certainly funding would have to be procured for this. The issue of (multi-)ownership was still being looked at by Officers. A resident was still concerned about the level of tipping by persons both known and unknown and about LCC’s attitude to enforcement, which was abysmal. Many voiced opposition to the idea of the land being developed for residential. SM said it must be cleared and grassed over to be used as a community open space. Cllr. Finnigan promised to investigate this particular lack of enforcement by LCC and report back.

6)  A question mark was raised by the Police about the power of enforcement pertaining to the soon to  be published DPPO’s which would make illegal drinking in certain Designated Public Places (Orders).

7)    Alison Foster gave a briefing on the Youth Club Project. Numbers of older children had fallen but, there had been a regular attendance (and budding romances) in the11-14 year category. Excellent work had been done by the children in their "below stairs" murals. This was all their own work and they should all be proud of themselves, said Alison. 12 Members of the Churwell Youth Club had been invited by West Yorkshire Police to a weekend in Cumbria. This, she believed sent out all the right messages in bridge-building between young people and the Police. They had all enjoyed the time spent with the Police on the barge. Alison said the children were very competitive.

 8)   Alison and SM gave a résumé of this problem. Put simply, following calls by  Alison and correspondence with Chris Wrench (SM), there should not be a problem according to Education Leeds. Parents should ensure that the forms they send in should list all three Morley secondary schools. CAG would watch out for February 2005 when the (provisional) allocations were submitted to parents.

 9)  A CAG Member proposed that these meetings should every other month rather than monthly. This was unanimously regarded by all present as a negative step and the feeling should be for the status quo to remain (that is 10 meetings per annum).

10)  A poor turn-out for the Churwell Park Action Day was blamed on the summer break. Ideas were wanted for future schemes in the Park, one such being the cutting out of a bed for the 1905-2005 Centenary in the (sloped) embankment below the bowling green. Again, it was up to Members to promote ideas.

11)  Plans for an Action Day in Clark Springs Wood would have to be postponed pending the availability of Glenn Gorner, who had also put together the Tree Warden timetable for 2004-2005 (either at Red Hall or, Temple Newsam beginning this Saturday 2nd October).

12) Any Other Business?

A resident brought up the issue of the road in King George Avenue. Plans had already been put in motion to get the best possible number of road resurfacing done primarily for the next financial year (2005-2006). This would hopefully include KGA, the whole of the Harwill estate, Scatcherd Lane, Clough Street and not forgetting William Street and yes, Mountcliffe View could be looked upon too! Cllr. Finnigan would look at signposting for buses on KGA for a future meeting.

Sheena asked if anyone was aware of the fire on the Pit Hills last Saturday? The emergency services had had to break down the barrier before being granted access.

Cllr. Finnigan brandished a copy of a 88 page report commissioned by the Admission Forum regarding school provision in the Morley area. The report indicates that it will conduct a full-scale review and the community of Churwell should be proud of what it started, primarily due to Alison Foster. Cllr. Finnigan gave an overview of The Review which was proposing a number of options; 5 & 6 being the re-introduction of Catchment Areas and Feeder Schools to facilitate local children getting into local schools. This would probably not be resolved until the academic year beginning 2006. Interestingly, Cllr. Finnigan had met with headteachers in local Primary schools and rather than competing they were co-operating with each other. He felt confident that Churwell children would go to local schools.

Your Chair proposed that Alison Foster invite parents of children in years 4, 5 & 6 to a consultation meeting at CAG to discuss the best possible options for all parents, long term. Alison agreed to facilitate this meeting.

Mrs McGregor wanted to ask why the Rate Office a Morley Town Hall was closed on Wednesday afternoon. Cllr. Finnigan promised to look into this problem.

Mr. Crowther was able to assuage Mr. Whittam’s fears about development below Wood View. The stone wall had been knocked down because the owners were to erect a fence there. It was not being developed.

Finally SM gave out details of LEAP (Local Environmental Action Plan). This would be rolled out city-wide starting on 1st November utilising all the appropriate city services with Morley South and North at the top of the list.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9. 15 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for their attendance.
The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 26th October, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

All of your Committee were present except for Marjery Kirk and Robert Finnigan whose apologies were received. Apologies were also received from Cllr. Elliott.

1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members to the last public meeting before the summer break.

2)     SM announced that following the unsuccessful grant application to Awards for All, he was pleased to inform everyone that CAG had been successful with a similar grant application to Resourcing the Community for a total of £4, 700 to enable CAG  to facilitate a Centenary Booklet, a one-off Gala and other peripheral things. Joyce also mentioned the joint ‘blessing’ of the 2nd War Memorial  plaque (after installation) and the St. Peter’s Lychgate to be performed by the Rev. Mark Earey, sometime in September.

3)     Following meetings with all Morley Ward Members and Parks & Countryside staff, the potential of some refurbishment of Churwell Park was being explored to benefit the people in the community who most wanted to use the amenities, that is, parents, grandparents and children. It was the desire of the community as a whole to reclaim the parks. Friends of Churwell Park would still continue working alongside LCC staff in the park to our mutual benefit.

4)  Wenda gave news of the installation of the new road markings and a new zebra crossing (possibly around the end of the year - calendar or fiscal is not sure - ) just below School Street, which will just about complete all road safety objectives of CAG which started over two years ago. So it’s true, everything comes to those who wait! Wenda’s contact Mike Wild would be facilitating training for Churwell schoolchildren some time after the start of the new academic year.

5)  Joyce was trying to get the Community Service to "dig out" Smools Lane public footpath (between Crossland Road and Daffil Road) in an attempt to make it more user-friendly and negotiable for those wanting to use it. It had fallen victim to tipping over the years and we all wanted to clean up that area. The Community Service would be utilised to perform this task.

6)     SM reported that Ward Members had met last week (20th July) and were to meet further with Education Leeds to discuss education matters in Morley. In particular, issues about numbers and allocations regarding the New Churwell estate and how best this could be facilitated were on an agenda.

7)    Your Chair gave a brief update on the Primrose Walk fly-tipping and access and highways issues. Costings were to be ascertained for the Council to ‘adopt’ the road  and maintain the existing footpath, check on ownership rights and address fly-tipping issues from or by residents.

8)     Previously Alison Foster asked what could be done about the parking problems on Fountain Street which had raised its head again? SM said he would go to Highways, as Cllr. Finnigan had done previously, to ask them to look again at a residents permit scheme. SM had given further information regarding the number of vehicles using the area around Fountain Street and Co-op Street. This would be looked at with a little more circumspection by Highways, though SM promised it could be a long slog. Alison  asked whether Paul Markham could be invited to another  CAG  meeting to discuss this contentious issue? (SM said he would look into this) PC Cini said he would look at, and monitor the situation.

 9)    Alison reported that she had become a volunteer at Churwell Youth Club which had, since the short break, resumed with about 20-25 members, two of which were new members virtually every week. These were in the age range of 11-15 year olds. They were all good kids and were settling in nicely, even the new kid on the block, her son Joe who had had strict instructions not to call her mum!

10)   Irrespective of the Churwell Park re-furbishments, another Action Day in Churwell Park was scheduled for Saturday 25th September, 2004.

11)   SM would check with Glenn Gorner regarding Clark Spring Wood improvements about another Action Day provisionally scheduled for either 9th or 16th October.

12)   SM reported that as a representative of CAG he had spent three days at the UDP Inquiry either in front of the Inquiry Inspector or had taken part in a Round Table Session on Strategic Housing. Your Chair mentioned that the electricity supplied by the pylons on the New Churwell estate would be dismantled and disappear under ground. This would be paid for by as far as he could ascertain, by the developers Persimmon, because they had had trouble selling those specific plots under the pylons.

13)   PC Cini hadn’t much to report save for emphasising that residents should be more vigilant, lock your doors and windows and watch out for sneak thieves. Elizabeth Clarkson gave notice of a personal experience with an opportunist thief and how cool they could be when caught on the hop. She urged everyone to beware. Alison Foster asked whether the Crime Reduction Officer could be invited down to CAG to, in effect, "plug his wares". (SM would attempt to secure the services of PC Pape, MBE)

PC Cini when asked, said that, Police had the powers to confiscate the merchandise of under-age drinkers and the same powers were held in the office of PCSO’s.

Any Other Business?

Mavis Wilks asked about the replacement fencing on the boundary of Harwill Playing Field. SM said that the netting was there and just waiting to be fitted, any time now.

Mr. Whittam requested that thanks be apportioned to Cllr. Finnigan for his securing the repair of the wall on the eastern boundary of Elland Road just above the viaduct.

Ascott House is still ‘work in progress’ being pursued by Cllr. Finnigan.

Mrs McGregor gave details regarding the closing of the dress-shop "Jean-Annes" on Queen Street, due to exorbitant rent and rates. SM mentioned the potential of rate reductions available to those retailers under a certain rateable value which he believed was £8k.

(SM rang the lady on 29th and corrects this to be the rent being too high not the rates. She is still closing.)

Wenda asked if anyone was experiencing problems with the new Post Office accounts? Your Chair replied with the fact that despite all the obstacle being put in the way, he was proud to say he’d got his first payment this week!

Concerns were raised by Mr. Whittam about the Pubic Footpath and Persimmon Homes. Your Chair said that the developer was within their rights to do as they thought fit because of the legal agreement with LCC.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9.05p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming and wishing everyone an enjoyable summer..

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 28th September, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

All of your Committee were present except for Robert Finnigan whose apologies were received. He was attending Gildersome Parish Council as an observer. Also present were Cllrs. Judith Elliott & Terry Grayshon.

Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members and introduced PC’s Cini and Finn from Morley Community Police and Vicky Nunns, Parks & Countryside Technical Officer, from Leeds City Council who gave a précis of her role. She operated an area covering Tingley to Wortley and was here tonight in an attempt to liaise with CAG and The Friends of Churwell Park, all of whom had worked so hard in the park recently. Vicky showed everyone plans of some of that liaison giving examples of schemes such as fencing for a multi-games area costing around £20-25k with other schemes such as removing a proportion of the grass and erecting fencing for the bottom of Churwell Park along with 3 valleys gates. This would negate access for the majority of unwanted vehicles but allow access for the disabled and prams et cetera. In total there were so far, a number of options on the table costing from £38k- £43k. Any re-surfacing of games areas would be in the region of £10-15k. Bins would also play a part in the scheme as could the removal of the incongruous concrete planters in the middle of the bottom portion. The steps by the tennis courts too, would be taken out and that area re-landscaped to a lower level. Vicky also mentioned that discussions would soon be taking place with Ward Members (councillors) over the regeneration of all Morley parks including Churwell Park and how best this could be facilitated. All monies would come from external sources as had happened at Cross Flatts Park (in Beeston).

Cllr. Whitehead asked Vicky about all the hard work done by FoCP over a number of weekends that sadly had been negated by a lack of co-operation from Parks & Countryside staff. This related to the killing of weeds and grass in the areas of footpath cleared by FoCP. Cllr. Whitehead also mentioned the inappropriate equipment in the toddlers play area. Jayne Cullingworth and Mrs Vranic also indicated the quality and breadth of equipment at Rothwell and Temple Newsam Park respectively. Vicky said that major issue with travellers had been the main reason for this so she did understand the frustrations of all those who had worked so hard in the park.

PC Cini introduced himself and his colleague, PC Finn. He, along with the resident trainees under his wing and the two PCSO’s would be patrolling Churwell and Cottingley on a regular basis. Sheena asked what could be done about the anti-social behaviour in Churwell Park involving a number of young people drinking at will in the park and intimidating the majority of people who wanted to use it for the benefit of their children, grandchildren or themselves. Julie Watson was extremely concerned about the number of children and adults (!) riding along the footpath adjacent to Hepworth Avenue/Crescent and was worried that a child, possibly hers, would get killed. She also intimated that she had always been "palmed off" by the Police. PC Cini asked residents to be vigilant and requested that for those riders who came in vans that residents take down the registration number and pass it on to anyone at Morley Police Station or log it with the Community Police on 0113 238 2035. Keep a diary or log book too, if possible. It was suggested that bollards be located at ingress/egress points to negate this if possible and Vicky said this was something that could be ‘fed in’ to the overall scheme.

Your Chair informed Members that Mr. Ali had asked a number of youths to come and view the CCTV footage which he knew to contain the exploits of these same youths vandalising Churwell War Memorial Gardens. Happily, these same youths tidied up their mess and this behaviour has ceased, up to press. Well done Mr. Ali! Mrs Naylor said there had been some ASB of late around Back Green Methodist Church and could this be fed to the patrol teams?

SM said that all these aspects of community safety could be addressed within the remit of the new Area Committee (comprising four wards - Morley North & South, Ardsley & Robin Hood and the Rothwell Wards) coming to fruition in September of this year. He was quite certain that all Morley Ward Members would be vigorously pursuing this theme.
Elizabeth Clarkson indicated that Morley suffered from a disproportionate level of funding primarily because of the demands of Parks & Countryside staff with regard to the travelling fraternity. She went on to say that we suffered the "double whammy" of suffering the effects of travellers upon the community and the deleterious level of service that evolved from the clearing up of detritus left by travellers. Vicky agreed and said that the Chief Recreation Officer considered this annual problem unacceptable and had demanded action on this matter.

Cllr. Grayshon said that his family knew many "travellers" but the ones who had appeared over this last few years were not Romany but "travellers"  hell bent on ASB. He added that the Romany race was a true ethnic minority designated under the Human Rights Act (2000) and had a Liaison Officer at Leeds City Council but, where was the Liaison Officer for the ethnic majority? Did they not deserve too, a similar service? He went on further to say that the number of calls he had received recently complaining about the awful behaviour of these so called "travellers" was unacceptable and was adamant that the area in Tingley would not suffer again from this problem. He concluded that this was not due to a lack of will by Parks & Countryside staff.

Jayne Cullingworth looked at the issue of community involvement and said surely the more people do, the less there is to do for such staff? SM said that of late, anyone walking through Scatcherd Park would be seeing the positive effects of having a member of Parks & Countryside staff dedicated to that park and James was the person responsible for this improvement. He also said that he could not see any reason why this could not happen in Churwell Park too though perhaps this would only warrant two, possibly three, man days per week. Certainly this was something to pursue and once more would give a high profile presence of Parks & Countryside staff in the park.

Mr. Whittam said that the removal of soil from the New Churwell estate was helping to mound Adwalton Moor from travellers.

Lew Beever asked if something could be done about the "jungle" of vegetation around the Harwill estate. (SM said he would look at this).

Sheena said she was glad to see the safety cameras in place but could the vegetation be cut back so as not to obscure them from motorists? A number of Members indicated that had taken place already.

Alison Foster asked what could be done about the parking problems on Fountain Street which had raised its head again? SM said he would go to Highways, as Cllr. Finnigan had done previously, to ask them to look again at a residents permit scheme.

Your Chair said that the puffin crossing "went live" on Friday the 18th June.

Elizabeth Clarkson asked whether there was a facility for mobile needle exchange at Morley Sports Centre? Had there been an increase in drug traffic? She had been shocked to find drug dealers operating in broad daylight at tea-time outside the Ingle’s fish-shop. Needles found around the area of Morley Bottoms were becoming commonplace and she found this both shocking and unacceptable. PC Cini said that going by the description the drugs at the Ingle’s fish-shop was cannabis and although the general public thought it had been decriminalised, it was still an offence to be caught dealing or using in public. The needles were from heroin addicts and yes, there was an exchange facility at the Sports Centre.
SM said there was a Drugs Action Team (DAT) which had been actively promoted of late and the resources ought to be rolling out to Morley and the sooner the better.

Cllr. Elliott said that she, along with other Ward Members, had attended an induction meeting of late and as a consequence of discussions would be meeting a Mr. McKay from the Development Department tomorrow to discuss the long term decline of Morley Bottoms and she too, (like Cllr. Grayshon with "travellers") was not prepared to accept this situation anymore. The regeneration would happen. She and Cllr. Sanders had conducted a survey now in the public domain and she was aware that Morley Bottoms was the first thing everyone, including visitors to Morley, saw on their way to the town centre.

Jayne Cullingworth wanted Members to know that 12 Members of the Churwell Youth Club had been invited by West Yorkshire Police to a weekend in Cumbria. This, she believed sent out all the right messages in bridge-building between young people and the Police. SM asked whether the inclination to veer towards a twice weekly Youth Club was still a possibility? Jayne replied that because of staff shortages forced upon them by staff holidays, the Youth Club had been forced to close for the last two weeks. She had had no back-up from Youth Services and could not possibly run it on her own. She was happy to say however, that it would be business as usual tomorrow (Wednesday 30th ).

PC Cini asked all residents to be vigilant regarding the spate of garden shed "break-ins" in Churwell and bar locks could now be fitted for about £15  and information could be procured from Morley Police Station.

Any Other Business? No.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9. 00 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be a Public Meeting on Tuesday 27th July, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
  and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

Cllr. Joe Tetley                                        Chair & Morley Town Councillor
Elizabeth Clarkson                                   vice-Chair
Cllr. Joyce Sanders                                  Treasurer & Morley Town Councillor
Cllr. Wenda Whitehead                            C.C. Ass. & Morley Town Councillor
Stewart McArdle                                       Secretary
Cllr. Robert Finnigan                                Morley Town Councillor & L.C. Cllr.
Alison Foster

1)  Apologies. There were no apologies.

2) Your Chair read out his second, annual report which will be published on the web-site www.churwellactiongroup.org.uk some time within the week and will be distributed to all Members before the next Public Meeting to be held on Tuesday, 29th June, 2004.

 Your Treasurer read out the Income & Expenditure Account for the year ending  May, 2004 and left copies at the table for inspection by Members.

3)  As per the procedure under The Constitution, The Committee then ‘stood down’ to allow Mr. Terry Elliott, J. P., to begin the procedure for the election of new Officers and Committee Members for the period 2004-2005.

4)  Nominations for Officers coming from the floor were as follows:

Chair                                                                    Cllr. Joe Tetley
vice-Chair                                                             Elizabeth Clarkson
Treasurer                                                             Cllr. Joyce Sanders
Representative of Churwell Community. Ass.      Cllr. Wenda Whitehead
Secretary                                                              Stewart McArdle

There were also three nominations for election to the Committee. These were;

Cllr. Robert Finnigan
Alison Foster
Margery Kirk

There were no other nominations therefore, Mr. Elliott duly declared that the eight positions had been filled and were duly elected to serve for a period of one year.

5)  Mrs Higo came to the meeting to discuss technical, physical and legal issues regarding access, public footpaths, adopted and un-adopted roads and illegal tipping on Primrose Walk (near Hardy Avenue). This had raised its head on a number of occasions lately with certain negative implications. The general consensus was that Cllr. Finnigan would explore the legal and technical minefield that the history of the area deserved to the general satisfaction of all beneficiaries and that a site visit would be arranged (via Cllr. Finnigan) in an attempt to resolve any outstanding issues.

6)  Cllr Finnigan wanted everyone to know that in lieu of the issues regarding attendances on Tuesday’s, he wanted everyone to know that, if requested by CAG, the monthly meetings could move to Stanhope Hall on Wednesday’s, if consensus allowed. Lew Beevers said he felt that CAG had become a victim of its own success.

7)   Issues such as Highways maintenance were to the fore tonight. Sheena Stevens discussed the difficult issues with potholes on Mountcliffe View. Mr. Whittam  discussed the refurbishments on Old Road which would be enacted as part of the ‘New Churwell’ development. SM said that there was a major issue regarding the distribution of the budget in many areas such as Parks & Countryside and Highways which received a mere £50 million pounds per annum over the last few years and this was clearly not enough to service the roads in the whole Leeds City Council area. Cllr. Finnigan discussed the issues of developers, the tendering service and ‘best value’. Mr. Elliott said that he had concerns as a tax-payer, about pricing, contracting and ‘best value’. Just where was the supervision and checking of works as in the old-style ‘Clerk of Works’, asked Mrs Naylor? Cllr. Finnigan supplemented this with similar issues regarding scrutiny and monitoring and demarcation. Mr. Sykes said he found it astonishing that a 5% retention on all council contracts wasn’t in situ as ‘normal’, ‘best practice’ which was what most contractors in the private sector had to contend with. This should be in place as a matter of course. Cllr. Whitehead found the problem with demarcation baffling. Speaking as a volunteer, this should not be an issue, if the job could be done, it should be done by whoever is there on the day.

8)    Mr. Ellis asked what had happened with the house by the viaduct which had major Health & Safety aspects to it in its present condition? Cllr. Finnigan said he had started the investigation but progress was slow. He would give the appropriate people a reminder.

9)    Mr Whittam queried a road by the ‘New Churwell’ estate which appeared to be going nowhere. Had it anything to do with a car park or Cottingley (train) Station? Cllr. Tetley  agreed to investigate.

10)   Alison Foster brought up the issue of ‘joy riders’ driving untaxed cars around William Street and Hepworth Avenue areas. She felt sure it would end in tragedy. Cllr. Finnigan said he would speak to Inspector Pedley about this matter and report back to the Members.

There being no further business, your Chair closed the meeting at 8.55 p.m. and thanked all Members for their attendance. He concluded with a plea for those Members who didn’t normally attend these meetings to please, make an effort and attend. We do welcome both the support and the attendance of ALL Members and the more the merrier. Please do try and attend.

The next committee meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 8th June, 2004 beginning at 7.30 p.m.

The next public meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 29th June, 2004 beginning at 7.30 p.m. All welcome.

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

A message from your Chair, Joe Tetley.

Dear fellow Member,

This has been quite a momentous ‘year’ both as Chair of Churwell Action Group and in another capacity, as Mayor of Morley. This came as a complete and utter shock to me when suggested by my ‘other’ colleagues last year but, nevertheless, a task that I and my wife Maisie have enjoyed immensely.

I am very proud of the honour bestowed upon me to follow the term of office of another Churwell Action Group Member, Cllr. Judith Elliott, who had such a successful year of office in 2002-2003 and I hope, along with Maisie, that we have acquitted ourselves as well in 2003-2004.

However, on to more important matters :

At the end of our second year of ‘action’ we have now in place the safety cameras for which we have campaigned both long and hard and similarly, the new pedestrian crossing situated just above the school entrance off Westwoodside. We have prevented the farce of the last academic year, where Churwell children were excluded from Morley schools and two other major highlights have been the successful Youth Club project and the "Friends of Churwell Park". And, I might add, that all of this has been done strictly by a band of volunteers!

I have been proud, along with my fellow Committee Members and Officers, to have worked in our Community over 2003-2004 and thus far we have campaigned  successfully for :

· Safety cameras in Churwell are now, in situ and will be operational shortly.

· The pedestrian crossing too, is now in situ and will be operational shortly.

· The above road safety measures, which we were told could not be facilitated two years ago, may now not just slow all the traffic down, but may also deter motorists and just as importantly, heavy goods traffic from actually using the road.

· A universal 30 mph speed limit on the A643 is still being looked at by Highways.

· It would appear that our ‘Morley Schools for Morley children’ campaign of 2003 was so successful that, despite primary evidence from an Education Leeds spokesman in October, 2003 where "Churwell would have more of the same problems for 2004", every child in Churwell was allocated a Morley high school or Churwell Primary in March of 2004. Strange that, don’t you think?

· As a matter of course, we must single out Cllr. Finnigan and Alison Foster for their incredibly hard work to secure a ‘worry-free’ summer for children and parents.

  (The sad ‘twist’ or ‘sting  in the tale’, is that a similar problem has occurred at Morley Newlands school. We sincerely hope that there is a similar and successful outcome for them too.)

· Your Committee Member Jayne Cullingworth has done such a wonderful job in creating a new and very successful Youth Club held every Wednesday in this very room. This has been something that almost all the children and many adults have wanted in Churwell for a very long time and it has been such a positive indicator for Churwell and again we give due recognition to Jayne and her colleagues for all their hard work. A mention too for the children attending, who have ‘proved’ themselves.

·  "The Friends of Churwell Park" has had a number of ‘action days’ and Churwell Park is now beginning to receive an improved level of maintenance both from volunteers and Parks & Countryside. There have been many positive comments from residents in the locale and we applaud the efforts of Josie Fletcher, Julie Watson, Karen Rodley, Margery Kirk, Madge Callery, Dawn and Billy Commons, Lynne Bedford and little Joe and Emily Bedford and all the other children who have assisted. Not forgetting too, your local ward councillors and any volunteers I may have omitted!

· Discussions are now on-going to source various tranches of funding to enable refurbishment or enhancements to certain aspects of Churwell Park in order to celebrate its Centenary next year in 2005. It is hoped there will a Gala Day on or about, the weekend closest to the original opening day.

· Churwell Park is one of only two parks in the whole Leeds metropolitan area to have any lighting but, Churwell Action Group has facilitated improved lighting comprising; another new unit (at the Hepworth Avenue end of the main thoroughfare) and the re-location of one of the old units to ensure an even distribution of light and therefore making it safer for the Churwell Community.

· Volunteers took on the task of re-painting the War Memorial Gardens (which took about a week) and vegetation was cut back in order to tidy the gardens up for the second Remembrance Day service in 2003. Because of our endeavours, seats have been refurbished and new winter and spring planting has been completed by Parks and Countryside.

· We have commissioned a further 2nd plaque for the inside of the gardens, which pay tribute, at long last, to those 11 Churwell men who gave the ultimate sacrifice in World War Two. This should be in situ on, or about, July or August and has been helped by at least one grant from (the London-based) Friends of War Memorials. Our thanks go to Cllr. Derek Bradley for his help and support. Recently, via Cllrs. Finnigan and Sanders, we have facilitated the siting of a bin just outside the gate. We hope everyone will use it!

· As part of the 25 year Management Plan by Churwell Action Group, Clark Springs Wood has been ‘fell-cooped’ (which is the process of cutting down old or inferior trees to ensure re-generation of new trees) on a small scale and all the debris (the brash) was laid out in a long line to encourage wild-life, bio-diversity and to give winter homes to some of that wild-life, thereby preparing everything for the winter ‘die-back’. Litter-picking was also undertaken and a few sessions of formative pruning have taken place performed by Leeds City Council staff.

· The ban on drinking in public places which is now with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was initiated via the floor of Churwell Action Group. "Imagine that, Churwell to Parliament !"  (as Wenda said).

· We have been pro-active in raising the fears and concerns of the Community regarding drink and drugs and related Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) going on in two specific areas of Churwell and Officers and members have not only attended Police Forums but, some Officers have also been invited to briefings with the new Operational Commander at City & Holbeck Division.

· Being part of a Morley-wide campaign to have Laneside (along with 7 other sites in Morley), returned to green-belt status from PAS (Protected Area of Search).

· Input by Officers and Committee into the Revised Unitary Development Plan (RUDP) and likely appearance at the Public Enquiry to be held starting the 6th July, 2003 at the Civic Hall.

I mentioned in last year’s annual report that our successes would not have been possible without the continued support of a committed bunch of about 50 Members who have regularly attended our Public Meetings and I and my fellow Officers and Committee pay wholesome tribute to every one of them again. Furthermore, I will place on record that it is their support that has made our success what it is and they are all a credit to our Community.

What has been further rewarding is that the blue print of Churwell Action Group that we drew up in 2002 with the formation of this collective has not only resulted in the setting up of similar groups in other Districts of Morley but, in Drighlington and Gildersome has led to the natural succession to their own Parish Councils, elections of which are on 10th June. We wish both councils every success in their endeavours.

We once again pay a fulsome tribute and place on record, our thanks to Morley Town Councillors, Cllrs. Judith Elliott, Joyce Sanders, Wenda Whitehead, A.N. Other Churwell councillor and fellow Morley Town and Leeds City Councillors, Cllrs. Leadley and Finnigan and their wonderfully hard-working colleague, Lisa Drake for their unstinting work in the endeavours of Churwell Action Group and the wider Community.

I conclude this 2nd Annual Report to thank the Churwell community for their continued support as a collective. May we continue all of us, to stay together as a community!

Sincerely

Joe Tetley

Chair, Churwell Action Group

Six of your Committee were present and apologies were received from  Alison Foster, Cllrs. Whitehead,
Elliott & Leadley).

1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members. He asked Members present to stand and that a minute’s silence be observed in memory and respect of Peter Whitehead who had passed away on Sunday morning. He felt confident that he spoke for everyone in saying that all our thoughts were with Wenda and her family. Peter’s funeral would be held at St. Peter’s Church on Friday 30th April starting 11.45 a.m.

2)  Updates on the following were given:

In response to a query from the last meeting Cllr. Finnigan said that after a protracted discussion with Highways, LCC it had been agreed that the maximum permitted speed limit could be painted on the road and this would be fitted in with the rest of the A643 programme, so yes, it could be done.

Regarding Primrose Walk. Both Wenda & Joyce had met with Ian Oxley from Leeds City Council and it was hoped to resolve this specific problem with a clearance of the footpath and to ascertain ownership of the land via a search of the land register. The land being in "multiple ownership" would complicate matters. Joyce said there were two options; one, to develop; two, to landscape. Diane Nelson said surely CAG couldn’t countenance the former and Mark Nelson was quite adamant that a lot of the ‘fly-tipping’ was being perpetrated by those residents who were actually complaining of the eyesore. Cllr. Finnigan said that this problem was happening in Gildersome and Drighlington too and he was trying to enforce prosecution. If anyone had any names, he was more than prepared to ensure this ‘marker’ was thrown down to those offenders.

Joyce also said that residents around the Harwill Playing field were also tipping grass-cuttings  which was disgraceful in a public amenity used by local children for games. Those residents on Harwill Avenue, Road, Grove & Croft would shortly be receiving letters warning them of the consequences.

Lighting in Churwell Park. The relocated unit  was "lit but, leaning". It would appear that children had ‘forced’ the change of angle but, it had been reported and hopefully would be resolved soon. On a ‘lighter’ note, your Chair said that the unit  was much brighter than all the rest. (It obviously puts them all in the shade too !)

Re-introduction of catchment areas. Cllr. Finnigan said that it was on record from David Miliband that these were a legal entity and were a matter solely for the local authority. It was simply a matter of fact that local politicians did have the wherewithal to change this system - which victimises our local children in favour of those from the Kirklees area - but did not appear to have the political will to do so.

No progress, as yet with the footpaths clearance by the Community Service. Still ‘work in progress’.

With respect to the UDP, both Cllr. Leadley and SM went yesterday to the UDP pre-inquiry meeting where the programme was analysed in great detail. This begins in July and was scheduled to conclude with suitable adjournments by December, 2004 and we would be attending when necessary or invited.

3)  Churwell Park Centenary 2005.  A very big thanks to all the 20 people who turned up on 17th  April. Once again, a great deal of progress was made. So far, I estimate some 250 hours have been spent in Churwell Park simply cutting down a drugs den, the laurels (both by the top tennis court) and cutting the grass back to the borders of the footpath. It should only (!) take approximately another 750 hours to complete phase one of the tidy-up. Cllr. Finnigan said that it was clear that those groups such as CAG who were interested in building partnerships with them were getting active support. Look at CAG and Morley in Bloom who had both worked well with staff from Parks & Countryside. Parks & Countryside were the ‘poor relatives’ along with Highways and the ‘quality of life’ issues with which they were involved, warranted a ‘sea-change’ in the funding or budget structures of Leeds City Council  and this could only be done by being extremely vocal and being on the inside.

4)  At our last meeting if you remember, Josie Fletcher and Lynne Bedford of Friends of Churwell Park presented plans for the centenary in 2005 of Churwell Park.. SM met with Vicky Nunns and Jane Cash on 20th April to discuss the ideas of the Friends of Churwell Park. SM has, so far, filled in (almost) five application forms for the Centenary event and is now waiting for Jane and Vicky to supply costings for certain structural changes to the layout of the park to enable him to put in two major grant applications. Two other ‘minor’ application forms for the gala event had already gone in and SM had already  procured a £500 grant from LCC for bins to be installed in Churwell Park and you could be sure, would be linked in with the Centenary theme and scheme. SM was also pleased to announce that he had been offered the concrete garage located within the bowling club compound for CAG and had accepted this offer provisionally on behalf of Friends of Churwell Park/CAG  as it had been confirmed the toilet block was due to be demolished because of (a) Leeds City Council policy. Issues such as a footpath extension around the periphery of the park, a five-a-side football pitch to be utilised from one of the old tennis courts, picnic areas and other matters were discussed along with fencing, gating, notice-boards and bins.

5) Your Chair announced that the physical installation of the Puffin crossing had been effected by 23rd April and is due shortly to be connected electrically.

Your Chair also announced that the programme for conclusion of the Safety cameras installation is as follows -

Week commencing 12th April, 2004 - Electricity connected

Week commencing 26th April, 2004 - Erecting of poles

Week commencing 3rd May, 2004  -  Commissioning of cameras.

6) War Memorial Gardens. SM had finally managed to get hold of the contractor commissioned to clean up the original 1914-1918 plaque. The contractor had promised to do it sooner than later (I hope May rather than later!) Your Chair paid due tribute to Cllr. Derek Bradley who had been instrumental in CAG applying  for a grant from Friends of War Memorial for the second plaque. This had been successful and would fund 25% of the cost of the second plaque with the names of soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in World War Two. Your Chair concluded with the shameful and disgraceful act by persons unknown who were throwing their empty beer cans and bottles into the gardens. Obviously, the bottles were being smashed and it was only thanks to the efforts of Joyce and Wenda that the gardens were being kept tidy. It was a great pity these people didn’t have the decency to use the bin located outside the War Memorial gardens.

7)  Your Chair announced that the AGM had come around once more and Members were invited both to attend this on Tuesday, 25th May at 7.30 p.m. and  to put themselves up for election too! M.T.Elliott, J.P. would adjudicate as last year, and would follow the same procedure for election. Your Chair was also looking at the potential for another anniversary party too!

8)  Any Other Business?

Sheila Crowther asked if anyone had any news of the planning application for the site of Woolbro distributors on Victoria Road? Cllrs Finnigan and Tetley said that they had no knowledge of this so far but, it would come up before Morley Town Council’s planning committee shortly, they were sure and like all applications would be scrutinised, carefully but, fairly.
Dave Ellis asked about the ‘white house’ below the viaduct and what was happening with it? Jayne Cullingworth felt sure it had been sold. Cllr. Finnigan said that this was technically in Beeston but, would check it out and report back. Dave Ellis stated that this eyesore was the first thing that came into view as one entered Churwell and was not very pleasing on the eye to anyone.

Jayne Cullingworth said that following discussions with Cllr. Finnigan over Youth Services and funding issues, she was pleased to announce that £500 had been awarded and would be putting into the account of Churwell Community Association for the year’s rent for the Churwell Youth Club Project. Thanks to Cllr. Finnigan for his efforts.

Elizabeth Clarkson enquired about Ascott Motors and their apparent breach of planning regulations? The company had been refused permission to operate as a car dealer/showroom but, was quite patently, doing so. Cllr. Bradley said he would attempt to acquire some photographs showing the traffic snarl-ups that this breach was causing and furnish Cllr. Finnigan with this evidence as a way of enforcing the law.

A resident of Back Green asked for help in attempting to rid that area of an Anti-Social element who had plagued his family and other residents for eight months. He had called the Police and indeed had to go to discuss another incident with them. When the resident returned, Cllr. Finnigan said that if he gave him the appropriate information he would feed this through to Inspector Pedley in an attempt to resolve this awful scenario satisfactorily. Issues around the long-standing problem of (allegedly) selling alcohol to minors should be resolved. Neighbours were fearful of reprisals and were reluctant to get involved.

John Wilks asked what CAG could do to help this resident? Your Chair said that this specific issue had only really just come to light recently but like the problem of fly-tipping on Hardy Avenue, we and the appropriate bodies would be pursuing this with some vigour.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 8.55 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 25th May, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. All Members would be eligible for election to the committee and it was hoped that they would come forward.

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

Five of your Committee were present and apologies were received from Alison Foster, whose mother was indisposed, Elizabeth Clarkson (and Cllr. Elliott).

1)  Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members and explained that our designated speaker Janine McHugh, Anti-Social Behaviour Unit, Leeds City Council had not been able to attend for "technical reasons" but, wanted to come back in May when she would explain more fully the new ASB legislation.

2)  Updates on the following were given:

Drinks ban - Cllr. Leadley informed Members that this is still with the Legal Services and an official response was expected shortly.

Funding applications for Clark Spring Wood to the value of around £17k via Woodlands improvements grant et cetera were in the pipeline. There was a shortfall of about £15k to find but, CAG were confident the remainder could be found over the next year.

Morley Schools for Morley children campaign - Wenda confirmed that all the children who had sought a place at Morley High School and had been allocated Bruntcliffe had, because of ‘pupil movement’ been re-allocated Morley High. SM asked about the one family who had been allocated Matthew Murray? Cllr Finnigan confirmed that this was an administrative error on the part of Education Leeds. Further to this, Dawn Commons confirmed that this specific problem had been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties and thanked Cllr. Finnigan and Alison Foster for all their help in giving her and all Churwell parents a ‘hassle-free’ summer. She could not, genuinely, express sufficiently her gratitude. SM said that he felt sorry for the 17 children at Newlands primary school who did not appear to have any support from their city councillors. Fortunately, we had Cllrs. Finnigan and Leadley and Alison Foster.

There followed a good debate around the general theme of development and the educational placement of children in Morley schools. Cllr. Finnigan re-iterated that only because the Churwell community was extremely vocal in its arguments had the battle been successful. Moreover, the issue of catchment areas would be brought back to full (Leeds City) council in June at the earliest opportunity and this would, in the long run, assist the children of Kirklees in driving up educational standards in their own communities.
Your Chair opined that Kirklees children accounted for one third of all places at Bruntcliffe and when questioned if there was need for a news secondary school in Morley, Cllr. Finnigan said the current demographics excluded this unless, continued development exacerbated this problem.

One fact that may be of interest is that, a Batley-based Kirklees councillor had contacted Cllr. Finnigan to ask if he had any influence in getting his own son into Woodkirk High school. Needless to say, Cllr. Finnigan was most unhelpful.

The footpath at the back of the working men’s club, Primrose Walk was discussed. It appears that it may be being used for drugs or, drug-dealing involving a motorbike and SM said that he would be meeting with an officer from Leeds City Council this week to try and resolve this specific problem. Lew Beever said that what was needed was the new Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) to be patrolling this area. Cllr. Finnigan said he would speak to Inspector Pedley regarding this area and asked anyone to come forward to him or CAG with names whereupon this could be dealt with in a pro-active manner. SM said that, a starting point would be to have the area cleared and therefore more open and ‘user-friendly’.

Lighting in Churwell Park.- Your Chair said this had not been a resounding success so far for Leeds City Council but, it was work in progress and eventually the job would be completed.

Josie Fletcher and Lynne Bedford of Friends of Churwell Park presented a synopsis of the plans for the centenary in 2005 of Churwell Park. Brief details are that, the location of the teenage shelter is most certainly a sensitive one! There was a need for the refurbishment of the toilet block in the park and an extension of the pavilion in some capacity to cater for all user-ages. Issues such as a footpath extension around the periphery of the park, a five-a-side football pitch to be utilised from one of the old tennis courts, picnic areas and other such matters were welcomed. SM would arrange to meet with an officer from LCC to get some costings. Cllr. Finnigan said that he would approach the developers of the ‘new Churwell’ estate to see if they would divert their tarmac-laying resources for a day or two to facilitate the refurbishment of the tarmac footpaths in Churwell Park. Both Josie and Lynne said that they would be organising  another ‘Action Day’ in the park for Saturday 17th April. Everyone was welcome, just bring some lawn-edging tools, spades, rakes and brushes. FoCP want to smarten up the park. CAG are grateful to all the FoCP for their efforts, specifically on 6th March. Everyone deserves praise for their work but, a special mention for Billy and Dawn Commons for spending four hours cutting down the laurels by the tennis courts. Thanks to all those who helped in taking back the park for their community!

Joyce and Wenda said that in their weekly clear-up of both Churwell Park and the War Memorial Gardens, they had been pleasantly surprised to find a newly-installed bin by the latter. It was hoped that everyone would keep this area a little more tidier and our thanks are extended to Cllr. Finnigan for facilitating this.

Joyce further informed us all that CAG had been given a £200 award from Friends of War Memorials (London) to assist with the purchase of a 2nd plaque depicting the names of those World War Two soldiers who lost their lives in the 1939-1945 conflict. This would be sited on the inside of the gardens and hopefully ready in about July or August for the Remembrance Day service in November, 2004. Steps were still being pursued to clean up the 1914-1918 plaque.

Work on the pedestrian crossing had begun on the 15th March and the contractors were almost half-way through the task. The contractors were concerned enough about the speed and volume of traffic to contact Highways to request that a crossing-person be allocated for this spot and Wenda was able to confirm this ‘floating’ crossing-person would be in situ until this contract was completed.

SM mentioned that a plot of land behind the Japa/Barratt estate had for some time been an eyesore and due to the engagement of Cllrs. Leadley and Finnigan via one of their constituents, it had now been ascertained and confirmed that the land would now be developed as ‘open green-space’ for the benefit of the Churwell community. This would however, take some time.

At the last Police Forum held at Blackgates school, Churwell had been very well represented.

3)  Any Other Business?

Lew Beever, regarding a specific query about speed cameras, asked about the long term future of speed cameras.

Margery Kirk wanted to thank Wenda, Joyce and Cllr. Finnigan for their involvement in satisfactorily resolving a local eyesore pertaining to fly-tipping on Park Street.

Sheena mentioned the UDP Review. Cllr. Leadley explained that anyone could actually nominate a representative and this would be welcomed by both the council and inspector to present the case on behalf of all parties concerned with specific issues. The most contentious was the ‘pit-hills’ which he believed should be re-designated ‘ (future) open green-space’ whereas the council consider it to be ‘unallocated’ which is not the most efficacious solution he said. SM added that at this stage the developers would be wanting to put in their ‘two-penn’orth’ in an attempt to persuade the inspector that his decision should be with them, the developer, as opposed to the side of common sense, that is, the council and the community.

John Wilks expressed surprise that this was still ongoing after all this time and was unaware that Laneside had been taken from Greenbelt and into PAS (protected area of search).

Lew Beevers asked why the maximum permitted speed limit couldn’t be painted on the road and questioned whether or not this was illegal, as he had been informed.

Mr. Whittam mentioned three items, that of speed cameras - there should be ten housings and four cameras - which would be installed shortly. Old Road speeding - would be tempered eventually by new traffic-calming measure as a part of the s106 agreement between the council and the developer and the wall between Clarkson Terrace and the viaduct, which was in some state of disrepair.

Cllr. Finnigan said that, following his representation to BT , the phone box on William Street would be having Perspex installed in place of glass in the phone box this week.

Cllr. Finnigan also said that he and Cllr. Leadley had made further representations to the Post Office in an attempt to furnish Churwell sub-Post Office with the wherewithal to facilitate the purchase of motor vehicle registration. This project had been turned down but they would pursue the matter further and report back on any progress, if successful. This would be a boon to Churwell sub-Post Office.

 Your Chair mentioned that a few Churwell Action Group Members had been physically active over the last few days and weeks working with other volunteers to regenerate some civic pride into Morley by improving the floral displays in the town centre. Judging day was tomorrow, the 31st and it was hoped that Morley in Bloom would do better than last year. Concerns about litter were brought up and Cllr. Finnigan believed that fixed penalty notices (FPN’s) from litter enforcement wardens were far more effective than polite letters and this could be facilitated via he and Cllr. Leadley, as ward councillors. Both were looking at some operating in Morley in the near future. There was a role for Street Services, Parks and Countryside, ward councillors and the general public, who were often guilty of dropping litter but, were often the first to complain too, about the state of the area.

Finally, your Chair, who at present, is  Morley’s First Citizen gave a précis of the role that he and Mrs Tetley had played in the town’s civic affairs over the last year. He said he had felt very privileged to have been Mayor of Morley and he thanked all his fellow town councillors for their confidence placed in him.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9  p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Tuesday 27th  April, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. Details of any speaker(s) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

All the Committee were present excepting an apology from Alison Foster whose mother was indisposed (and Cllrs. Elliott & Leadley).

1) Your Chair (Cllr. Tetley) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members.

2) Updates on the following were given:

Drinks ban - Cllr. Finnigan informed Members that this is now with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and a response was expected shortly.

Morley Schools for Morley children campaign - Cllr. Finnigan said that he had called Chris Wrench, Education Leeds who confirmed to him that in the intake for September 2004, all "preferenced" Morley secondary school children would be guaranteed a place in at a school in Morley and all first and second preferenced children in Churwell would be guaranteed a place at Churwell Primary. In fact all "preferenced" Morley school children would be guaranteed a place in at a school in Morley per se.

Youth Club - Jayne Cullingworth informed Members that regarding the Youth Club Project, numbers had held steady at about 35-40 children. For anyone interested there was a recruitment fair for youth workers on 9th March, at South Leeds Stadium (Dewsbury Road). Madge Callery said her granddaughter attended the Youth Club and was enjoying it. There was pressure for another evening to be added but, that would mean more man-power resources, something that Leeds City Council did not have at present, hence the recruitment fair.

Churwell Memorial,  new 2nd plaque -  Joyce informed all that CAG had been given planning permission to proceed with the purchase of a 2nd plaque depicting the names of those World War Two soldiers who lost their lives in the 1939-1945 conflict. This would be sited on the inside of the gardens and hopefully ready for November, 2004. Steps were still being pursued to clean up the 1914-1918 plaque.

Lighting in Churwell Park.- Your Chair said this was turning out to be a long-running saga caused by the inability of Highways Dept., Leeds City Council to force their sub-contractors to complete the contract they were assigned to do. The new word coined for delay was "slippage" and the safety cameras and school crossing et al had all become victims of "slippage". Cllr. Finnigan said he would contact Randall Brown to impress upon him the gravity of the situation, particularly regarding the school crossing. Wenda said a few words regarding the number of cars who had tried to demolish her wall simply as a result of excessive speed. Joe Waters said that it was incomprehensible how in the public sector, a contractor could get away with not fulfilling their legally binding contract. This would not happen in the real world of self-employment or the privatised industries.

Cllr. Finnigan said that the vandalised slabs on the top of the wall at Stanhope Hall had been replaced and cemented about 2 weeks ago following his representations to the Highways Department. A number of these had been worked loose again by vandals and the phone box had been targeted using these slabs. He also said that if needed, he would ask BT to install Perspex instead of glass in the phone box.

Any response from David Miliband  regarding catchment areas? No, said Cllr. Finnigan but he and his ward colleague Cllr. Leadley would be bringing a motion to Leeds City Council again in a bid to re-instate catchment areas in the Leeds area. SM said that some Kirklees councillors recognised the problem and knew themselves that, the only was forward for them to drive up educational standards in Kirklees was to try to get their own children educated within their own boundaries and not cross the border into Leeds. Every year one of our Morley school at any given time was full of Kirklees children said SM.

Footpaths clearances by Community Service - Joyce said that she had learned they had cleared up the wrong footpath at Back Green. They should have cleared the one that leads to The White Rose Centre but unfortunately, had cleared the one that leads to the farm. This would be rectified shortly, said Joyce.

3)  Main Topic - Centenary in 2005 of Churwell Park

a)  It was agreed unanimously that, Friends of Churwell Park would take on this project and views would be taken on what to do and how to proceed.

b)  SM had questionnaires available relating to the public’s views on public parks that Members could spend time completing and returning at no cost. A prize draw of £100 could be won by at least one lucky person (who knows, it could be you!).

c)  SM proposed an Action Day (or morning really from 10 a.m. to about 2 p.m.) in Churwell Park on Saturday 6th March. Comprising a litter pick; weeding of the tennis courts - please bring brushes, rakes and spades/hoes ; and the raking of leaves from footpaths and into shrubbery.

There followed a big discussion about dog excrement in Churwell Park!  Many people walked their dogs and even motorists came in their cars and let out their dogs. Simply put, agreed Members, someone needed to be prosecuted. Karen Rodley was willing to report people but, concerned about confidentiality.  Cllr. Finnigan said that any Member could ring him with dates, times et cetera and they could contact him on 285 3147. Fixed penalty notices were far more effective than polite letters and this could be facilitated via him, as a ward councillor. Jayne Cullingworth said that there were not enough bins in the park and Cllr. Finnigan said that he would look into this and report back. An interesting fact was that last year, 6 inner-city wards shared a street cleaning budget of about £1 million. The same was being discussed this year but this would be shared out between the 27 other wards.

4)  Janine McHugh WANTS to return in March as she promised, to update CAG Members on new ASB legislation. SM would write to Janine and confirm this.

5)  Another ‘computer taster’ course will be held at Churwell Community Centre from 9 a.m. to about noon this Thursday, 26th February. There will be 12 p.c.’s available.

6)  Congratulations are in order to Marjorie Kirk who, has now added BBC’s Look North to her growing list of media interviews which in the past has included BBC Radio Leeds and The Yorkshire Evening Post. Well done Marjorie!

7)  Any Other Business?

Mrs Vranic wondered if the young man seen last week at 4.20 a.m. at the junction of Harwill Avenue and Elland Road was up to no good? She wanted to point this out to Members.

Cllr. Finnigan mentioned the A643 (Elland Road). Works by Yorkshire Electricity were almost completed and they had an obligation to ‘make good’ the road and therefore return it to how it was before. He and Cllr. Tetley would arrange a site visit with Highways and anyone was welcome to come along and put across their points.

Lynne Bedford mentioned the ‘pot-holes’ on Park Street. Cllr. Finnigan said he would get Highways to rectify this.

Elizabeth Clarkson brought up the long term future of Harwill Playing Field and the fact that she did not trust Leeds City Council in their tenure and duty of responsibility to retaining this as a public open space. Cllr. Finnigan said that there were similar issues in Gildersome and Drighlington and what was needed was a vigorous approach to ensure that whichever council department dealt with these playing fields, their future was in no doubt whatever. Both he and Elizabeth agreed we should ‘keep our eyes on the ball’.

Your Chair mentioned that on 27th March, 2004 he, in his capacity as Mayor of Morley would be officiating at the annual Mayor’s Ball. Tickets were £25 and a splendid time was guaranteed for all (despite Mr. Kite not topping the bill !). Those who attended last year confirmed that it really was a good night.

Sheila Crowther mentioned the UDP Review. SM said that today, he had sent in exactly 20 more representation forms in to the Development Department relating to the review and if anyone wanted any, he had some spare forms.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 8.45 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Tuesday 30th  March, 2004 at 7.30 p.m.  Janine McHugh of Leeds City Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Unit was likely to be in attendance and details will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

The Committee of Churwell Action Group wish all its constituency a Happy New Year in 2004!!

Public Meeting held at Churwell Community Centre, Tuesday 27th January, 2004 from 7.30 p.m. onwards

All the Committee were present excepting an apology was received from Jayne Cullingworth who had a prior engagement.

Your Chair (JT) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members and introduced Janine McHugh from Leeds City Council’s Anti-Social Behaviour Unit. Janine gave a résumé of the work carried out by the ASB Unit. This comprised covering her area of Churwell, Cottingley, Gildersome and Drighlington. Work was done a referral basis, that is, calls from members of the public. The ASB Unit also held surgeries at Morley Town Hall on the first Monday of each month, 1 - 4 p.m. They worked in partnership with the police which could involve anything from tenancy actions to ASBO’s (anti-social behaviour orders), which was a court injunction held against the perpetrator. Many Members asked questions such as did the ASBU work with the local Morley police? Yes they did. Lisa Drake asked if witnesses had to go to court to give evidence? Primarily, yes although a build-up of collated evidence was important which could be used by the police. Joe Tetley mentioned the fear of reprisals. Janine replied they could provide but not guarantee, witness support and Home Office alarms. Joe also mentioned use of recording equipment to use as evidence. Janine responded that safety was paramount and witness evidence was better. A private citizen filming a criminal act was "rocky" and a good solicitor would highlight Human Rights and entrapment issues. Tom Leadley mentioned the successful case of a police officer being drummed out of the force with video evidence being used in court and the fact that there wouldn’t have been any conviction without this video evidence. Lew Beever ventured that surely this gave rise to giving the police reasonable powers of arrest and if a young lad was confronted with this pictorial evidence, they would usually admit to the offence. Derek Bradley said that he had had a visit from the police when he had even pretended to take some photos in Morley town centre. Didn’t we live in a free country? Janine repeated that "eye witness" evidence and being prepared to stand up was still the most efficacious way. Elizabeth Clarkson asked that, in a one-to-one situation who held sway? Janine responded that it was difficult and warned again about the danger aspect. Wenda mentioned that the Hit Squad when contacted, did come to Churwell Park. Terry Grayshon asked if any "crack-houses" had been closed down yet following new legislation? Janine replied that cannabis was the predominant drug in her area. SM concluded that the whole aspect of all this seemed to be skewed in favour of the perpetrators rather than the victim who had to "walk the gauntlet" and that concerned him. Finally, Janine said she would peruse new legislation and bring comments back if CAG wanted and she left leaflets and nuisance diaries for Members to take with them. All Members thanked Janine for her contribution this evening with a round of applause.

PCSO’s were discussed. Wenda said that they had already made a difference and Lisa Drake said that incidents had halved in the Morley Borough area since their inception. SM said this was something positive from West Yorkshire Police and Morley Town Council though Joe Tetley did comment that one third of the town council’s budget was now spent on policing.

Alison Foster gave a summary of the continuation of ‘Morley schools for Morley children’ campaign 2004. She had been informed by Chris Wrench via e-mail, that allocation letters would go out on 1st March and that CAG were "waiting in the wings". SM cited the case of the parent  in Hardy Avenue concerned now for her daughter not due to move to high school until 2008! The parent had been referred by Education Leeds to Churwell Action Group!
JW said that Churwell New Village was in Churwell and not south Leeds. Wenda asked about re-introduction of catchment areas to which Tom Leadley replied that the motion had been watered down in council and that the original proposed motion had been defeated in council. Terry Grayshon referred to the YEP of yesterday which reported that the Local Govt. Ombudsman had ruled that the current system of appeal was discriminatory and this referred to Temple Moor school in Halton. He then gave a précis of the Rotherham Judgement and implied that he had written to the Chief Legal Officer, (LCC) and would send any response he received to various VIP’s involved in the legal and ministerial processes. Dawn Commons was concerned too for her daughter and as she reported, that the appeals process was degrading and unacceptable. SM said that this could be changed quite quickly and effectively and that all that was really needed was the "political will" by the ruling party on Leeds City Council, though even if it were changed immediately, it would be 2005 at the earliest before the problem was resolved. To conclude, Alison Foster repeated that, as happened in 2003, CAG would be supporting parents in ensuring their children got into the schools of their choice.

Regarding the Youth Club Project, Wenda said that numbers had increased to approximately 40 children, with attendance by even  some of the older lads. Behaviour was good and the project was going very well. Kate Salmon was even attending every week and last week, John Paxton, Principle Youth Officer, LCC had attended and was very impressed. SM reported that, that notwithstanding, this was a community-led project facilitated by Jayne Cullingworth who, by strength of character had dragged Leeds City Council’s Youth Service "kicking and screaming" every step of the way to this project. He also paid tribute to Cllr. Finnigan who had been quietly working away behind the scene in a supporting role. Both Joyce and Wenda also said that Churwell Park was a lot cleaner since the inception of the Youth Club, though they couldn’t say the same about the War Memorial Gardens, which had taken over an hour to clean (broken glass et cetera) after Christmas.

Provisional dates of 12th  and 26th February were chosen as the next ‘computer taster’ course at the Community Centre. SM would confirm to Wenda one of these dates ASAP.

Joyce was able to inform Members that following the return Quiz Night on home soil, the sum of  £117.46 was collected, from which £14.00 was taken to pay for refreshments and the residue was split two ways between GAG and CAG (£51.73 each). Joe said that he had enjoyed the night and hoped everyone else had too.

Following representations by CAG, a "No Parking" hatching had been situated around the ramp at Stanhope Hall. Unfortunately, it appears it is not very clear as it stands, so Cllr. Finnigan has asked Highways to consider putting the legend  "No Parking" on the road just, to make it absolutely clear that motorists shouldn’t park there. He was also prepared to have another go at getting a "resident’s only parking scheme" which would be policed and enforced by the council’s own staff rather than traffic wardens. The vandalised slabs would hopefully be replaced or re-sited and cemented shortly, following his representations to Highways.

Your Chair mentioned the "Friends of Churwell Park" which had formed a sub-committee to further the profile of Churwell Park and it was hoped we could all re-state the original objective, that is, to make it "user-friendly" for all the community, not just a select few. Discussions for some new initiatives were already taking place in lieu of the park’s centennial next year in 2005. A teenage shelter, probably for use in the park, had now been confirmed. JW asked if the youths could help erect the shelter and instil some pride in them all, but Joyce Sanders said the shelter came in  pre-fabricated form. New bins for both the park and the War Memorial Gardens were in the pipeline but, dog bins would not be replaced. Terry Grayshon reminded Members of the efforts of the 168 Squadron Air Cadets who had done sterling work with CAG both in Churwell Park and Clark Spring Wood. Joyce reminded Members that all footpaths in Churwell had been cleared but, the Back Green (leading to The White Rose Centre) footpath needed a skip to finish off the job and wondered if we could have an action day soon? Joe also said he had collated information relating to all the footpaths in Churwell with a view to getting all these maintained on a regular basis and that Churwell was the only ward in the town council area to have performed this survey. Joyce also said that there was a further skip in place now, though at the opposite side of the road with respect to its usual siting.

Joe mentioned the major problems that Highways, LCC were having with contractors and sub- contractors not fulfilling their contractual obligations with respect to lighting in Churwell Park. It was hoped that the job would be effected before the end of this financial year ending 31st March, 2004

Any Other Business?

Derek Bradley asked if the gates of Churwell War Memorial Gardens could be locked and how was progress with the 2nd plaque proceeding? SM said that the gate needed fixing before it could be locked and that the grant application was still "work in progress". Money was there for the plaque and lettering. He would keep him and other Members informed. He sincerely hoped that it could all be completed for Remembrance Day in November.

Lew Beever asked about the "slow" signs on Elland Road and when was it going to be re-surfaced? Robert Finnigan said that both Yorkshire Water and Yorkshire Electricity were due to carry out works before Elland Road could be re-stored to its former glory. He also said that new legislation was forthcoming which would mean Highways would have a greater say in when contractors
could and couldn’t dig up the roads to the convenience of themselves and at the inconvenience to road-users. This prompted Joe to report that both Church Street and Chapel Hill would be being re-surfaced in February for a period of two weeks.

JW said a big "thank you" to all those who had donated to the sponsored "Take Heart" walk. This had raised £18k (up from £14k last year) and he proudly showed his medallion.

Joe gave a résumé of the good work carried out (unbeknown to himself) by the Rotary Club of Morley who had very quietly (and almost anonymously) raised over £12k last year and this was distributed to various local, national and international charities.

Finally Wenda asked if anyone knew of anyone willing to volunteer to "man" the school crossing patrol on a very temporary basis until the new pedestrian crossing was installed. Cllr. Finnigan also paid tribute to the head, staff and governors at Churwell Primary for their highly successful Ofsted report. SM said that he would send a letter of congratulations to the head on behalf of Churwell Action Group.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9.15 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Tuesday 24th  February, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers, if any) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 

Public Meeting held at Churwell Community Centre, Wednesday 25th November, 2003 from 7.30 p.m. onwards

Committee present were EC, WW and SM. Apologies were received from AF, JC, JT & JS who had  prior engagements. RF came from another meeting.

Your Chair (EC) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members and introduced Steve Hyde and Barry Spence from The Friends of Queen’s Park, Castleford who were here to give a presentation of how they had taken that park back into ‘community ownership’ by that community.

Steve opened up the presentation by giving a résumé of their achievements. In effect FoQP were vociferous and expert lobbyists. They were all community volunteers whose park had had problems with travellers, drug-taking, motorbikes, graffiti and general anti-social behaviour. Formed in 1999, it was the first group of its kind in the Wakefield Metropolitan Council area and it was fair to say, that council did not want to know in the first instance. FoQP sent a questionnaire to 7000 households with 400 returns. From that base issues were highlighted as a) security/safety, b) lack of facilities and c) amenities. It took a lot of patience but after ‘slagging off’ the council, FoQP eventually made themselves noticed and gained credibility with their lobbying through the local press. Currently FoQP had assets and equipment of about £12k and were looking at funding of up to £300k. Because security is an issue and the council and police don’t want to know, it was hoped New Opportunities Funding (NOF) could provide employment of security guards on some rota basis. FoQP were now working in partnership with 5 other ‘Friends of’ groups such as Saville Park from where Barry originated.

Barry said he had been part of FoSP and that group was an amalgam of ‘single issue groups’ such as the bowling and cricket clubs et al. Before he left FoSP had procured funding for 5 flower beds, 9 park benches and replacing inadequate fencing.

Steve said that the single and most important issue FoQP had addressed was the lack of facilities and indeed the construction of the pavilion is the focus of all that happens in the park. They now had toilet, meals and drinks facilities with disabled access and this was not only socially inclusive but it also encouraged people to get out of their cars and walk through the park with the ensuing benefits to health and transport. Cllr. Bradley asked how supportive had local Councillors been? Steve answered that their contributions had been invaluable because of their accessibility to local committees and potential funding opportunities. This ‘partnership approach’ did work, said Steve, who said that of £136k needed to refurbish tennis courts had so far procured £50k. Both Steve and Barry were warmly thanked in the appropriate manner for their attendance and presentation which had gone down very well with Members who were all invited to look at the excellent pictorial evidence of the transformation of Queen’s Park, Castleford by the community volunteers, FoQP. Both Barry and Steve said they would be willing to come to Churwell Park in the daylight to offer advice too!

                                                                                     *****

Robert Finnigan gave a summary of the continuation of ‘Morley schools for Morley children’ campaign 2004. With respect to the Primary side both he and Cllr. Leadley had met with Mel Curtis, Headteacher, Churwell Primary School who had assured them that of next (September 2004) year’s intake, all sibling, first and second preferences would be met. In future however and with specific note of the ‘New Churwell’ estate, this would be more problematic but nevertheless she would be ‘open to negotiation and consultation’ to surmount that difficulty which of course, may require increasing the intake to a three form, 90 pupil intake.

With respect to the Secondary side Cllr. Finnigan said although he had received correspondence from the Minister for schools, David Miliband, M.P., to inform him that the appropriate body (Leeds City
Council) were already dealing with this matter, the leader, Cllr. Keith Wakefield was not willing to
divulge what the content of this correspondence was. Both Cllrs. Leadley and Finnigan had tabled a motion for the full council in January, 2004 which attempted to initiate a return to catchment areas from September, 2005. Cllr. Finnigan thought it strange that certain people such as M.P’s and Executive Members (fellow Councillors) were discussing this but, he couldn’t inform his constituents. He also felt that ‘a deal’ was being done so as to bring in some ‘good news’ prior to the local elections in June, 2004. Billy Commons said he had heard that Tony Blair himself said that all parents should be able to send their child(ren) to a school of their choice.

Any Other Business?

Cllr. Derek Bradley gave details of a crime initiative involving pension book holders highlighting and advertising issues on the holders and he left a number of these for Members to take home. These were available from Morley Police Station.

Cllr. Finnigan informed Members that £500 funding for the premises rental had been procured for the Churwell Youth Club Project. Wenda said that the first week they had 34 youngsters and last week that number had increased to 46, up by over 30% which, Elizabeth Clarkson suggested, that there had been a need for this. Both Wenda and SM paid fulsome tribute to Jayne Cullingworth without whose input and drive this project would not have materialised.

The next ‘computer taster’ course due for Thursday 27th had had to be cancelled due to work being carried out for the Community Centre. This would be re-arranged for early next year on another Thursday morning.

The return Quiz Night with Gildersome Action Group will be on Tuesday 2nd December. The Quiz Night would begin at about 7.15 to 7.30 p.m. where mince pies and sherry would be served as refreshments which was included in the £2 entry fee!

It was said that the additional lighting installation in Churwell Park had begun at last but couldn’t be confirmed. SM said that Highways, Morley Town Council had provisionally agreed to fund one more lamppost in the bottom of the ‘X’ path following a representation by Cllr. Tetley. (There had been a negative response from CIT who suggested going to Highways!)

 "Mayoress at Home" with Mrs Tetley will be this Saturday on 29th November and all were welcome.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 8.30 p.m. (yes 8. 30 p.m. !) with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Tuesday 27th  January, 2004 at 7.30 p.m. Details of any proposed speakers will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.
 

           CAG HOPE YOU ALL  HAVE A GOOD CHRISTMAS !!

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

All your committee were present except for apologies received from Elizabeth Clarkson and Alison Foster who had  prior engagements.

Your Chair (JT) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members present and also mentioned the passing away of one of our founder members, Don Shield. He had been ill for some time and a card was sent to Mrs Shield from the members of CAG and a minute silence in his memory was respected by all.

Joyce and Wenda gave final details of the refurbishment of Churwell Memorial Gardens following the successful grant that had been obtained. We have decided to use the remaining cash sum to purchase a second plaque (to be located on the reverse wall of the existing plaque) and to have engraved upon it all the eleven names of Churwell soldiers killed in the 1939-45 conflict. SM had managed to find a sponsor (who wished to remain anonymous) for the cleaning of the 1914-18 plaque. We have recorded our thanks to staff from Leeds City Council staff for preparing the garden for winter planting and replacing the rotten timber in the seating in time for the 9th November Remembrance Day Service at 9.30 a.m. It was hoped there would be a good turn out from the Churwell Community. The donation of a bench from Asquiths of Morley and facilitated by Melanie Woolner was to be located on the raised grassy area.

Robert Finnigan gave a summary of the continuation of ‘Morley schools for Morley children’ campaign 2004. Alison had previously compiled a list of concerned parents. Chris Wrench, Admissions Manager, Education Leeds to his credit at his visit in September didn’t flannel and said we could expect more of the same trouble next year. Cllr. Finnigan said that it was more than likely Leeds City Council were not really going to push the issue of catchment areas. Both he and Cllr. Leadley hoped to meet with Mel Curtis, Headteacher, Churwell Primary School  next Thursday 6th November to discuss some ideas he had formulated. Wenda said her idea of those parents who had perhaps ‘addresses of convenience’ and would have to furnish Education Leeds with utility bills as proof could not be implemented before 2005.

At the last meeting it was mentioned if there "was there any interest in another ‘computer taster’ course in the future?" Judy Hallam, the Principle of Joseph Priestley College was very keen to do this ‘in the field’ for Community Groups such as CAG. A group of interested Members had left details and this ‘computers in the community’ day would be on a Thursday morning, provisionally either 6th, 13th, 20th or 27th November and would be confirmed ASAP.

Following the last meeting it was said that the Mayor’s Sunday, is now on video. Joyce suggested that as we are about to hold a return Quiz Night with Gildersome Action Group on Tuesday 2nd December we could set it up in the side-room for viewing. The Quiz Night would begin at about 7.15 to 7.30 p.m. where mince pies and sherry would be served as refreshments and it was hoped that this time Churwell would be the victors! GAG donated £40 to CAG who in turn donated that to Churwell Community Association for their generous support of CAG.

Jayne informed Members that work on the proposed youth club had already begun and she could confirm that 12th November, 2003 would be the inaugural meeting of the Churwell Youth Club Project run under the auspices of Leeds City Council and set to run initially for 3 months. Donations raised so far had been £150 from ye olde Youth Club funds, MICE money from Cllr. Finnigan and a donation from MJS Electrical of Morley which had been given to CAG had in turn been given to the project. Jayne would be working with an official Youth Worker as a volunteer Youth Worker. Joe gave details of the possibility of the project applying for some small level of funding from Morley Youth Development Fund but, the responsibility for this would have to come from the young people themselves. Lisa Drake asked if any donations had been given by local firms so far? Jayne said none up to press.

Dates for the next few ‘Days of Action’ in Clark Spring Wood, Granny Avenue and Churwell Park were discussed. We would have a half day in Churwell Park on 15th November, 2003 starting from 10 a.m. Joyce would order 2 skips. Would volunteers please bring cutting tools, rakes and wheelbarrows if possible? Clark Spring Wood may follow in December but, most likely would be in January. With regard to Granny Avenue there were issues of land ownership which had to be addressed before work could be done. Joyce was working on this aspect. It was hoped to get a skip organised and have a public clear-up in that area, if possible.

JT reported on the progress of lighting in Churwell Park. Locations had been ‘marked out’ and although we were hopeful that it would be completed by October, that will not now be the case, although we have not been given a reason for the delay. Joe had sent an e-mail to Keith Darch of  Highways recently but, had had no response thus far. Joe mentioned that the bottom of the park was next on the agenda but it couldn’t be done immediately. Cllr. Finnigan suggested writing to the Chair of Morley CIT to request the facilitation under the auspices of Community Safety. (SM would effect this.)

There had been some movement regarding the protracted parking situation in Fountain Street. Following a letter sent by SM, the matter had been dealt with by the Officer for City Services, who had passed it down to Highways. To conclude, there would be consultation to ascertain whether Fountain Street could become ‘residents only’ though this would not happen overnight and Stanhope Hall would be given some ‘protection’ from ‘irresponsible parking’ in the form of lines near the access ramp on Co-operative Street.

There were plans in the future to start a ‘Friends of Churwell Park’ and a few people had already put down their names as volunteers. Did anyone want to visit Queen’s Park in Castleford to get ideas or did we want them to visit here for a talk? Having agreed on the latter, SM would write to ask if this could be facilitated.

Cllr. Finnigan had made available some MICE money for a number of skips to be situated as before on Hepworth Avenue but, these would not start until after 5th November and there could only be a small number, maybe four or five before the money ran out.

Following on from the letter sent to the Minister for Education, David Miliband, M.P. regarding the reintroduction of catchment areas, Cllr. Finnigan had to report that there had yet been no response and he was still of the opinion that a delegation comprising all four Churwell Town Councillors, the two Independent Leeds City Councillors and  Alison Foster, Terry Grayshon and Jayne Cullingworth travel to London to lobby either the Minister for Education, David Miliband, M.P. or Charles Clarke, the Secretary of State for Education. He would be raising this issue once more next Tuesday in full (Leeds City) Council. Communities of schoolchildren in Leeds were still being let down.

Cllr. Finnigan gave a report on the progress of the alcohol ban through Leeds City Council. The bye-law had gone through Legal Services and was now in the hands of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister who would then pass it down the chain to the Home Secretary, Mr. Blunkett for ‘rubber-stamping’. This was close to fruition and we could all give ourselves a pat on the back because this was proposed from the floor of CAG. As Wenda said, "the fact that CAG proposed this and it is now going to the Home Secretary is inspiring!"

Joyce reported that the Morley Town Council were applying for a grant to get all designated public footpaths in that area maintained bi-annually. This would be happening soon. If anyone knew of any neglected footpaths in Churwell or anywhere in the Town Council area, be sure to tell a Town Councillor. Mrs McGregor asked about the possibility of a skip on Laneside which was a private road and a clear up. Joyce said they, via MTC, would look into this.

Joyce was pleased to report that a donation had been gratefully accepted from MJS Electrical with thanks to CAG for their efforts in the ‘Morley schools for Morley children’ campaign. This in turn had been given to the Churwell Youth Club Project as previously indicated.

The Morley and Rothwell Police Forum took place on 23rd October at Morley Town Hall. About 60 people turned up, 4 being from Rothwell. Cllr. Finnigan said that it was due to public pressure at these meetings which had had the desired community aims of getting more Police in Morley. There were now between 14 and 16 more Police in the locale due to this pressure. Joe mentioned that Morley was also being used as a ‘training ground’ for probationary Police officers. SM paid tribute to Cllr. Finnigan for his petition which set the ball rolling, to Cllr. Brian Judge for his tenacity in sorting out the previous shambolic arrangement of another administration and a new agreement which was close to fruition and to the people of Morley for signing Cllr. Finnigan’s petition.

Wenda reported on the progress of the Elland Road/Westwoodside (School) crossing plus the other road safety improvements campaigned for and won by the people of Churwell but, on the whole of the A643 from Bruntcliffe cross-roads to the ring road. These improvements, safety/speed cameras, ‘Churwell school’ crossing, et al would (almost all) be in situ by March, 2004. Cllr. Finnigan was also able to confirm that the second crossing for School Street had just been put on the ‘priority list’ for 2004-05  along with one for Queen Street in Morley. Wenda said that one of the Churwell governors had volunteered to man the existing ‘Stop children crossing’ until the automatic puffin crossing was installed in (about) March of 2004 and had even undergone training for this. Josie Fletcher suggested that the proposed 30 mph be situated on the "Welcome to Churwell" signs.

 SM gave details of his visit to the Development Department, Leeds City Council at their request, to CAG’s response to their UDP representations. Positive feedback and contacts have been made and it is clear that they welcome the support of the majority of these representations which is very helpful.

Any other business?

Mr. Midgeley made clear his frustrations at the lack of movement in the wooded (ex-JAPA dam) area near his house which he said, had been going on for 12 years. This was due to fly-tipping, and (allegedly) youths perpetrating vandalism and drug taking. Though he shared his frustrations, SM said that he had been informed verbally that the area concerned had been scheduled to be drained/excavated in January of 2004 and he asked that he have a little more patience. These things simply did not happen overnight and CAG had not been with this for that long.

Joe gave a brief description of CIT’s (Community Involvement Team’s) ceasing from next year to be replaced by Area Committees.

Joyce said that the Youth Club Project had necessitated a change of meeting from Wednesday to either Monday or, Tuesday. It was decided from the floor, unanimously, to go for Tuesday’s.

Joe gave details of the "Mayoress at Home" on 29th November and urged those with a ticket to use it but, if they couldn’t, would they please donate it to someone who could use it?

Lew Beever asked what could be done about the state of the road surface on Churwell Hill and to refurbish the "SLOW" signs too? Cllr. Finnigan said that unbelievably, Yorkshire Electricity are due to lay some more cables and the employed contractor would be making good the surface when the next batch of cabling had been completed. The "SLOW" signs could be done at the same time.

JW mentioned the rogue traders known as "Quality Plastics" offering fascia and soffit replacements and advised anyone should they see the van(s) to report the registration number to the Police.

In answer to Mr. Midgeley, Cllr Finnigan  gave details of sums of money over £10 million being allocated to 5 constituencies in Leeds but, surprise, surprise, zero for Morley.

Joe said that if Morley Town Council fulfilled 7 ‘principles’ it would qualify for greater responsibility in the delegation of up to 16 services or aspects of services such as park cleaning. As yet, they only fulfilled 5 of those criteria.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9.20 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group (and the last of this year)  will be on Tuesday 25th  November , 2003 (due to Youth Club project) at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

1) Your Chair (WW) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members present (after the summer break).

2)   Alison Foster gave a summary of the culmination of the ‘Morley schools for Morley children’ campaign 2003 and the continuation of ‘Morley schools for Morley children’ campaign 2004, if needed. She was given a round of applause for her past efforts whilst it was also acknowledged the efforts of Robert Finnigan, Wenda Whitehead and Terry Elliott. There was genuine concern already from parents both in Year 6 at primary level and for children ready to move into primary school next year. Churwell Action Group would endeavour to help all concerned parents and Alison began to compile a list of these on the night. More later.

3)  SM gave positive news and details regarding the delayed signposting for Clark Springs Wood and Daffil Wood. These four signs had been erected yesterday (23rd) at the four strategic points requested (two in CSW and two in DW) and were very positive in the content of the text which CAG had proposed. He thanked Geoff Crowther for collecting other donated noticeboards and these would be used at areas (to be decided, almost certainly Churwell Park) in the Community.

 4)  Joyce and Wenda gave details of the refurbishment of Churwell Memorial Gardens. A grant had been obtained and rather than use it all on a contractor, we had decided to use our own labour and save that money for elsewhere within the Gardens and/or the Community. Leeds City Council staff were to clean up existing cut-back vegetation, cut back further or, replant shrubs and replace the rotten timber in the seating in time for the 9th November Remembrance Day Service at 9.30 a.m. It was hoped there would be a good turn out from the Churwell Community.

 5) Wenda and Joyce gave details of last night’s "Quiz Night" with our counterparts at Gildersome Action Group. Needless to say, the best team, (well the scoreline said that!) Gildersome won (31-28) but, nevertheless, a splendid time was guaranteed by everyone and all in all, had been a really good social evening.

6)   SM reported that Yvette from Joseph Priestley College organised another ‘computer taster’ course a fortnight ago and nobody came which is not surprising  as no-one knew about it! However, Judy Hallam, the Principle asked, "was there any interest in another ‘computer taster’ course in the future?" She was very keen to do this ‘in the field’ for Community Groups such as CAG. A group of interested Members left details and this ‘computers in the community’ day would be on a Thursday morning at some point in the future. SM to ring Alison on 25th September to arrange, if possible.

 7) At the Heritage Day held at Morley Town Hall earlier in the month, rumour had it that, the Mayor’s Sunday, is now on video! SM asked whether there was any interest in a public showing? A little known film director had both filmed and edited this recently. Needless to say, our (usual) Chair is ‘the star of the show’ which is no surprise as the director is none other than his daughter, Caroline! Members expressed their enthusiasm to go to a première! Over to you Joe, could we tag it on to the next public meeting?

 8)  Jayne reported on her endeavours over the (school) summer holiday period with the football group as part of her commitment to youth work in the Churwell area. The group of girls had won their competition, the boys had come second in theirs and for their successes had been given free tickets to watch Leeds Utd. at Elland Road. Jayne informed Members that work would now begin on the proposed youth club over the next few weeks and she would keep us informed of developments.

  9) SM said there would be an ‘Action Day’ in Clark Spring Wood this Saturday 27th. The more volunteers the better. 10 a.m. to (about) 3 p.m. Just bring your wellies!

10) There was also planned a future ‘Action Day’ in Churwell Park, hopefully in October, once a skip had been organised. We’ll let you know the date. Concern was expressed by residents of Granny Avenue over tipping on waste ground there. Joyce promised to come and inspect and it was hoped to get a skip organised and have a public clear-up in that area soon. Police had been informed too, about youths causing disturbances in the area. Mrs McGregor asked about the possibility of a skip on Laneside which was a private road.

11) SM asked if the footpath between Old Road and Elland Road had been cleared yet? Mr. Whittam confirmed that it had. Robert Finnigan was thanked in his absence for his efforts.

12) Joyce and Wenda reported on the installation of new football posts for Harwill Playing Field which they had painted themselves last week. They were to approach Leeds Utd. in an effort to procure some old nets for permanent use in the playing field. Doubts were raised on how long the nets  would last?

13) SM gave details of the response from the Development Department, Leeds City Council to CAG’s response to their UDP representations adding that they had amounted to 2.5 % of the 5,000 received by Leeds City Council. They appeared to be treating Churwell with great sensitivity.

14) Wenda reported on the progress of lighting in Churwell Park (after the delaying gesture of LCC to part fund the project) and was able to inform everyone that it would be completed by October. Better late than never. Mr. Whittam asked whether lighting could be facilitated for behind the clubhouse? Probably not, Wenda replied, the main thoroughfare was the main issue and that was about to be successful.

15) We have yet to receive a definitive date for the next Police Forum said, Terry Grayshon but, it would be in October possibly 16th, 23rd or 25th and at Morley Town Hall. SM urged Members to attend this meeting because it was an opportunity for everyone to challenge senior police officers and that it was only due to pressure from yourselves and other people in Morley, that we have extra Police on those streets. The size of the Police force in Morley has doubled, yes doubled, due to your efforts in the wider Morley Community.

16) Wenda reported on the progress of the School crossing and the second crossing near School Street (confusing I know) plus the other road safety improvements campaigned for and won by yourselves not just in Churwell but, on the whole of the A643 from Bruntcliffe cross-roads to the ring road. These improvements, safety/speed cameras, ‘Churwell school’ crossing, et al would (almost all) be in situ by February, 2004. The second crossing was earmarked for 2004-05 and Robert Finnigan said there may be a little movement on the part of the developer(s). Once again, watch this space.

17) Joyce, as Treasurer gave details of donations of MICE money from Robert Finnigan, received over this last few weeks. (There was also other offers of donations. More next month).

18) Robert Finnigan would report back next month on the progress of the alcohol ban.

19) Allocation of school places for the "New Churwell" estate. Robert Finnigan and Jayne confirmed that primary children on that estate would be allocated Cottingley Primary school. There followed a big discussion about how to tackle the issue of the allocation of school places in Morley. Leeds City Council agreed ‘in principle’ with the general feeling in Churwell. However, since agreeing ‘in principle’ two months ago there had been little if no movement. Was it a delaying tactic? It was proposed at first that the Lead Member (Councillor) for Education, Leeds City Council, be invited for discussion but, that was superseded by a proposal that a delegation comprising (at least) all four Churwell Town Councillors, the two Leeds City Councillors (who are both CAG Members, one a Committee Member) Alison Foster, Terry Grayshon and Jayne Cullingworth travel to London to lobby the Minister for Education, David Miliband, M.P. who, was au fait with the case as highlighted by Robert Finnigan in previous correspondence. This would be investigated as to the time and date, mode of travel etc.

Any other business?

Alison said that although the public generally dismissed the Police, she had arranged with the Police to have a discussion with the cubs and scouts and this had been very positive for all and it is true, she said, the police are getting younger!

Jayne and Wenda gave details of ‘The Friends of Queen’s Park’ in Castleford who had had similar problems in that park but, had founded a committed group of people who had literally taken back their park by affirmative action and were perfectly willing to come to Churwell and discuss their successful modus operandi. Joyce asked whether anyone would be interested in a similar group starting in Churwell Park. Again, the response for this from Members was enthusiastic and positive.

Asked about parking in Fountain Street, SM said the matter was now with the Officer for City Services, Randall Brown and as soon as he had any response, he would inform Members.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9. 30 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 29th October, 2003 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely

 Stewart McArdle

and on behalf of CAG

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

 Five of the committee were present, excepting Alison Foster, Cllrs Finnigan, Tetley and Whitehead,  all of whose apologies were received. Cllr. Tetley was on Town Council business. Cllr. Whitehead had had a meeting with a VIP somewhere.

1)     Your Chair (EC) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members.

2)     Unitary Development Plan (UDP). SM gave a very brief summary of the UDP, what it comprised and what Churwell residents could do to support it. CAG had made 97 representations and he urged everyone here tonight to at least support the recommendation that  Laneside be re-designated as green belt and that the ‘Pithills’ be re-designated under Policies N1 & N5. Some of the earlier recommendations CAG had made (in February) had been implemented within the First Deposit.

3)     Elizabeth gave details of  The Quiz Night scheduled for Tuesday 23rd September, 2003  from 7 p.m. for 7. 15 p.m. at Gildersome Meeting Hall (The Library opposite the fish shop on Town Street). Terry Grayshon was to be Quizmaster, Master of Ceremonies (and who knows, possibly chief cook and bottlewasher!). The fee, all for a good cause, was £2 with refreshments. (It was hoped we could all pay ‘on the door’, on the night.)

4)     SM said that he had managed to procure some notice-boards but, needed a van to effect collection. Geoff Crowther came forward with his support. This task will be done in a couple of weeks. These would be utilised in the Churwell Community. Thanks.

5)     Joyce explained the scenario of the Community skips; because housing was now under the remit of south Leeds ALMO, these could not be facilitated anymore. Cllr. Beevers confirmed this. It was the consensus amongst those present that these were a ‘positive thing’ (it negated ‘fly-tipping’) and we would have to lobby for such provision via other means. Joyce also mentioned the ridiculous story of CAG getting a grant from Leeds CC to fund a contractor to clear public footpaths. Joyce would be pursuing this over the next few months. There were only 3 men employed by Leeds CC to perform this task, hence the provision of a grant. Smools Lane (between Daffil Road and Crossland Road) had been cleared and all the residents were thrilled with the results, though it had yet to be finished off. The Probation Service were to do some ‘digging out’ in the future. JW mentioned once again, the footpath from Old Road up to the bus stop on Elland Road. Cllr. Finnigan was trying to get it cleared but, had not had a result. This note here would prompt him to try again, no doubt! CAG hoped to have another ‘Day of Action’ to finish off the overgrown vegetation at the top of Churwell Park some time in either August or September. We would, of course, need a skip!

6)     In a representation to Highways in July, SM had asked that the craters in the road between the junction of Harwill Rise and Harwill Road and also on Hepworth Avenue be ‘made good’ and that Daffil Grove be signposted at William Street as people couldn’t find it. Both Daffil Road and Croft House Way had been identified as high on the priority list on this year’s Identified Maintenance Programme (scheduled into the resurfacing programme) though there was no guarantee when.

7)  It was hoped that the ‘school’ pedestrian crossing would be installed prior to the new academic year starting in September; the ‘School Street’ crossing may change into a ‘priority case’ once the Manor House Farm development was completed. (There are currently 14, 000 vehicles daily using Elland Road). There was also no further news on what postcode this estate would be under though Terry Grayshon did opine that the LS27 postcode was more financially advantageous and competitive than LS11. SM had spoken to SERCO staff on Elland Road who had confirmed they were looking at potential sites for camera housings. Mr. Glen also re-iterated and confirmed for JW that there would be three (3) cameras in ten (10) housings and these would be rotated amongst those housings. Marjorie Kirk asked about the HGV lobbying? SM thought that once the three pelican crossings and ten camera housings had been installed, there would be a marked decrease in HGV traffic.

8)     Regarding the success of the "Morley schools for Morley children" campaign, there was now only one child, Daniel Dutson, who had yet to receive an allocation for a high school in Morley. SM had spoken to Chris Wrench at Education Leeds on Monday, 21st July and he was waiting for the Dutson’s to come back to him regarding the potential of a 2nd hearing within the next two weeks. SM believed that Education Leeds were trying to facilitate a positive conclusion to this whole farce. Terry Grayshon also gave a synopsis of the Rotherham judgement and that according to Mr. David Miliband, the Minister for Education, there was no bar to catchment areas being operated nationally. SM said that Leeds City Council had been promoting a volte face, that is, the potential of a return to catchment areas was being considered, though this could also be just a tactic for delay. All that was needed was a ‘political will’ and Churwell had led the way, again. He also mentioned the Kirklees ‘white flight’ scenario. Elizabeth said that it should be only right and proper that Morley children could get into a school of their choice (not what was offered or, left). Terry Grayshon also gave the view that money was at the root of this as there was a ‘price per pupil head’ that Kirklees MC paid Leeds CC for the educational services provided.

9)     Mr. Brook, of King George Avenue, brought up the subject of HGV’s and ‘rat run’ speeding traffic and could it not have speed bumps fitted as in Gildersome and the Ingles? Once again, it was hoped that Cllr. Finnigan would be prompted into looking at this situation again. Mr. Brook said that, he felt sure someone, possibly a child, would be knocked down and killed in the future.

10)   Jayne and Melanie gave details of the ‘low key’ formation of a Youth Club in Churwell. Jayne had actually just come from Churwell Park where she had organised another football session with a number of 13 year olds. Beginning in October and for a provisional 3 months, there would be a Youth Club in Churwell. This would be supervised by Leeds CC staff with Jayne and Melanie as volunteers. The children themselves, aged approximately from 13-16, had defined the rules and regulations of the Youth Club under guidelines operated by a Leeds CC framework. Jayne also said they were lovely kids. This would necessitate changing the CAG public meeting to an alternative date (which was agreed by those present on the night) and that they would need £50 ‘float’ for a tuck shop. This too, had been agreed. Lew Beever congratulated Jayne who, had been a Youth Club member not too many years back and she was obviously wanting to ‘put something back’ into the Community. Jayne was about to attend Lewisham Park YC to get some more ‘grounding’ and Cllr. Beevers suggested that Irene Morley and Terry Elliott be invited down to CAG to give an overview. This may be looked at in committee. Finally Jayne said that she had some leaflets for at the front if anyone wanted to take them home.

11)   JW confirmed that, he would be doing the sponsored walk for the ‘Take Heart’ charity on Sunday 7th September, 2003 and would welcome any contributions to this or for people to come and ‘walk the walk’.

12)   Finally, SM asked before everyone went that they fill in the UDP forms supporting both Laneside and the ‘Pithills’ being returned from PAS to greenbelt or, and/or, Policy N1 & N5 respectively.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9. 30 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 24th September, 2003 at 7.30 p.m. (the day after the Quiz Night). Details (of any proposed speakers) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

 Most of the committee were present, except for Joyce Sanders and Jayne Cullingworth, whose apologies were received. Cllrs. Finnigan and Tetley were due to arrive late from both City and Town Council business.

1)  Your Chair (EC) opened proceedings and welcomed all new Committee Members and any new Members present to the first meeting of the new year, 2003-2004.

2)  CAG were still waiting for the signage due in the last financial year for Clark Spring Wood. SM had also written to Metro to beg some notice-boards.

3)  Melanie Woolner gave an update on the position of the refurbishment of Churwell Memorial Gardens. Melanie had managed to procure £500 from Leisure Services to re-furbish the garden and had also managed to procure a bench courtesy of Peter Askins of Asquith’s Funeral Services in Morley, specifically for the Memorial Garden. She had already taken delivery of this bench.

4)  Lisa Drake, Secretary of Gildersome Action Group, gave an update on the proposed ‘Quiz Night Challenge’ and said she would come back to us with a firm date both ‘Home and Away’ sometime in September. JW said that he would welcome a bowls night with Drighlington and may approach Keith Murgatroyd!

5)  Some CAG Committee Members had finally been given a date of 30th June for visiting another council area to inspect the efficacy of their recycling initiatives. Lisa Drake said that there was no doubt about it, the other council were far superior in terms of street cleansing, refuse and recycling collections et al and were much more environmentally aware than Leeds City Council. Cllr. Whitehead said she wanted to get in touch with someone in an attempt to get bins emptied and Lisa gave her the number of Chris Ward from Street Cleansing/Highways.

6)  Following a representation to Highways in March, 2003 SM had received a letter informing him that both the Harwill and Croft House estates were scheduled into the resurfacing programme so, the work would happen, eventually. In particular, both Daffil Road and Croft House Way had been identified as high on the priority list on this year’s Identified Maintenance Programme, though this was not a guarantee that it would be facilitated.
A number of Members gave an example of the two feet wide crater in the road between the junction    of Harwill Rise and Harwill Road which we would attempt to highlight to Highways.

7)  There was a discussion regarding the fact that the developers of the "New Churwell estate" were promoting that any new incumbents would be able to get a place in Morley schools for any of their children. Julie Wooley asked if there was any truth in the rumour that part of Churwell, LS27 would be amended to LS11? Cllr. Whitehead said that Cllr. Leadley was on the case and had already contacted the Post Office department responsible and would keep Members informed. Kath Naylor said that it would be extremely costly to facilitate the change. JW said all C of  E churches were in the diocese of Wakefield.
8)  Your Chair gave details of the ‘computer taster’ course held at Churwell Community Centre on Tuesday, 3rd June 2003 from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. This had met with some success and Alison Foster asked Members if they would like to hold another and perhaps such a course in the evening? Some Members were amenable to this suggestion. Sheena, Melanie and Wenda said that it had been well worth the effort.

9)  Members had been invited to participate in the ‘Mayor’s Sunday’ held at All Saints Church, Churwell. There had been  a full Mayoral procession starting from Churwell Community Centre leading to All Saints, the service beginning at 2 p.m. A Salvation Army Band, the Air Cadets, Guides and Scouts and pupils from Churwell Primary had participated. To their own credit, three of the children from Churwell had actually read parts of the service to a packed congregation. In view of the pressure the Mayor had had not to hold the Service at All Saints Church, it was generally agreed that the Churwell Community had not let Cllr. Tetley down. As he had hoped, the procession and the Service was magnificently supported by that Churwell Community and it is to Cllr. Tetley’s credit too, that he had ‘stuck to his guns’ in committing himself to the Mayor’s Sunday in his own village of Churwell and our thanks from all Churwell Action Group’s Members are extended to him for this gesture.

10) Cllr. Beevers, via SM, asked that, if any Members wanted to join the Police Forum, would they pass on their details to the Secretary who, would be willing to pass these on to the appropriate destination? SM gave the objective behind this. EC, because of a Look North programme giving the dichotomy between Policing in the leafy suburbs of Wetherby and perhaps, Churwell, said that Community Policing ought to be debated. We would, along with other Community colleagues attempt to facilitate this objective.

11) The question of the football posts scheduled for Harwill Playing Field was brought up and Cllr. Whitehead said that they were ready to erect but, the manpower wasn’t yet available. She also said that the surface of the old tennis courts littered with broken glass had still to be cleared or, vacuumed. Lisa Drake, for Cllr. Finnigan, said she would make a note for him to address this problem. Cllr. Whitehead also said that plans were in hand to install a set of five-a-side football posts to enable children to use the area in a more appropriate manner as the basketball court wasn’t used so much.

12) It was agreed, unanimously, that, the "Morley schools for Morley children" campaign would continue until catchment areas were re-introduced for the benefit of all Morley children. There followed a ‘mild diatribe’ from SM who gave a synopsis of the situation and once again he paid an appropriate tribute to all campaigners but, in particular Alison Foster, who had acted purely in a voluntary capacity and Cllr. Robert Finnigan as one of our elected representatives for their endeavours. Cllr. Whitehead again gave a specific example of the parents of a child living around Back Green, who had to pass Churwell to get to Asquith Primary, her allocated school. JW said that this problem was happening 34 years ago and that the new Churwell school was built to allow Leeds City Council to sell off the site of the old school in return for cash for development.

Your Chair asked for any other campaigns or objectives for the current year.

Melanie Woolner explained the problem relating to central government’s promotion of the new child and pension benefit system that would surely threaten all sub-Post Offices. Kath Naylor explained that so far Churwell Post Office had lost probably 50% of their child benefit and could lose up to 70% in the long run. Lisa Drake asked whether CAG and Churwell Post Office couldn’t issue a press release highlighting this problem? (Yes that will be done.) Moreover, Lisa said, that it wasn’t just pensioners but, mothers with small children who would have logistical difficulty with this new payment system. All agreed that the system was littered with unfavourable anomalies and SM ventured to say that, if everyone refused this method of payment which was due to run until 2006 anyway, some other method would have to brought into play; to which Kath Naylor responded that there was a danger of ‘shooting the Post Office "system" in the foot’ no matter which system was in place. We would all have to keep our eyes on the ball.

Sheena said she had recently received correspondence informing her that the UDP consultation was out. SM said that he had too and that he was waiting for the supporting papers to thud on to his mat soon. He would respond as quickly as possible and let Members look at that response.

 NB        SUBSCRIPTIONS OF £2 PER HOUSEHOLD ARE NOW DUE!!

This will be the last newsletter you receive if subs are not paid. Ideally, the Committee would like all Members to pay in person.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9. 15 p.m. with your Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 23rdJuly, 2003 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

 Committee Members present were:-

Cllr. Joe Tetley                      Chair & Morley Town Councillor
Elizabeth Clarkson                 vice-Chair
Cllr. Joyce Sanders                Treasurer & Morley Town Councillor
Cllr. Wenda Whitehead          C.C. Ass. & Morley Town Councillor
Stewart McArdle                    Secretary
Cllr. Robert Finnigan              Morley Town Councillor & L.C. Cllr.

Apologies. There were no apologies.
 Your Chair read out his first, annual report. (This is published  on the web-site below  and will be distributed to all Members after the next Public Meeting to be held on Wednesday, 25th June, 2003.)

Your Treasurer read out the Income & Expenditure Account for the year ending June, 2003 and left copies at the table for inspection by Members.

As per the procedure under The Constitution, The Committee then ‘stood down’ to allow Mr. Terry Elliott, J. P., to begin the procedure for the election of new Officers and Committee Members for the period 2003-2004.

Nominations for Officers coming from the floor were as follows:
     Chair                                                                            Cllr. Joe Tetley
    vice-Chair                                                                    Elizabeth Clarkson
    Treasurer                                                                    Cllr. Joyce Sanders
    Representative of Churwell Community Ass.           Cllr. Wenda Whitehead
    Secretary                                                                     Stewart McArdle
 There were also three nominations for election to the Committee. These were;
 

    Alison Foster
    Jayne Cullingworth
    Melanie Woolner

There were no other nominations therefore, Mr. Elliott duly declared that the eight positions had been filled and were duly elected to serve for a period of one year.
Your Chair further proposed that Cllr. Robert Finnigan be co-opted on to the Committee. This was unanimously supported by Members present.

Finally, Your Chair asked for Community support both inside and outside of All Saints Church, Churwell for his Mayor’s Sunday from 1.30 p.m. on Sunday 22nd June. 2003.

                                                            ****************
 
 

 A message from your Chair, Joe Tetley.

Dear fellow Member,

This has been quite a momentous ‘year’ comprising of 15 months from the conception of Churwell Action Group to this, your first AGM.

At this early stage in this report I would like to thank Councillor Judith Elliott for calling the meeting here in this Hall which resulted in the formation of The Churwell Action Group. That meeting was the catalyst that has brought about all that we have done in the last 15 months.

I have been proud, along with my fellow Committee Members and Officers, to have served our Community in what can only be described as, ‘in a positive Community-based atmosphere and environment’. In this sphere, it is Community that matters to all of us, not politics and ensuring that our quality of life in Churwell is improved for the benefit of all and this I feel we have accomplished with some moderate success.

Our first task, to prevent development on Manor House Farm, was a rip-roaring failure! Indeed, it is our only real failure so far and we have continued to progress the ideals garnered from our experiences to further promote the activities of Churwell Action group in an attempt to improve our lives in the Community.

So far we have campaigned and successfully for:

· Speed cameras in Churwell (this has been extended to the whole of the A643) and will come ‘on stream’ we estimate, within the next 6 months

· A pedestrian crossing at a location primarily for Churwell Primary School and the pedestrians residing on the western  side of the A643

· A universal 30 mph speed limit on the A643

· Officers have been invited to appear in newspaper articles and a road safety video

· Both road surfaces and curtilages on Hepworth Avenue and Manor Farm Drive and Manor Farm Crescent have been    re-surfaced because, you made the case

· Other peripheral road safety measures have been lobbied for and agreed in principle with Highways, Leeds City  Council; these will come ‘on stream’ as and when time, manpower and financial resources allow

· Stanhope Hall has had an external ‘makeover’

· Churwell Community Centre has had 3 (of a possible 6) new window frames fitted and the rest have been painted

· Clark Springs Wood has been cleaned-up by a Community Team

· Churwell Park is beginning to receive an improved level of maintenance

· Fencing erected around the Toddler’s play area in Churwell Park

· Improved lighting in Churwell Park to make it safer for the Community

· A Community skip has been located and promoted with great success

· Churwell Action Group has been instrumental in initiating the ban on drinking in public places which is edging its way  through the tortuous procedures of the legalities necessary via Leeds City Council

· Raising the profile of the lack of, or really, the non-existence of, facilities for young people in Churwell and the wider  Morley area which, in many cases, has led to what is called Anti Social Behaviour (ASB). Again, we have been  pro-active in raising the fears and concerns of the Community and it should be added that, we know, there are so many  young people out there who are very nice, well-rounded young men and women and it is, as usual, the minority that let  the majority down

    (I would at this point, like to give a mention to the "Celebration of Youth and Community" to be held in Lewisham             Park, Morley on Saturday, 19th July. There will be, in the main, courtesy of the young people in Morley, events                 comprising, rock bands, dance schools, many more fun and games activities, Community Group promotional stands         along with other Community-based and led ‘Youth’ and solely youth, events and I sincerely hope many of you will be         able to attend.)

· Securing the future of Harwill Playing Field which has long been in doubt

· Being part of a Morley-wide campaign to have Laneside (along with 7 other sites in Morley), returned to green-belt  status from PAS (Protected Area of Search)

· Input by Officers and Committee into the Revised Unitary Development Plan (RUDP)

· We are, at present, actively campaigning to get the ‘Morley Schools for Morley children’  and which was initiated by  Members and we sincerely hope that, this is the very last year that this debilitating circumstance occurs.

All this would not have been possible without the continued support of a committed bunch of about 50 Members who, have regularly attended our Public Meetings, come rain or come shine and I and my fellow Officers and Committee pay wholesome tribute to them, one and all! It is their support that has made our success what it is and they are all a credit to our Community and this I would like to place on the record.

It is significant that when a Declaration of Interest was called for at a recent meeting of Morley Town Council no less than 11 members of this body declared that they were members!

The blue print that we have drawn in Churwell with the formation and actions of this Group has resulted in the setting up of similar groups in other Districts of Morley. May they have the same success that we are enjoying.

We are now about to embark on the journey into our second year. I look forward to it and hope that all the last year's members will enrol for a second term and continue to work with and for The Churwell Community.

We also pay a fulsome tribute and place on record our thanks to Morley Town Councillor, Cllr. Judith Elliott and Morley Town and Leeds City Councillor, Cllr. Finnigan and his colleague, Lisa Drake for their unstinting work in the endeavours of Churwell Action Group.

This is, without doubt, an example of and here I paraphrase a famous quote from President J.F. Kennedy, who said, "ask not what your Community does for you, ask what you can do for your Community". I think, in the immortal words of young Mr. Grace, "you’re all doing wonderfully well!"

We are, in certain quarters, known as The Churwell Mafia . Our success must be the reason.

I will finish this 1st Annual Report with the following quotation.

"Coming together was a beginning

Keeping together is progress

But it’s the staying together that makes the success"

May we all continue to stay together.

Sincerely
 

Joe Tetley

 Chair,

Churwell Action Group Your Committee and Officers then stood down.

Public Meeting held at Churwell Community Centre, Wednesday 28th May, 2003 from 7.30 p.m. onwards

All the committee were present, except for Wenda Whitehead, whose apologies were received.

Your Chair (JT) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members present along with Cllr. David Morton, Liberal Democrat (Headingley) in his role as Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority and Sgt. Phil Leather, (Community Police, Morley) and Constable Simon Stone who would attempt collectively to discuss the aspects of Community Policing.

Cllr. David Morton, Liberal Democrat (Headingley) gave a précis of his role as Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority, whose remit was to monitor the performance of West Yorkshire Police. He was satisfied for the Police to be fully responsible for the operational aspects of policing and therefore free from political interference, although ‘priority initiatives’ from central government such as reducing street crime had to be addressed on an operational basis. As a result of lobbying, there had been an active campaign of recruitment which has resulted in a net gain of 267 extra Police Officers and 200 extra support staff. The force had just over 5,000 Officers and the target was 6,000 though this would have to be paid for, one way or the other. The WYPA consulted widely with, Community groups, with business and young people and were now responsible too for Health & Safety and with a duty to Community Safety.

Cllr. Finnigan referred to ex-Mayor of New York Rudolph Guilliani’s strategy on Policing and asked whether this couldn’t be Community-led, you know, give the public what they want, such as zero tolerance, more police and safer streets?

SM proffered the comment that there was a perception that in all such meetings as these, the various Communities were not actually being listened to and to echo Cllr. Finnigan’s comments, why can’t Policing come from the Community-upwards and not from the Chief Constable downwards? On a parallel theme, the Youth Service in Leeds was a joke. Moreover,  the majority of anti-social behaviour came from dis-affected youths who ought to be doing something positive on or, off the streets, instead of running amok on the streets.

Elizabeth Clarkson thought that some of the ‘initiatives’ were a waste of money, everyone knew where Morley Police Station was and she would prefer 50 more fully qualified Police Officers on the streets as opposed to 100 Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s). What too was the cost of a PCSO?

Cllr. Morton replied that it was impossible to fund lots of police stations and that PCSO’s were a visible presence as well as adding to the intelligence gathering process. The operational cost was about 60% of a fully qualified Police Officer. He added that PCSO’s were not ‘the  be all and end all’ but, were a presence on the streets and we should all give the initiative a little more time to ‘bed down’ before passing a conclusive judgement. In his own area of Headingley, there had been a successful ‘Street Crime Initiative" which had resulted in a net decrease in burglary and mobile phone theft and a perception of safer streets in that area.

Neil Dawson asked about the performance and targets of the police and whether the time spent on administration could be combated (i.e. dissipated)?

Cllr. Morton responded that, in all honesty, the majority of targets had not been met so far but, figures due later this year would be an improvement. In terms of administration, WYP employed a lot of civilian staff to take on the administrative burden which freed up the police to concentrate on practical policing.

Cllr. Slingsby opined that, "didn’t the Police Federation comment that PCSO’s were not really welcomed  and that the pay of Officers was comparable to the manager of MacDonalds, to which Cllr. Morton replied that the pay of PCSO’s was not that of fully qualified Police Officers and the expertise of the latter was not wasted on ‘secondary (my words SM) Policing’ issues and the PCSO’s were still a visible presence.

Mrs Lockwood said that PCSO’s  were there in a capacity to assist the Police, not replace them. Her son was one such PCSO  in Bradford and eventually wanted to join the Police as a fully qualified Officer.

Elizabeth Clarkson said that fully qualified Police Officers were better than PCSO’s  whilst not wishing to denigrate those PCSO’s.

Cllr. Morton said that, he was aware of the Police Federation’s public stance on PCSO’s.

Terry Grayshon asked, "were things going to get worse before they got better?" Did Morley have to reach the status of Chapeltown, Bradford or inner-city Leeds and that it was strange to be discussing funding of the police when our batch of city councillors cost almost £1.5 million.

Cllr. Morton replied that the jibe about the cost of city councillors was, in effect, ‘a cheap shot’ and it all depended on what calibre of servants the public wanted in their roles as councillors. As for Morley and its outlying area status, it is not perceived, by the crime statistics, as a ‘high -crime area’, relatively speaking, to say, inner-city Leeds, so yes, it probably would have to get worse before getting better.

Mrs Tate asked categorically, "are you going to put Police in Morley, yes or, no?" Cllr. Morton said, "no, that was an operational matter on which he had said right at the outset, that he could not make any comment". When asked if he was ‘passing the buck’, he replied that, "no, he was here tonight, to listen".

Cllr. Beevers mentioned the last Police Forum and said that it was within the capacity of the Chair of WYPA to call a special meeting to discuss ‘single-issue concerns’ such as the problems caused recently by the travelling Community both in Drighlington and Gildersome. Would Cllr. Morton welcome an invitation to ‘do a tour of Morley with him to which Cllr. Morton said he would look at an official representation.? Cllr. Morton said would be spending a couple of days with WYP to look at some operations on a ‘first hand basis’ some time later in the year.

Cllr. Tetley said that a regular attendee of the Police Forum had said that the issues being debated now were the same issues being debated at those 15 years ago and that we all appeared to be running around in circles. Cllr. Tetley was not happy too with the 90 minute duration of the Forum and nor was he happy with the fact that he wasn’t able to speak at that Forum in the traditional manner, despite many people ignoring procedures by raising their hands and shouting out regardless.

Cllr. Morton responded that, he understood all the grievances and that many people did not get the chance to speak and stipulated that there were some people in the audience both tonight and at the Police Forum who, were either ‘exhibitionists’ or, ‘the articulate ones at the front’ and there had to be a time limit. He was willing to both extend the 90 minute duration to 120 minutes and also call a special meeting once or twice a year for ‘single-issue concerns’. Moreover, he felt the Constituency was rather large geographically and that he felt that it may be more appropriate to split the forum into smaller groups so that the shy and less articulate may get heard in the future.
Cllr. Morton was thanked by your Chair and given the usual courtesy by Members for his attendance.

                                        *****
Sgt. Phil Leather, gave a précis of his role as discuss the aspects of his role as Community Sergeant, Morley Community Police. He had taken over in mid-April with a staff of 4, Morley Community Police had been given the opportunity to tutor a number (8) of the probationary Officers procured from extra funding acquired. These probationary Officers would be on duty for 12 weeks with a tutor Officer, spend a further three weeks training, then have a further 10 weeks independent patrolling in the Morley area. You would see the presence of these Officers both with tutors and independently over the duration of the training. Sgt Leather said that,  Policing was all about directing resources on an operational basis which came from the top down. He was not responsible for that but, by directing resources at ‘high priority areas’, some outlying areas inevitably, didn’t have access to those resources, which inevitably caused problems for Communities.

Cllr. Finnigan opined that having had first hand experience of Sgt. Leather in the recent past relating to the travelling Community in Drighlington and Gildersome, he was full of admiration for the Community Police Officers in Morley and the way the contentious issues had been handled by Sgt. Leather and his staff.

SM endorsed those comments but, wanted to clarify whether the Probationary Officers would still be deployed in Morley at the end of their second, 10 week independent patrols sequence? Sgt. Leather said that, that was within the remit of the hierarchy and he didn’t have control over such operational matters.

Terry Grayshon opined that one of the more objective and positive things Supt. Groves could do, instead of standing up in Forums and spewing out statistics was to go ‘Back to the (shop) floor’ and reacquaint himself with Community Policing. He himsel, as a student in law, could manipulate or, massage figures such as those on gun crime since the Labour government came to power, amongst other such figures and that there ‘were lies, damn lies and statistics’.

Alison Foster asked whether or not the Community Police would be willing to ‘work with young children’ before they came to that crucial stage and age of trouble-making? Sgt Leather said yes, that was possible, resources permitting.

Mr. Whittam asked about the efficacy of employing the police helicopter in certain circumstances such as high speed chases? Sgt. Leather said that the helicopter was a valuable asset  in the fight against all manner of crimes.

Your Chair thanked Sgt. Leather and PC Stone for their attendance and Members gave them the traditional courtesy.

                                                                            *****

Cllr. Sanders said that on 17th May, there had been tree survey in Clark Springs Wood where only 3 Members had turned up and that this Saturday, she hoped for many more for the Clark Springs Wood ‘clean-up’. 3 skips would be on-site and we wanted as many people as possible to come and help fill them.

The skip on Hepworth Avenue had been a great success but, the collection and replacement service had deteriorated from the ‘once every month’ to perhaps ‘once every 6 weeks’ and we needed to lobby our representatives for an improved service. We needed to lobby too, she continued, for a more frequent grass-cutting service and more bins.  Churwell Community Centre would be painted in the autumn.

Alison Foster was asked to update Members on the schools allocation scenario. Alison said that, as of today, there had been sufficient movement in the appeals system to have given places at Morley High School for 3 (out of  11) children, so, 8 children were still ‘in limbo’. On the primary side, Mick Sykes said there had been no movement at all.

Cllr. Finnigan said that he was not happy (as were the parents), at the way the primary appeals had been conducted and was waiting for consultation on this aspect. He had put forward a motion, to be debated in full (city) council in June, to the effect that, "this council believes a catchment area system should be re-introduced". It had been seconded by Cllr. Leadley and would be on the Agenda but, in what priority, he couldn’t say. He would,  however, keep trying until it was debated. There would come a time too, when the City Council budget had to re-appraise its strategy and commitment to ‘quality of life’ issues and also that of efficacy of the big spenders, such as education and social services, which unfortunately, left every other spender a very poor relation.

Terry Grayshon highlighted a ruling on the statute bill relating to travelling distances which gave parents of primary school children a little hope. He also left details (on CD) of the Greenwich, Rotherham and Wiltshire/Somerset ‘rulings’.

Your Chair gave details of the ‘computer taster’ course to be held at Churwell Community Centre on Tuesday, 3rd June 2003 from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. (ish). All were welcome.

Melanie Woolner has taken on the Churwell Memorial Gardens project and has managed to ‘persuade’ a local funeral director (no publicity requested) to donate a park bench for use in the Memorial Gardens. This has been gratefully accepted on our behalf by Melanie and will be sited after the external makeover being undertaken under the auspices of Melanie.

Cricket/bowls match. The proposal, by our counterparts at Gildersome Action Group for a bowls match in the summer was inconvenient because,  (they say) (I think our choice of Jack Whittam as captain has them scared!) the green is under constant use. Lisa Drake, Secretary, GAG has suggested that a Quiz Night was now on the Agenda and would finalise the details and report back.

Your Chair gave detail of the AGM which was to be held on Wednesday, 11th June, at which there would be a ballot held under the scrutiny of Terry Elliott, JP.

Members were invited to participate in the ‘Mayor’s Sunday’ to be held at All Saints Church, Churwell. There would be a full Mayoral procession starting from Churwell Community Centre (at about 1.40 p.m.) leading to All Saints, the service beginning at 2 p.m. A Salvation Army Band had been booked and it was hoped that the Air Cadets, Guides and Scouts could attend. In view of the pressure the Mayor had had not to hold the Service at All Saints Church, he hoped that the Churwell Community would not let him down and that he would like the procession and the Service to be magnificently supported by that Churwell Community.

Mr. Whittam gave thanks to all newly elected Churwell Town Councillors for their ‘thank you’ card which had been warmly and gratefully received. Neil Dawson added his best, personal, wishes.

Finally, Cllr. Beevers said that if any Members wanted to join the Police Forum, would they pass on their details to the Secretary who, would be willing to pass these on to the appropriate destination.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9. 30 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 25th June, 2003 at 7.30 p.m. Details (of any proposed speakers) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
 and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 

                                                                        *****

  2)   Litter and Dog litter bins. Following the letter sent to Bill Buckley on 13th March 3 bins had been sited; 2, outside Churwell Primary school and 1, outside Daffil Wood at the beginning of Ibbetson Oval on 24th April.  3)   Churwell Memorial Gardens. Melanie Woolner has taken on this project and had met with Richard Gill, Leeds Leisure Services. She gave Members a quick résumé of what she hoped to achieve (such as planting, painting of the railings and gate) which, hopefully would be in time for this year’s Remembrance Service. She had invited Richard Gill to our next meeting on 28th May where he would advise Members. Regarding the upgrading of Churwell War Memorial; this had been taken up by Cllr. Bradley (Scatcherd) and was ‘work in progress’.

  4)   Cricket/bowls match. JT said that our counterparts at Gildersome Action Group have now proposed a bowls match in the summer. SM would contact Lisa Drake, Secretary, GAG and would finalise the details and report back on the response.

   5)  Refuse and Recycling. JT gave details that CAG has been invited to travel to another council area to inspect their recycling facilities. We had hoped to go in April and report back but had so far not had any dates offered to us. Incidentally, Middleton Tip had re-opened after refurbishment and Mrs McGregor asked where Middleton Tip was?    6) Has the problem of the unruly children outside Churwell WMC abated? Jack Whittam was able to say that, in the main, this was the case, though he had been the victim of eggs being thrown at his window perhaps, as a result. There was anecdotal evidence of drug-taking and drinking again in Churwell Park and particularly, Hardy Avenue. Joyce Sanders had the rudiments of crack cocaine explained to her. Cllr. Finnigan said we should invite Sgt. Leather, Morley Community Police to impart the views of Members. Elizabeth Clarkson said that the Police must be informed of these specific instances in an attempt to highlight this issue.

   7)  Your Chair asked Members not to forget the Churwell Park ‘steps’ "Day of Action" starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday 10th May, 2003. This would be advertised in The Observer and Advertiser. Elizabeth Clarkson expressed concern over the clean-up if needles and such like were likely to be in evidence. SM said that the area to be cleaned up was not a cause for concern. A new Member asked why should the Community have to do this? Jack Whittam asked if a particular footpath could be cleared of vegetation as one lady had been attacked in that area? Cllr. Finnigan said he would effect Mr. Whittam’s request.

  8)  Letter received from David Morton, Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority to say that, he would be pleased to attend a CAG meeting but on his terms of reference and under no circumstances will he be in a position to discuss police operational matters such as, will Morley be getting  a fair share of the increased Police presence on our streets? Cllr. Finnigan said that irrespective of the nature and tone of the letter, he should be invited so Members could air their concerns, their knowledge and ideas about how the Police deals with a Community such as Churwell.  A vote from the floor was taken and Cllr. Morton would be sent an invitation for 28th May.   9)  Your Chair asked Alison Foster to give an update on the Morley Schools for Morley Children scenario. Up to press, there were 9 high school children and a smaller number of primary children yet to be allocated. She expressed the view that because of public pressure, she believed that the short term consequences would be resolved in the children’s favour though she warned that the situation would get worse next year with the ‘New Churwell’ development. The developer too, was promoting the fact that children residing there would not have a problem getting into Morley schools. Cllr. Finnigan gave details of the letter received from David Miliband (Minister responsible for schools) saying that following the ‘Rotherham judgement’, there was no bar to catchement  areas being introduced whereby local children take priority over ‘out of area’ children and that this was in the hands of the local education authority, namely Leeds City Council. SM imparted to Members that Chris Wrench, Education Leeds, stated on 7th April that they (LCC), turned down an opportunity to facilitate this two years ago for whatever reasons they had at the time and it was up to us to lobby our City councillors to change this situation for the benefit of all our children’s education. Wenda Whitehead also moved a motion of congratulations to Alison for spearheading the public campaign in a most articulate and vociferous way. Members responded accordingly. Cllr. Leadley gave Members his take on the situation at Westerton Road and Cllr. Finnigan at Victoria Road schools.

Any Other Business?

Mr. Midgeley said he had met with the Woodlands Officer to discuss part of the old JAPA dam and wasn’t impressed with the reaction. SM said that CAG Members would be having a clean up day on 31st May, all volunteers were welcome. Your Chair asked Mr. Midgeley to reserve judgement.NB. 17th May, Members were invited to participate in a sample survey in Clark Spring Wood. Meet at CCC at  10 a.m.

31st May, Members were invited to participate in a clean up day in Clark Spring Wood 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Mrs Tate, ‘Keeper of the Skip’, asked if a sign asking people not to dump rubbish if a skip wasn’t in place could be located? Cllr. Finnigan said he would look into it.

Your Chair introduced Susie Gridley, Leeds Voice and Susie gave a résumé of her organisation, which was a facilitator of networking and funding for voluntary and Community groups. Funding from £500 up to £5,000 as part of the Community Chest could be given and she would be willing to help with form filling and such like. Community Learning Chest grants of up to £500 were also available for individual, personal  training. SM gave evidence of the four Members of Morley Community Partnership who were attending Northern College and were all very pleased with themselves and their achievements, goals and aspirations. Louise Page-Bulloch was also the Leeds Voice Representative on the CIT (Community Involvement Team). Susie also mentioned that there were posts coming up in October for assistant Voice Representatives and volunteers would be welcomed.
Cllr. Elliott asked Susie if Leeds Voice could fund a youth project? Susie said yes, a project plan would have to be put down on paper and we could liaise with Dave Cousins.

Melanie Woolner said that Jayne Cullingworth had met with Kate Salmon of the Youth Service and  once again had met with negativity. Melanie also asked whether Leeds Voice would be willing to fund a Community Project such as a Churwell Youth Club as the Youth Service seemed incapable of providing such a service? Susie responded that this was possible and warned that, because of ‘child protection vetting etc.’, this would not happen overnight but was a sensible idea and one which she would be willing to work on with CAG.Cllr. Finnigan said (again) that the Youth Service was patently not working and should be re-structured in its entirety from top to bottom in ‘root and branch reform. Bob Gettings, he hoped, would be the person to get to the bottom of this  if, things worked out soon. Alison Foster said that she wanted to point out not all children were bad but there was a minority who were to blame. Dave Ellis said that the situation described here was not unique to Churwell.

There followed a vigorous debate on youth problems and Cllr. Finnigan concluded that, this was going to be a ‘long haul’ and that the Community had to keeping on shouting, keep banging the drum and grinding down the Police and other bodies to ensure that Communities were safe and that they had adequate Policing commensurate with the needs of those Communities. Both Cllr. Finnigan and your Chair said we all needed to attend Police Forums regularly to voice our concerns over such issues. Susie said that Leeds Voice had funded a CCTV project over in Weetwood. Elizabeth Clarkson said CAG had initiated a lot of debate about anti-social behaviour and indeed the prohibition of drinking alcohol in public open spaces such as parks came from the floor of Churwell Action Group.

Finally, Wenda Whitehead said that, Churwell Primary School was still desperately short of a school crossing man/lady and if anyone knew  of anyone please get in touch with her.This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.
The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 28th May, 2003 at 7.30 p.m.  It was hoped that Cllr. Morton and Richard Gill would attend. Details will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG
Stewart McArdle
 Secretary,  Churwell Action Group

The signposting that was promised for Clarke Springs Wood and Daffil Wood was earmarked for siting in April or, May of this new fiscal year. The gate also promised for Daffil Wood, would soon be sited.
(The gate was done on Thursday 27th March)

Mr Midgeley asked CAG for assistance regarding the condition of one of the old dams located on Woodcross that originally belonged to the JAPA mill. Tipping was prevalent. He and neighbours had filled many bags but, they weren’t being collected by Parks & Countryside, Leeds City Council. The situation was so bad that, rats had been seen. Lisa Drake asked if a site visit with Environmental Health and Parks & Countryside could be facilitated? SM said he would draft a letter to Simon Frosdick.

Litter and Dog litter bins. Another letter requesting more information on the promised litter and ‘dog’ bins was sent to Bill Buckley on 13th March. As yet there had been  no response.

Churwell Memorial Gardens. Melanie Woolner has taken on this project along with Richard Gill, Leeds Leisure Services. She gave Members a quick résumé of what she hoped to achieve and hopefully would be in time for this year’s Remembrance Service. She would be contacting Richard Gill shortly to give him a prod. Also, the upgrading of Churwell Was Memorial had been taken up by Cllr. Bradley (Scatcherd) who had already contacted Friends of War Memorials (FoWM) and placed it on the agenda of the Finance & General Purposes Committee, Morley Town Council.

Cricket match. Our counterparts at Gildersome Action Group have proposed a cricket match in the summer. Is anyone, or does anyone know anyone, who may be interested? JT suggested a mixed, both men and women’s match. Jack Witham suggested a bowls match. Lisa Drake, Secretary, GAG would go back with the proposal and report on the response.

Skip on Hepworth Avenue. CAG ask for your co-operation in not putting perishables (foodstuffs) in the skip. This would only attract vermin and the smell in summer will be awful. Please put all perishables in your general black bins. A letter of  thanks was sent to Mrs Tate on for acting as steward. Melanie Woolner also asked that anyone getting abuse from contractors over tipping in the skip should take down the number of the vehicle and report this to the Police as this constituted violence with menace. Cllr. Elliott said that Morley really wanted an official tip and perhaps this should be lobbied for.

Refuse and Recycling. JT gave details that CAG has been invited to travel to another council area to inspect their recycling facilities. This we hope to do in April and we would report back to Members.

CAG has been given information regarding the names of the unruly children outside Churwell WMC which will be passed on to the Community Police.

JT gave details that CAG has been officially notified as one of the representors of the Leeds UDP review. So far, over 500 representations city-wide and about a third have come from this area, allegedly!

JT suggested that the area around Churwell Park ‘steps’ needed a good tidy-up and suggested a "Day of Action" including the provision of a skip for the day. Were there any volunteers? Everyone thought that it was a good idea and Cllrs. Finnigan and Dawson volunteered to lend a hand at the proposed date, as agreed, 10 a.m. on Saturday 10th May, 2003. This would be advertised in The Observer and Advertiser.

SM had received letters to say that, reading between the lines, Morley will get a share of the increased Police presence of 267 new Police Officers on our streets. This would not be as requested, that they are ring-fenced and stationed at Morley but, purely in an operational capacity based on priority. Whether that would be a fair share, only time will tell. There was a lot of discontent that we not only paid for a town centre Police Officer from the town council precept but, we had been promised more Police for Morley. Why were we paying more council tax if this was not to be the case?
Alison Foster ventured to give a specific example of staff at Joseph Priestley College where on two days staff and students were being threatened by a student. It took 40 minutes for a response from the Police. Cllr. Dawson said that in the event of illness or other reasons, the role of town centre Police Officer was covered. Cllr. Elliott suggested that JPC write to the Town Clerk to enable this to be discussed in the chamber. WW said that following the reporting of an incident in the locale, Police instructed her that, "if we have a car in the area we will send someone to investigate". Terry Grayshon gave Members a quick résumé of the publicity aroused from his 5 hour time response to a burglary at home and of his "Missing, Where’s Bobby?" campaign. He said that he would be meeting Supt. Groves, Divisional Commander, Holbeck Division on Monday (31st March) and would bring these two specific incidents, particularly the JPC incident, to his immediate attention.

JS and WW gave Members a quick résumé of environmental and Community issues and said they would bring up the ‘tip’ at Woodcross to the attention of council Officers. The duck in the toddlers playing area in Churwell Park had  been replaced at long last. Glue-sniffing apparatus in the vicinity of the rhododendrons in Churwell Park would be cleared soon. The bowling green in Churwell (as in Gildersome) was coming under attack but surveillance and action was taking place and finally, the safety goalposts in Harwill Playing Field were in the pipeline but, how long that pipeline is, is anyone’s guess.

EC said that the re-laying of the road surface in Manor Farm Drive & Crescent was completed on 14th March and that the small piece left near William Street had been finished recently.
Lew Beever asked if we could make representations to get all of the potholes on the Harwill estate filled in or better still have it all (except for Harwill Croft) re-surfaced? EC said she would look into the matter.One resident of King George Avenue said that the road was breaking up, was being subjected to the use by articulated vehicles, cars been test driven and young people on motorbikes been driven at speed and called for appropriate traffic-calming measures such as on the Springfield estate. As he didn’t drive, he supported and welcomed, the reinstating of the bus service.

Any Other Business?

WW mentioned that as of last Friday, 21st March, there was no longer a school-crossing person operative at Churwell Primary school and asked what could be done? Cllr. Dawson said a traffic warden was the best option. SM said that they should bypass officialdom and ring the Police as the quickest method in acquiring cover in the short term.

Lynne Bedford mentioned the contentious issue of parking around the school abused by parents and said that the only option was to have double-yellow lines located by the school perimeter. Melanie Woolner said that it wouldn’t work because that couldn’t be enforced.

Jack Witham brought up and it was confirmed by Mrs Gaythorpe that, traffic improvements for Old Road were only part of the new development, not for the ‘old’ part of Old Road.

Another  issue, that of school place allocations for Morley children was aired. Cllr. Leadley said that the term used, Greenwich Ruling was a High Court judgement. Cllr. Finnigan also confirmed that the admissions manager, Education Leeds,  would be attending the meeting called on 7th April at 6.30 p.m. for worried parents.

Cllr. Finnigan said that he had just come back from a full, Leeds City Council meeting, where two resolutions he had placed on the agenda, namely ‘school places’ and ‘the drinks in public places ban’ had been positioned at numbers 5 & 6 and in effect had been talked out (filibusted) in the chamber. A sewer in Wetherby took precedence over Morley schools for Morley children. He was grateful for the support of some his fellow councillors. SM said that it was highly unlikely that the ruling would be changed but, Morley children should have precedence over other children from out of the area. Cllr. Finnigan disagreed and  said that the ‘Ruling’ had to change. Cllr. Dawson said that it was right that the ‘Ruling’ be challenged and his colleague had put a resolution to Morley Town Council to this effect at the next full council meeting. Finally, Cllr. Finnigan opined that the Community could not be ignored ad infinitum and he would persist in this objective within Leeds City Council.

JT said that at the extraordinary meeting called on 10th March, many parents of those children affected attended and he hoped that regular Members would support these parents in numbers on the night. Jayne Cullingworth said that those same people could attend the Public meetings too. It did work both ways.

Jack Witham hoped to bring some interesting photos of the new estate at some point in the future.

Sheena Stevens thanked CAG for their support over the change of use application at Broad Oaks Farm but, it looked like that the application would be passed.

Finally, Cllr. Finnigan revealed that, regarding the ban on Morley residents using the tipping facility at Nab Lane, Birstall (in the Kirklees area), there had been a scheme proposed whereby Morley residents would be given access to this facility and he awaited confirmation.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at approximately, 9 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 30th April, 2003 at 7.30 p.m. Details of any speaker(s) will be announced in The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,Churwell Action Group

                                                     ************************************

 Your Chair (WW) opened proceedings and welcomed all Members both old and new present.WW gave a mention of the Churwell Action Group 1st Anniversary Party which was attended by over 50 Members on 15th February. All present said that it had been an excellent night and the catering was great value. Mrs Vranic asked if there could be one in the summer? JS said the residue of £33 + had been donated to Churwell Community Association as a goodwill gesture.

Those interested in a computer ‘taster’ course organised by Joseph Priestley College, were to suggest a few dates so both CAG and JPC could take the initiative on a stage further.(Letter sent to JPC to this effect once all the names had been confirmed, by 7th March, 2003)

 WW gave details that, the re-laying of the road surface in Manor Farm Drive & Crescent should be in the final stage of completion. Work was scheduled to finish on Friday 28th March. Delayed.

Churwell War Memorial. This had been taken up by Cllr. Bradley (Scatcherd) who, had already contacted Friends of War Memorials (FoWM) and placed it on the agenda of the Finance & General Purposes Committee, Morley Town Council. An initiative via Melanie Woolner for CAG to maintain the WM Gardens. Cllr. Dawson there was potential funding of a 50 % grant from FoWM. Lisa Drake (Gildersome Action Group), had been in contact with Richard Gill, Leisure Services, Leeds City Council, who she had found more than willing to help in a similar scheme in Gildersome.

Letter was sent to Mr. Gill on 28th February, to this effect.Following the suggestion of both Melanie and Jayne last month, CAG wrote to John Paxton, Principle Youth Officer, Leeds City Council who in turn  had contacted us to say that Maz Asghar, Kate Salmon’s line manager would be contacting us soon. How soon that will be is anyone’s guess. How long is a piece of string? SM said he would wait until the middle of March before contacting them again. SM also gave details of youths in speeding cars traversing Hepworth and  Granny Avenues, along with William Street. This had been passed to PC Twitchett at Morley Community Police. WW said if people were scared of ‘naming and shaming’, Churwell Action Group would do it on their behalf. There was also evidence from WW to say that the playground in Churwell Park was starting to be vandalised again. Mr. Whitham said that there was evidence of 2 gangs in the village and one was at Churwell WMC, where the children supposedly accompanied by parents were not being checked in their behaviour.A suggestion of writing to the Committee, Churwell WMC was effected on 28th February.

Parking on Fountain Street was still being monitored with the support of CAG.

CAG had made a collective submission to the Leeds UDP Review. This had been sent in for the 18th February deadline. There were two copies for inspection, should anyone want to do so. We await the outcome, though the battle is not over. We have to do everything we can to support Leeds City Council when the developers start their many objections to PAS land going back into green belt. There had been many good ideas and initiatives such as transport and recycling, both from CAG and Morley Town Council. We all needed to keep our eye on the ball to ensure the residents of King George Avenue, Daisy Hill and  New Bank Street weren’t blighted by development. Once the wedge was in, it would be unstoppable. Cllr. Beevers opined that, Owlers Farm had been given outline permission for development as far as he knew. Cllr. Dawson said brownfield sites needed to be watched too.CAG Committee Members had been invited by the Leader of Kirklees Metropolitan Council to visit their very successful recycling depots. We would be very pleased to go and have a look.

The planning application by  Mike Cater, for the building of two detached houses in his front garden (off Laneside) and which went to appeal to the Inspectorate in Bristol has been rejected by them too, as well as everyone else. Both Morley Town and  Leeds City Councils and CAG put in submissions to the Inspectorate in support of the objections of residents. This would have been awful.

10) Any Other Business?
 Mr. Sykes re: bus service on King George Avenue, suggested the smaller 20 seaters were more appropriate for the road and gave anecdotal evidence of his own child being snatched from the path of a bus by her mother. Lisa Drake, for Cllr. Finnigan, said that, he had written to Metro to see if smaller buses could be introduced but, as yet, had had no response. Lisa Drake too, wondered if a protective barrier at the top junction with Victoria Road would be appropriate? Cllr. Finnigan will investigate this further.

Melanie Woolner was going to give details of the Morley In Bloom meeting she had attended on 4th February but, was incapacitated with laryngitis. This would be brought up next month.

There were concerns for the planning application for a change of use from agricultural land to a stone cutting business at Broad Oaks Farm. Concerns were for the unsuitable road structure, HGV traffic supposedly carrying stone using the road, noise and dust pollution. Evidence of tipping and burning of rubbish was in evidence too. Cllr. Leadley said that this was a retrospective application similar to the one at Hill Top Farm over on Rooms Lane. I can confirm that an objection by CAG will be sent in by the 10th March, 2003 deadline with a copy to Sylvia and Sheena for reference. JT had met Keith Darch, Highways, to get an update on the road improvements collectively procured by the Community. Safety cameras and the pelican crossing by the Westwoodside junction with the school would be effected between April 2003 and March 2004. Other safety measures and improvements such as the crossing near School Street, hatchings and path widening would be delayed, he was sorry to say, because of time, labour and money factors. CAG would still pursue these causes and ensure they are not forgotten.

JS gave details that the hard-standing of car park and garages on the Hepworth Avenue side of Churwell Park had this week been re-surfaced and was looking a whole lot better now.

Hepworth Avenue skip. Evidence of a van with B & B Roofing tipping and using threatening behaviour to residents remonstrating that it was a Community skip was voiced. JS asked that, if anyone saw this van to take down the registration number of the van and pass it on to the Police or, Churwell Action Group. Lisa Drake suggested informing the papers too.

Cllr. Beevers asked if it was possible to ask Cllr. Morton, the new Chair of the West Yorkshire Police Forum to a future meeting?Letter despatched to Cllr. Morton to this effect on 28th February.

Continuing this Police theme, Cllr. Finnigan mentioned that a total of 467 further police and support workers had been ‘ring-fenced’ for service in West Yorkshire and proposed that we all write to as many influential people, such as, The Chief Constable, Insp. Tim Groves, (Holbeck), The Police Forum.Letters despatched to these people on 28th February.

Mr. Whitham mentioned the potentially dangerous situation of the wall by the viaduct, in which he highlighted that, parts of the stone wall were being stolen and he didn’t want to see anyone fall down the very steep embankment and suffer any injury. Letter despatched to Highways giving details of this  on 28th February and thanks to Mr. Whitham for highlighting this.

To go back to the UDP, Cllr. Finnigan wanted to say that, looking back over the last eighteen months, the Community of Morley as a whole, along with Morley Town Council had made great strides in the highlighting of these planning issues and offered praise to the Cllr. Leadley the Chair of, and  the rest of the Planning Committee for their efforts in that time.

Responding to Mr. Whitham’s query re: the HGV ban, SM replied that he surmised that, once the safety cameras, pelican crossing and other items on the shopping list had been effected within the next thirteen months, many HGV’s would find alternative routes. Time would tell.Regarding the Advertiser article, "improvements will save lives" with  the article’s implied premise that Cllr. Dawson was virtually entirely responsible for traffic and safety measures and concessions gained in Churwell, SM asked Cllr. Dawson, in open court, whether or not there was any truth in the rumour that he had slapped a libel action on the Morley Advertiser, because of a letter from the Chair, Joe Tetley, that had been  printed in that paper. Cllr. Dawson replied that the rumour was untrue but, he pointed out that the paper had  broken journalistic rules and etiquette as to whether comments he either did say, did not say, or was alleged to have said was true.
 

(It is noted however, that Cllr. Dawson did not confirm or deny the comment quoted in the Advertiser, was a truth or a fiction.)

Yours sincerely

and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdleSecretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

 All the committee were present.

Your Chair (JT) opened proceedings and wished all Members present a Happy New Year.

1)   JT gave a synopsis of things in progress, namely that of the ban on consumption of alcohol in designated public places (probably another six months away), bins and addititing in Churwell Park. There would be one new stand and one existing stand to be re-sited. The "Churwell Community Association" sign had been erected and three windows replaced and all re-painted prior to Christmas.

2)   Was anyone interested in a computer ‘taster’ course organised by Joseph Priestley College? If so, JPC would come down to CCA and give preparatory instruction. In the end, about half a dozen expressed an interest so, a letter would go to JPC for the ‘taster’ to go ahead.

 3)   New Years Party.  Tickets were on sale now but, only until Friday, 7th February and available from Wenda’s, Joyce’s and the Post Office. Depending on how many tickets sold would determine where the venue would be, either CCA or All Saint’s Church. The price is £3.00 and is for food intake. Any alcohol would have to be brought to the venue (and don’t forget, you have to be 18 years of age!)

 4)   There was a lot of controversy regarding the press article ("improvements will save lives") in The Advertiser (22nd January) and attributed to Cllr. Dawson. The article implied that Cllr. Dawson was almost solely responsible for all road safety measures to be implemented. Virtually the whole of the Members believed this was out of order, was heavily biased and gave no creditable mention of the main focus and cause of the A643 road improvements due in the fiscal year 2003/2004, namely that of the whole of the Community of Churwell (you, the Members of Churwell Action Group as a collective). It was also recognised for what it was, a blatant piece of ‘electioneering’ on behalf of the Labour Party and Cllr. Dawson was rightly accused of bringing ‘politics’ into an apolitical, Community sphere and this was not welcomed at all. Mr. Wilks, in the end, said no action should be taken on this occasion by CAG but, Cllr. Dawson was left under no illusions as to the anger of Members.

 5)   Hepworth Avenue. Cllr. Finnigan wanted views on what the Community wanted from the land between 17 & 19 Hepworth Avenue. After much "argy-bargy", it was requested of Cllr. Finnigan that he take steps to determine if the land could be used for the residents in the immediate vicinity for them to erect garages? An alternative site for the ‘Community skip’ would have to be found and the ‘hard core’ between Churwell Park and Hepworth Avenue was suggested as a universal ‘Community skip’ area perhaps, for composting, re-cycling et al. Cllr. Finnigan would put forward the views of the residents of Hepworth Avenue regarding the garages proposal to Leeds City Council.

6)   Churwell War Memorial. A unanimous approval was given to the siting of all soldiers killed mainly in the 1939-45 and subsequent conflicts and perhaps move the plaque into the gardens to make the ceremony go a little better. SM said that all these points were already in hand, via the good offices of Cllr. Derek Bradley (Independent, Scatcherd Ward, Morley Town Council).

7)  JT informed Members that there would be another meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 12th February, 2003 called by Morley Town Council to discuss further the Leeds UDP Review. Cllr. Finnigan gave a brief overview and said that the Community’s views on a number of things such as use of employment land (Policy E7) and affordable housing needed to be discussed and lobbied for and the more views the better. Elizabeth Clarkson asked who we write to?  Cllr. Finnigan replied, the Director of Planning. Cllr. Dawson said that the UDPR was ‘under consultation’ until possibly the end of this calendar year, though the deadline was officially, 18th February, 2003.

8)    JT mentioned the date and time of The Police Forum at The Town Hall, Morley 6th February at 7.30 p.m. All were welcome and it was an opportunity for the public to consult with, or give their views to, senior, local police officers such as Divisional Commander, Holbeck Division, Supt. Tim Groves.

9)   Any Other Business?

a) Lisa Drake asked whether anything had been effected from Kate Salmon’s initial visit (23rd October, 2002) last year? Both Jayne Cullingworth and Melanie Woolner said no and Jayne wondered whether or not it would be worthwhile to have a visit from Kate’s superior in the Youth Service? Cllr. Finnigan said that was an excellent suggestion  and that City Council colleagues were  to table a Question and Answer session to ascertain just why the whole approach and system had failed. Both Jayne and Melanie did not want to be ‘professionals’ but, wanted to work specifically in the Churwell Community. Cllr. Elliott wanted to say that there was funding out there and Cllr. Finnigan agreed that more emphasis ought to be placed on a full-time career structure for a number of positions instead of the ‘ad hoc, spread thinly on the ground’ system that was in situ at present and which patently wasn’t working.CAG would investigate the possibility of inviting someone higher in the chain.

 b)  A resident of King George Avenue mentioned that the re-introduction of the bus service via the periphery of the Croft House Estate was impractical and that the smaller 20 seaters were much more appropriate? He did not object to the bus service per se, just the size of the buses on a narrow road. Cllr. Finnigan said that both the residents of the Croft House Estate, of which there were many elderly and disabled, had campaigned for the service to be re-introduced and although he understood the Member’s concerns, he did not want to see the service ‘pulled’ in 6 months time. He fully understood that, a compromise solution could be facilitated with goodwill on all sides.

c)   Fountain Street/Elland Road Parking. Mick Bellwood and Alison Foster both said that, contrary to what was being written in official correspondence, between Highways and other bodies, traffic was still bad, they had pictorial evidence of this but, Highways were only observing and not enforcing . Both requested a site visit from Mr. Markham, if this could be arranged? Cllr. Finnigan said that he would request a site visit. Elizabeth Clarkson suggested that all residents keep a diary of activities, if possible,  for a two or four week period  to back up the pictorial evidence with documentary evidence.

 d)   Kath Naylor asked why, when an application for the finished extension to the off-license next door for domestic use had been refused, yet now, there was a shop unit ‘to let’? This ‘new’ shop of whatever premise would bring more traffic to an already busy area and really, why? Where was the sense?

e)    Melanie Woolner asked whether CAG could utilise the site visit from Mr. Markham to attempt to resolve the ‘school run’ parking and ‘safety’ issues in the vicinity around Churwell Primary School as well as inviting police? There were a number of suggestions such as a ‘walking bus’ which had been tried in the past but, a site visit seemed the most  suitable in this instance and Cllr. Finnigan would endeavour to ‘kill 2 birds with 1 stone’. Another Member, said that traffic wardens had only aggravated the problem. Lisa Drake had said that, in Kirklees where she lived, both walking buses and a peak period ‘one-way system’ had been successful for the last 15 years run by and monitored by the local Community.

f)    Dave Craven said that problems were still being encountered on Manor Farm Drive and asked why one household should want to own 8 (yes 8!) cars? This was literally and physically  blocking off and being a general nuisance to the whole street.

g)  Finally, Melanie Woolner gave out a Parish Notice to say that Jill Haigh (of Morley in Bloom) would be holding a meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, 4th February, 2003 at Morley Town Hall to promote participation in the ‘Leeds in Bloom’ competition.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 9.45 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.
 

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 26th February, 2003 at 7.30 p.m. Details of any speaker(s) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerelyand on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

 Your Chair (JT) opened proceedings and introduced all three headteachers from the three High Schools in Morley; Mrs Linda Johnson (Bruntcliffe HS), Mr. Bill Bailey (Woodkirk HS) and Dr. R. Walker (Morley HS).

 All three headteachers gave a résumé of their historical backgrounds and their roles.

(I have attempted, through an editorial process, not to repeat the general points where there is a lot of consensus between headteachers).
 Mrs Johnson explained that Bruntcliffe was built in 1963 with a capacity for 450 pupils. As of 2002, there were 1,519 pupils with 90 teaching staff plus support staff such as those catering for special needs and those with disabilities such as wheelchair-bound children. The ethos within Bruntcliffe is that it is an inclusive school. The special needs children, for instance, had been to Amsterdam where they’d had a wonderful time.

Moreover, the objective was to further raise the achievements and just as importantly, raise expectation of achievements with all pupils. There was to be capital spending of £500k in 2002/03.  Bruntcliffe had applied for Specialist School Status in the field of Business and Enterprise. Local links had been already set up with the renowned accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and GE Capital to engage pupils in the world of enterprise.

Mr. Bailey continued. He said that he was proud to be head of Woodkirk High School which comprised in  2002, 1831 pupils with 111 teaching staff. Woodkirk High School, though having the largest ‘pupil count’ had an excellent  pastoral system with learning support staff in place. No pupil was allowed to sink into anonymity. There were heads of upper and lower school, heads of 6th form and heads of year to emphasise this.
He was pleased that, in future, central government seemed disposed to the opening up of key stage 4 which would have a beneficial effect on the running of the school.
  On the following Monday (2nd December) Peter Ridsdale would be officially opening the new centre, integrated with Joseph Priestley College, to further enhance the capacity and excellence of the school. Woodkirk High School, like Bruntcliffe had applied for Specialist School Status, in this instance, in the field of Science.
In a school where he liked to think there was an ethos of benevolent neglect, he would also like to place on record  that, though academic achievement was important, school could be fun too and Woodkirk had a marvellous infrastructure for both sport and music.

Dr. Walker endorsed everything that his erstwhile colleagues had opined and wanted to emphasise that comprehensive education worked! When Morley High was Morley Grammar School (prior to 1974), there would have been 120-150 pupils per annum achieving 5 (equivalent) GCSE O-levels, grades A-C. In 2002, the number was 360, a big sea change in how academic society had changed as a result of comprehensive education. He was aware however, that there was a perception of late, from central government that, the ‘one-size fits all (educational) system’ wasn’t working and that future granting of Specialist School Status, (in the case of MHS, the field of Technology), was a means of the acquiring of some semblance of autonomy and flexibility within the fundamental infrastructure of the state educational system and its’ constricts. In terms of capital purchasing/spending there was the potential of a further £150k in budgets for the next four years.Dr. Walker then asked Members if they were aware that, the UK as a whole were in the top educational quartile world-wide in the field of the 3 basic subjects, English Maths and Science? Moreover, this was the key and this was something that, both Mrs Johnson and Mr. Bailey alluded to in their individual presentations, namely that of the creativity that the UK educational curriculum ‘mindset’ inculcated and this was so prominent within the general ethos of all 3  Morley High Schools. Dr. Walker stressed that in those terms and those terms only, we should all be shouting from the highest rooftops about the success of the 3 High Schools in Morley.

Dr. Walker wanted to further promote what Mrs Johnson and Mr. Bailey had been keen to opine that, the creativity wasn’t unique to the one school. That creativity,  particularly in the Arts (music and drama) but also academically, was something that ought to be celebrated and like Mrs Johnson and Mr. Bailey before him that, the drama and musical shows put on by all pupils of all 3 schools were very professional and priceless in terms of self-worth and esteem to pupils.

MHS had been given the ‘Sportsmark’ award again this year.

Finally and this point echoed that of his fellow headteachers, that, in the Morley area, there was a poor rate of pupils going on to higher education. The potential of pupils needed to be encouraged and enthused upon, in particular by the individuals concerned with the most clout, namely, the parents of these same pupils who, seemingly had lower expectations for their own children than the pupils themselves and this needed to be arrested. Again Dr. Walker gave an anecdotal account of a pupil who, because he only needed a certain mark in one subject for his vocation, only aimed for that mark as his objective, despite the fact that, if the lad had made better endeavours he could have surpassed his own expectations probably beyond his dreams, which Dr. Walker considered a waste of talent. (The fact that the pupil got a grade higher than he needed more than proved the point.)

 (Your chair asked ‘the panel’ if they would take questions from the floor.)

Jack Whitham said that, he was pleased that the schools were supporting handicapped children.

Cllr. Robinson said what were the panel’s views on local schools for local children?The panel said because of the Greenwich Agreement, it was important that all parents preference 1, 2 & 3, all the Morley high schools; doing so would virtually guarantee a place in a Morley school for a Morley child.

A lady asked what were the chances of a place in a Morley high school for her daughter (to be with her friends) if, as she did, live in Pudsey?

The panel agreed that, it would be difficult and was very likely to go to appeal and it could not determine which it the appeal would go; sometimes it went against all logic.

One lady said that, as the crow flies, Cockburn High School was nearer than a Morley school. What could she do, she had a Morley address?

The panel advised her to preference all three Morley high schools and said that, in the future,  the admissions situation would hopefully, be less of a problem as, according to (assumed) demographic changes, there would be less places needed city-wide.

 SM volunteered that, in essence, he would not trust the demographic department as far as he could throw them. In 1989, Churwell Primary was built (according to the demographic department), for an ‘adequate’ 400 places and in the year 2000, there was the ridiculous scenario of Portakabins on top of Portakabins and that this was unsustainable. Both Churwell and Victoria were over-subscribed, Churwell up to 40% and despite previous endeavours, Morley was still being over-developed to the point where the basic infrastructures were grinding to a halt. We needed to garner vociferous support from all of the Morley catchement area to ensure no further development took place; we could not campaign in isolation and until it was written in tablets of stone, we mustn’t let out guard down. There was a potential 3,500 may be as many as 4,000 houses that could be built on the Laneside site which would certainly affect all of Churwell and encroach on to the Croft House estate and New Bank Street.

 Cllr. Dawson asked why our schools did not have great success in foreign languages?

The panel said that, it was simply a fact that English was a world-wide success both because of Britain’s colonial past and America’s global and branded domination of the world.

The panel said that, there were many other minor reasons why pupils were dropping modern languages such as peer pressure and embarrassment. However, the innovatory practice of taking modern languages into the primary sector had met with great success and without doubt, resources permitting, this service could be extended to catch the children while they were young.

 Elizabeth Clarkson said that, it was alright raising childrens’ aspirations but, it appeared that education wasn’t such a ‘sexy’ area in Morley (south Leeds) and asked further why was it that Morley schools had only recently applied for ‘Specialist School Status?’

The panel replied that, the schools had tried but, inner-city Leeds appeared to have a greater priority up until now but, they had been pushing for some time. It was only now, that the voices in Morley had started to be heard and there was now, support from Education Leeds.One pupil had achieved a marvellous thirteen (13) GCSE’s simply as a result of sheer hard work and application.The panel agreed that, it was difficult to make all these ‘good news’ stories newsworthy, sometimes the public were only looking at controversy or, the hint of controversy. They would continue to keep their collective feet on the gas pedal in an endeavour to drive up standards.

 A couple of interesting points came out at this stage, one, that Morley schoolchildren were worth £600 less than other children and two, figures out recently says that high schools have been under-funded to the tune of £5 million and in financial league tables, high schools in Morley were in the bottom quartile, when it came to funding. This however, was to be addressed in the future. There would be £1 million in 2003/04, £3 million in 2004/05 and more in 2005/06.

 At a recent conference, attended by Dr. Walker, it was clear, he believed, from comments made by Messrs. Blair and Milliband that, there was a sea-change in attitude and perception on the part of central government..
Cllr. Finnigan said if this led to autonomy for headteachers, this was a positive and most logical way to go.

 Your chair raised a couple of contentious issue, namely that of,  poor literacy (up to 40%) ratios nationwide. Why were children leaving school unable to read, write and do simple arithmetic? He had personally seen this happening in his fourteen years as a mentor at Joseph Priestley College. Further, why was the childrens’ behaviour so appallingly bad?
 The panel agreed that there were many instances of anti-social behaviour but, one wondered what was going on in the pupil’s homes? It was heartbreaking when a parent came up and told them their eleven year old child was beyond her control. We could do what we could do and no more was the reply.

 SM said that we needed to engage and educate all parents to be an integral part of their child’s aspirations and achievements. He also apologised to the panel as his vision of "no more than an hour" had turned into a virtual two hours!

 At this point the session with all three headteachers concluded and were given the customary round of applause for their attendance.

Joyce Sanders gave a résumé of progress in relation to Clark Springs Wood.

Elizabeth Clarkson gave an update and details of another success for CAG, as the work requisitioned in August had started well in front of schedule. We had expected a long wait for this  (so congratulations to Elizabeth for her successful representations to Highways).

Alison Foster and Mr. Bellwood brought up the aggravation and acrimony that they were having to endure from the new owner of ‘Trant House’. He was extremely rude and belligerent regarding parking on Fountain Street.Cllr. Finnigan said that he would take this up once again with Highways and Jayne Cullingworth asked if CAG could send a letter to say that we were behind the residents. Cllr. Robinson wondered whether an approach from the press might help though Jayne said it wouldn’t matter a jot.

(I can confirm that a letter would be sent, pending consultation with Cllr. Finnigan.)

Lew Beever asked whether anyone had been aware of trouble in Churwell a week last Friday with cars and windows being vandalised?
SM confirmed he had called the police to say there were 25-30 youths in some state of inebriation at 6 p.m.(!) and that the police had finally responded to a 999 call at about 8 p.m. As a result of the police attendance, some children would be interviewed with their parents some time this week and this was likely to lead to some arrests on drink and drug related offences.

With respect to the New Years Party, it was now decided that it would be a First  Anniversary Party and it was concluded that the catering and venue would be addressed when we knew the numbers of Members attending. A date of a Saturday, either the 15th  February, 2003 would be the date. Mrs Naylor had confirmed her role as caterer for the event.

The CAG Committee would also like to record their appreciation and thanks to  all the ‘foot-soldiers’ who have very kindly delivered exactly 3,500 CAG newsletters over the last ten days.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 10 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.
The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 29th January, 2003 at 7.30 p.m. Details of any speaker(s) will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

                                                                    PARISH NOTICES

Cllrs. Leadley & Finnigan repeated the importance of everyone’s attendance at the UDP  meeting next Tuesday, 3rd December in the Council Chamber, The Town Hall at 7 p.m.

On Saturday, 21st December there will be a Christingle Concert at All Saints Church (just below the chemists) on Elland Road, Churwell at 4 p.m. This is a lovely service for the children and is usually well attended but, the more the merrier.

The following day, Sunday 22nd December the annual Churwell churches Carol Service will take place at St Brigids Church (between All Saints and the Commercial pub), Elland Road.

All are welcome and it is hoped the Community will come together and support to both these events.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

 All the committee were present.1)     Your Chair (JT) introduced Kate Salmon, Senior Area Youth Worker, (South Leeds) Leeds City Council and Kate gave a résumé of her role. Kate said it was important to realise that, in dealing with youth issues, there could be no ‘false promises’ so, in effect, it was impossible to commit to anything, unless it could be carried to fruition. What was desperately needed not just locally but, nationally, was a broad band of local volunteers that the Youth Service could ‘tap in to’ and so enabling these volunteers. Kate proposed that, a ‘working party’ be formed to draw up a ‘feasibility study’ to ascertain if this could work in Churwell. Using a ‘partnership approach’ whereby volunteers would begin as ‘volunteers’ but with training, vetting and selection, this could turn into paid, contracted work. Kate reiterated that, local areas needed local volunteers. Finally, SM said that, a firm commitment had to come from the Youth Service to get anything off the ground in Churwell, volunteers could not and should not do this in isolation and should be supported by the Youth Service whose remit this came under and who were paid after all. Kate left a small quantity of leaflets and copies of the mission statement for members to peruse and was thanked for her time in the usual  manner.  (A letter of thanks was sent to Kate on 28th October, 2002)

2)      At present there were 155 CAG Members.

3)      Public drinking Bye-law. Cllr. Dawson said that, Morley Town Council had consulted with the Police. Further proposal of all the boundaries being extended to 200 yards beyond ‘public places’ be included in the proposals. After further consultation with the Leader, Leeds City Council these proposals would be going back to them for authorisation but, not before a period of 28 days for public examination purposes. Signposting would be effected. In  general, Queen Street would be exempt from the Bye-law.

4)      Clark Springs Wood to be put on to a 25 year woodland management plan jointly administered by the Woodlands Officer, Leeds C.C.and CAG. Also, a proposal to shield the M621 with some tree planting along that corridor to negate both the dust and particularly the noise which, since the M621 had merged with the M1 had got progressively worse. In that eventuality, there was a proposal to involve children by adopting and ‘name-tagging’ their ‘own’ tree. CAG would endeavour to encourage all local schools to engage in environment and bio-diversity within this woodland.

5)      Quotation for a new CCC sign. Best price so far was £150 for the sign and fitting.

6)      Town and City Councillors and CAG would be meeting with Highways quite soon on an Elland Road site visit.

7)      The Toddlers Play Area in Churwell Park had been fenced off (finished on 8th October) to facilitate better security for child-carers. The dog litter bin, other bins and paint tins had been ‘blown up’ by mindless individuals or groups within the park.

8)     The legal process of transferring Harwill Playing Field from Education Services to Leisure Services had been completed and that in consultation, Cllr. Finnigan had recommended that, HPF be transferred to the control of National Playing Fields Association.

9)     Highways issues. Nothing to report from Elizabeth Clarkson other than the erection of ‘Churwell New Village’ signs on Elland and Victoria Road which was confirmed by Mr. Shield.

10)     The repeat performance of Ronnie Barraclough’s slide show ‘Churwell - Then & Now’ had raised £86.00 and  Jayne Cullingworth asked Ronnie if it could be put on video?

11)     On Remembrance Sunday, the Rev. Mark Earey would be conducting a short service attended by The Mayor of Morley, Cllr. Elliott (who would be laying a wreath) and other Town Councillors at the War Memorial at 9.30 a.m. Refreshments would be served at CCC after this and the service at The Cenotaph in Morley. SM proposed that, as Joyce Sanders had been instrumental in procuring the services of Rev. Earey, she should have the honour of laying a wreath on behalf of CAG. In answer to Ronnie Barraclough’s question whether the ‘Roll Call’ included the names of  those who lost their lives in WWII and if they weren’t, could they be inserted, CAG would write to Cllr. Bradley who was the one to investigate. Poster requested by Mrs Naylor to advertise the service in the Post Office.

12)     With respect to the New Years Party, catering and the venue  was discussed and it was concluded a little more time and application was needed before anything could be made definite. A date of a Saturday, either the 11th or 18th January, 2003 were the potential dates, so far.

13)     The skip on Hepworth Avenue had been an unqualified success and so far had been emptied 4 times. It was suggested that this could be extended to other areas in an attempt to encourage responsible ‘dumping’ by local residents and negate unauthorised ‘tipping’. Sites such as Old Road and Manor Road to name two, could be looked at for future siting of skips.

14)     Senior officer publicly admitted at the Police Forum that the level of policing in Morley was inadequate and your Chair urged as many as could attend, to do so at the next Police Forum in 2003. This would be held in Morley and anyone was at liberty to question senior Police officers and members of the West Yorkshire Police Authority on policy and the like, so please attend, if possible.

15)     The future of All Saints Church, being the junior church to St. Peter’s, was still under threat like many churches nation-wide and that, the congregation needed to be increased. There were many diverse comments but, the two pertinent points from Cllr. Judge and Melanie Woolner respectively was that, the building should be used for the original purpose that is, as a place of worship and that it needed to be used for and by the Community. Joyce had said that a message from the congregation of All Saints was that, they would fight to keep the church open and make representations to the church. Cllr. Leadley asked whether the application received earlier, for ground-improvement  had fallen through? Yes, the grant application had fallen through.

16)    Kath Naylor said that, 1 in 3, post offices designated urban status (of which Churwell was one), were down for closure nation-wide. Claimants were still being ‘persuaded’ to have their monies paid directly into a bank account and that this was closure by stealth. It was important that, all claimants be given a choice of bank or post office and not be pressurised or given ultimatums to have payments made into a bank account. Cllr. Judge said that she personally had been offered the option for the end of the year but, both Mrs Naylor and Cllr. Finnigan said that, as from April, 2003 all claimants would not have that option afforded to them. Cllr. Finnigan had collected 600 + signatures (in just 2 hours) for a petition campaigning for the retention of all post offices as an important and constituent part of all Communities. He had written to Dawn Primarolo, Paymaster General to this effect and was waiting for her response.

17)     Regarding high schools in Morley discussed in July. All 3 headteachers in Morley and Batley High School had confirmed and accepted their invitation to attend on 27th November, 2002.

18)     Proposal by CAG to supplement the existing lighting in Churwell Park on the Agenda for the next Highways meeting to be held, 12th November, 2002.

19)     Newsletter design had been finalised for distribution in October and your Chair asked again for more volunteers to distribute in the region of 2,800 to 3,000 Newsletters. (Anymore for anymore?)

20)     In answer to Mr. Whitham question regarding ‘Churwell New Village’, SM replied that, he had suggested in a letter of representation to Highways that, traffic only enter and leave via the northern entrance (by the garage) at the bottom of Churwell Hill.

21)     A group of people (who, technically were not allowed the floor as they were not actually CAG Members), had come to the meeting to discuss why an application by Mrs Kirk had been effected to adopt a Public Right Of Way (PROW) at the bottom of their gardens? She had not been vindictive but, wanted to clarify this matter be one way or, the other. This could end in favour of either party and only time would tell.

22)      Lew Beever said that, as he hadn’t managed to do his sponsored charity run because of injury, people were welcome to have their sponsorship money re-imbursed.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 10 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.
The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 27th November, 2002 at 7.30 p.m. All three, Morley secondary school headteachers and the headteacher from Batley High School will be attending.  Details will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle
  Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

Dawn  gave a résumé of her role. This comprised being the divisional co-ordinator of in excess of 200 NW schemes which were run by and for the Community and assisted by the Police. Some of the relevant points she had to make was that, there was rarely any crime in areas where a NW scheme was operational. NW worked in partnership with other agencies such as Youth Development Teams and Help The Aged. Leaflets were distributed by Dawn.

Dawn then gave examples of how the NW scheme worked and concluded with the fact that, working in partnership with the Police and the Community,  Neighbourhood Watch did work using Melanie Woolmer’s Grange Park Drive’s scheme as a working example.Cllr. Finnigan corroborated this point and that, where NW schemes were in operation, some  insurance companies looked upon this favourably with regard to reducing premiums, it was a statistically proven fact  that crime was reduced and most importantly, NW schemes built a sense of Community. Jack Whitham said that, it was alright teaching children how to behave but, sometimes it was parents that needed the teaching!

Members thanked Dawn for her attendance in the usual manner.

(A letter of thanks was sent to Dawn on 20th September, 2002)

2)     Cllr Finnigan explained the status regarding the Bye-law pertaining to ban on consumption of alcohol in public places. As far as he saw it, there was no obstacle to this being resolved other than Leeds City Council conducting a bureaucratic exercise which essentially slowed everything down, probably due to political dogma. Unfortunately, Cllr. Dawson, who had met with the Leader Of LCC recently, wasn’t there to add his comments on the subject.

3)     Status of the Elland Road traffic survey carried out in July. Initial results were that much of what CAG had campaigned for had been corroborated such as, a need for pedestrian crossings, Safety Cameras, a universal 30 mph speed limit along the whole of the A643 and the possibility of a HGV ban. Cllr. Finnigan would be meeting with his fellow ward councillors (Cllrs. Hill & Jones) and Highways quite soon in the form of a site visit.

4)      Joyce Sanders    Site found for the skip, located on the waste ground between  17 & 19 Hepworth Avenue adjacent to ‘The Pit Hills’. Resident living nearby would act as co-ordinator. Cllr. Finnigan had already arranged for a skip to be placed ‘in situ’ on Wednesday 25th September. Not be placed there every month but somewhere in the region of once every quarter. ‘Tidy-up’ of Clark Springs Wood to be taken a step further.

5)     Wenda Whitehead   Following meetings with Officers from Parks & Countryside, the Toddlers Play Area in Churwell Park was to be fenced off like other parks in the Leeds area. Wenda also said that she, Joyce and Jayne (Cullingworth) had continued to tidy-up the park on a regular basis.
Cllr. Finnigan said that in an ideal scenario,  Morley and other areas would have their own Community based maintenance teams but the political will wasn’t there. This was something he would continue to campaign for, a dedicated, geographical team allocated to the Morley area.

6)     Elizabeth Clarkson   informed Members that, following her last Highways report things had ground to a halt but, was able to report that, most of forms collected in July had had a positive outcome.

7)     Still collection problems with Dog and (general) Litter Bins including a lack of them in general. Both Cllrs. Kearns & Finnigan would continue to pursue this problem in the future.8)     Harwill Playing Field (Cllr. Finnigan). Negotiations and correspondence was still taking place to place HPF into the care in perpetuity, of the National Playing Fields Association and that this was still ‘Work In Progress’ but, would hopefully, have a positive resolution. Goalposts designated unsafe and had been ordered to be taken down.

9)     Regarding the ‘fall-off’ in numbers at Churwell Community Association’s ‘Drop-In’, Cllr. Finnigan promised to look into the matter. Proposed and agreed that,  CAG pay for a new sign for CCA.

10)   Resignation of Cllr. Keely Jamieson.  As it was so close to the AGM, it was unnecessary to go through an election procedure for the sake of four months.

11)   Congratulations were in order to the Top ‘ole for achieving 3rd prize in the Public House section of ‘Morley In Bloom’ and that a letter to that effect had already been sent on 4th September.

12)   Regarding the problems of parking on Fountain Street, Cllr. Finnigan said that, hopefully, residents of Fountain Street would soon have a more responsive and responsible neighbour.

13)   Regarding Youth Workers, SM  was able to report that, contrary to reports in the local press that, in fact, of the 4 DYW, only 3 of the appointees had accepted the posts offered to them. Moreover, those 3 DYW’s  had been designated for the whole of the Morley area. SM said it would appear  at best, that a false promise had been uttered by Officers of Leeds City Council and at worst, too much misleading publicity by local councillors in this little scenario. On a more positive note following contact with Kate Salmon, Senior Area Officer,  SM had invited Kate to our next meeting in October and it was envisaged that either or both,  Cllr. Finnigan and/or SM would meet with Kate at some point in the future, if convenient to discuss ongoing problems.

14)   Repeat of Slide Show  put on by Ronnie Barraclough on 11th October, 2002 at CCA, 7.30 p.m.15)   Cllr. Tom Leadley invited to lend his expertise to any representation CAG made to the Department of Planning & Environment in terms of the next round of UDP negotiations.

16)  Glenn Gorner, Woodlands Officer, Leeds City Council invited to the next CAG Committee meeting in October to advise us on Clark Springs Wood  maintenance and future protection.

17)   Possibility of the closure of All Saints Church (Eastergate) at some point in the future, for either the building or the land to be re-developed.  Did Churwell want this?

18)   Policy regarding the Post Office.

Kath Naylor informed all Members that, of 18 post offices designated urban, Churwell could be one of  the 6 down for closure. It was important that, all claimants be given a choice of bank or post office and not be pressurised or given ultimatums to have payments made into a bank account. This did not appear to be the case in her experience. Cllr. Finnigan had received written assurances from the Finance Director, Leeds City Council in which the FD explained  the Council’s active support of using post offices, via the initiative launched in April, 2002 and that, the Post Office too, were actively promoting, nationally,  the use of local Post Offices in the Community.
Cllr. Finnigan  collecting signatures for a petition campaigning for the retention of all post offices Saturday 21st September, in Morley as an important and constituent part of all Communities.

19)   No response yet from headteachers in Morley and Batley High School regarding the topic of overpopulated high schools in Morley and the Greenwich Agreement discussed in July.

20)   Ruth Muxworthy, Housing Officer for Churwell and Drighlington to be invited to a future CAG meeting.

21)  Volunteers required by CAG to distribute in the region of 2,800 to 3,000 CAG Newsletters in September/October. (6 volunteers had come forward on the night but, come on, don’t be shy!)

22)   Scouts in Churwell, despite being offered the use of a number of places in Churwell, including Churwell Primary School had, nevertheless, decided to move to Newlands School.

23)  JT mentioned the recently promoted  ‘Dig To Fight Crime’ scheme, a  partnership between British Gas and Groundwork, whereby the gardens of the vulnerable in the Community would be maintained twice a year, in an attempt to deter burglars and conmen.

24)  Lew Beever said that he had received notification from Property Services, Leeds City Council that, the windows of Churwell Community Association would be repaired and re-painted in either October or November.

25)  Members present agreed to CAG holding  a New Year’s Party.

This being the last item, the meeting was concluded at 10 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.
The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 23rd October, 2002 at 7.30 p.m.

No guest speaker(s) has been confirmed as yet but, it was hoped that, Kate Salmon, of the Youth Service, may possibly attend. Details will be announced in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.     Yours sincerely
         and on behalf of CAG

             Stewart McArdle
 Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

1) The Chair (JT) opened proceedings with the news that The Hon. Colin Challen, was unlikely to attend the meeting due to pressure in The House.

2) Yorkshire Water confirmed that, as of 28th June all refurbishment work had been completed and that the water supply should be returning to normal.

3) The issue of ‘nuisance’ parking on Fountain Street (Churwell) was still ‘Work In Progress’, LD informed Members.

4) Youth Development. Two designated, detached  officers would be starting on 1st August with a 2 week induction course. There had been some detached work in Churwell over the last couple of weeks, some involvement both in the Cyber Café and the Video Project. Progress update periodically.

5) CAG were now on the official database list as a representative consultative body with respect to UDP Mapping requirements.

6) JS gave a résumé of the excellent work done in Clarke Springs Wood by The Community Service Team. Due to pressure  exerted by JS regarding fly-tipping' , Parks & Countryside had promised to send out cautionary letters to residents in the vicinity of Clarke Springs Wood to inform them of the maximum £20,000 fine or, 6 months imprisonment that could ensue if caught and prosecuted.

7) WW gave a résumé of Churwell Park, which due to her publicity campaign countering anti-social behaviour had returned to some form of normality. Both WW and Jayne Cullingworth had identified anomalies with the structure of the toddlers’ playground and the older children’s playground to be investigated and altered.

8) EC gave her résumé of Highways issues With regard to William Street, the Works Department had filled in the offending potholes and this was deemed to be concluded. With regard to Manor Farm Drive, she was pleased to report that, Manor Farm Drive was now on the list and this would be addressed in the future. EC said that she would monitor developments. With regard to Old Roadroad improvements, this would be concluded during the course of the MHF development.

9) With regard to Harwill Playing Field, negotiations and correspondence was still taking place to place HPF into the care in perpetuity of the National Playing Fields Association and that this was still ‘Work In Progress’. LCC would still maintain the site.

10) Regarding ‘Dog-bins’. Cllr. Kearns gave a synopsis of the saga which essentially entailed finding the £19k per annum to fund the facilitation of the collection service. The acquisition of the Dog-bins was, he had been assured not a problem, and that he could have as many bins as he wanted; the main problem was the collection service. This, he was able to tell Members, was still ‘work in progress’. He would submit a proposal to The Chamber, Morley Town Council, supported by Cllr. Dawson in an endeavour to take the matter forward. Melanie Woolmer asked about the problem of dog-fouling on private property? Cllr. Kearns said either confront the perpetrator, take a picture or contact him at MTC. He would pursue the matter. He also asked that people pressure their local representatives on both Town & City Councils. This matter had to be resolved.

11) Stanhope Memorial Hall had recently received it’s third coat of paint in about 30 years and was looking a lot more presentable. The Contractor had been told to but, not been allowed the work to paint the exterior of Churwell Community Centre because of the parlous state of the window frames which needed replacing because, of the parlous state of the window frames which needed replacing and this was hopefully  being  addressed. New window-frames would materialise at some point in the future. Cllr. Elliott said CAG were welcome, on Stanhope Hall’s behalf, to re-apply for further grants in the future. More volunteers required for Stanhope Hall 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. one Thursday in every month to make sandwiches and the like.

13) CAG was now on-line and could be accessed on www.churwellactiongroup.org.uk

14) Slide Show. £125 raised and to be repeated by Public Demand in September by Ronnie Barraclough.

15) Questions from Members for Mr. Challen that they would have put to him had he attended.

What about High Schools and the freedom of choice and why wasn’t one of these ‘beacon’ schools on the south side of the river (Aire)? Morley High School and Woodkirk had applied for ‘Technical Status’. Because of envisaged demographical changes, there would be fewer pupils and moreover, all schools would be fighting for funding from the same pot. Because of the "The Greenwich Agreement", Morley children were not going to their ‘natural’ school in their ‘natural’ catchement area. Cllr. Dawson supported Mr. Challen and his Labour Government that the billions pumped into education was having a marked effect particularly at Primary school level and the extra doled out in the recent spending review would push this improvement into the Secondary schools. Batley High School was only half full because many of the children in that catchement area were actually going to school in Bruntcliffe or Woodkirk  and was stigmatised by ethnic parents of ethnic children who did not want to send their children to, in effect, an ‘Asian’ school. Headteachers of all High schools in Morley to be invited to speak to CAG.(Letters of invitation went out 29th July, 2002.)

16) Post Office. Contrary to information being promoted, it was possible for every benefit claimant to draw monies from the Post Office. Claimants are being told to open bank accounts.  Churwell Post Office, which is classified as Urban in status, could not survive if this happened. They receive commission or funding and not a salary, on a claimant attendance basis so, no claimant attendance, no commission, no Post Office and perhaps subsequently, no Papershop, no off-license, no supermarket; it would start a downward spiral, make no doubt. It was envisaged that, of 27 sub or, Post Offices in the local vicinity there would only be 12 to 13 in existence. A thriving Community needs a thriving Post Office. Fear of redundancies in local Council offices and that, mis-information was being directed at the Public for instance staff at The Town Hall in Morley were telling the Public they could only pay their Council Tax there at The Town Hall not, in the Post Office. Perhaps Leeds City Council ought to promote and supports local Post Offices.

17) 2 of CAG committee attended meetings at The Newlands (Denshaws, Rydals Estates etc.)  Residents and at Gildersome in the week beginning 8th July to lend support  to similar groups who are attempting  to set up groups similar to CAG.

18) ‘Alcohol Bye-law’ plan by Morley Town Council had been dropped and that powers now existed (under the aegis of ‘The Police Act of 2001’) for this to be rubber-stamped by Leeds City Council if, supported by the Police. This would entail signs to be erected in places such as all Parks, Windsor Court, Morley Low Station etc  It was up to the Police, the greater Community, Morley Town and Leeds City Councils to get together and take this forward. Support for a ‘Pilot Study’?

19) Neighbourhood Watch literature distributed at the end of the meeting by Melanie Woolmer.

20) Traffic Survey, promised by Leeds City Council had taken place in the last few weeks of the final school term and that we awaited the results.

21) Cllr. Leadley confirmed that the recent application by Strata Homes was  part and parcel of the original 330 houses package and that application by Persimmon Homes was to alter the existing boundaries and  that road improvements to Old Road  part of the new (MHF) development were in the Public Domain and he would try to acquire these and possibly show them at the next CAG meeting (in September).

22)Siting of skips Could the organised skip (dropped off on the Friday and collected on the following Monday). be done on a trial period basis? This would negate fly-tipping, which saves the area being ghetto-ized. To be discussed again in September.

23) Poplar trees at the bottom of Old Road and Tree Preservation Orders (TPO’s)? Trees do not automatically acquire a TPO, they have to  be designated with a TPO and can be done either collectively or, singularly. Maps of TPO’s were available for inspection in the Town Clerk’s office.

24) 14th & 15th September, 2002 a Heritage Weekend was to take place nationally and that Morley Town Hall was to be one of the Public buildings opened up to the general Public. This was free of charge but one had to book in advance. There were to be 5 tours on Saturday 14th , 4 on  Sunday 15th  conducted by Dr. Clive McManus of Morley Civic Society and himself, which would last about 90 minutes. After the tour, visitors would be presented with a commemorative Morley Town Hall Centenary Booklet and be served squash, tea and biscuits by local Morley Town Councillors and would meet the Mayor of Morley, Cllr. Judith Elliott with her Consort, Mr. Terry Elliott.

This being the last item the meeting was concluded at 9.30 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will probably be on Wednesday, 18th September, 2002 at 7.30 p.m. The guest speaker(s) which will be, hopefully, Dawn Wilkinson (Neighbourhood Watch) and Jill Haigh (Morley In Bloom) will be announced in the local papers The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser along with the specific date of the meeting.
 
 

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG
 

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

Churwell Action Group

"We will actively campaign for the  promotion of, and to safeguard the amenities and environment of, the residents of the community of Churwell in all aspects of their quality of life and for their mutual benefits"
 
 

All committee members were present except for Cllr. Jamieson: Joyce Sanders who, sent her apologies; Cllr. Finnigan who, sent his apologies and was represented by Lisa Drake. Steve Thornton, who was to be a speaker tonight too, sent his apologies for a double booking. This is a convolution of the meeting.

Speakers were Messrs. Ron Miller of the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership and Keith Darch, Principle Engineer, Highways & Transportation, Leeds City Council. Mr. Miller would present both Steve Thornton’s and his own slide show and then he and Mr. Darch would take questions from the floor in sessions of approximately 30 minutes each. (The presentations were interspersed with questions from the Members and answers from both Messrs. Miller and Darch.)

 Ron Miller began with Steve Thornton’s Slide Presentation, "Safer Together-Speed Management" and then gave his own presentation relating to the implementation of Safety Cameras which followed in the same vein and corroborated the presentation of Steve Thornton’s to excellent effect. The criterion here was  to change the environment and culture which speed appeared to promulgate nationwide. He gave specific targets set by Central Government to be aimed for by the year 2010. These were as follows:-

    a) a 40% reduction in fatal and serious road traffic accidents (RTA’s)
    b) a 50% reduction in fatal and serious injuries to children
    c) a 50% reduction in fatal and serious injuries to pedestrians

Approximately 40% of deaths were as a result of excessive speed.

WYCRP was a partnership between all five Councils, (Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees & Calderdale), the Police, the Magistrate’s Service, Highways Agency and the NHS.

In West Yorkshire at present, there were 68 Safety Cameras (housings) and that in 18 months that would more than double to 136 housings. The A643 would get 15% of the new Cameras.

New ‘speed’ campaign on 1st July which would be shocking in the extreme.

Speed was as anti-social as drink driving is now.

Questions asked which were answered by both Mr. Darch and Mr. Miller were as follows:

Initiatives such as cycling, walking buses and other types of partnerships, it was hoped, would have a positive effect on health  and on the quality of life in the Community.

Although WYCRP didn’t have any input, the Department of Transport were actively engaged in a dialogue with the manufacturers regarding the advertising strategies of all car manufacturers in the  way the negative, machismo image (mens’ toys etc..) of speed in 0-60 acceleration ratios and the like was portrayed in the media.

Support by Highways for the implementation of an HGV ban on the A643 was there in principle but, the A643 was an ‘A’ road and that ran counter to the criterion attached to this type of prohibition. Survey would  be completed during School term.

The general ‘rule of thumb’ was that, if there was street lighting, you could take it as read, unless indicated otherwise,  that there was a 30mph speed limit.

Regarding Safety Cameras on A643 there were 10 housings designated in

    a ‘set’ of  4,  located between A650/A643 junction and Asquith Avenue,
    a ‘set’ of  3,  located between Asquith Avenue and Westwoodside and
    a ‘set’ of  3 , located between Westwoodside and Millshaw.

These would be supplemented by ‘Camera - 30mph’ blue signs  set at regular intervals along the A643 and these signs could potentially and in principle, be erected perhaps within the designated time frame and before Safety Camera Housings are installed.

Vegetation was a problem not just for Safety Cameras but all traffic signs.

Cameras for A643 would come on stream in the year 2003-2004 although the priority hadn’t yet been finalised. There was a low priority in the general scheme of things for a 20-25 mph speed limit restriction on estates off A643 and other roads countywide.

The responsibility for implementation of mobile Safety Cameras on the A643 in the interim was down to the Police and to be taken up with that body run by WYP from Wakefield.

The Chair then went through other items under discussion as follows.

Yorkshire Water. Major refurbishment would take about another 4 - 6 weeks so, it would be about the end of July before the water system was returned to normal. Nothing wrong with the  water quality. It passed the legal requirements of the  Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 1989.

The problems of  non-residential parking on Fountain Street was ongoing and Cllr. Finnigan would report back as soon as was possible.

There had been no feedback from either Nic Prica or, Dave Cousins but, that was to be expected. Tangible evidence ‘on the streets’ not until at least the end of 2002 and possibly into 2003. This was a measured approach by the Youth Development Team and could not be rushed. Two, Detached Youth Workers were going through vetting/security checks at present but, would be on the ground before the summer holidays.

Churwell Community Association were asked if they could  hold a ‘Cyber Café’ for a 1 week period over the summer for all the Community.

Regarding the siting of a skip for Churwell, this was ‘work in progress’.

No feedback yet from John Lynch, the Director of Planning, Leeds City Council following our meeting on 29th May, 2002 regarding UDP mapping and general planning issues.

PAS and ‘green-field’ sites were ‘work in progress’.

Bye-law (prohibition of alcohol in public places) was ‘work in progress’.

Clark Springs tidy-up was ‘work in progress’ and a new gate  we  have  been  assured   will be fitted in the future.
(Work on Clark Springs tidy-up began on Monday, 1st July, 2002 and will be on-going for some time. It is our hope that once tidied up, "No-tipping" notices will be erected.)

Anti-social behaviour in Churwell Park had improved and was returning to some semblance of normality. Dog-litter bins were out of the question but, we would press on as ‘work in progress’.

Regarding the Old Road/Manor Farm Drive roads problem, confirmation of resolution  within the next 4 weeks. Caveat added that, unless people noticed and complained, nothing could be done.

Plea for people to get involved in the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, co-ordinated by Dawn Wilkinson at Morley Police Station.

Stanhope Hall. ‘Use it or, lose it’ campaign. Steps to be taken to procure  funding or partial funding to, at least, give Stanhope Hall a lick of paint both internally and externally. (Work began on 4th July, 2002.)

Due to expense of printing and distribution,  Members would be receiving only a synopsis of this meeting but, if anyone wanted to check facts, there would still be a processed record for inspection. A copy of quarterly newsletter to be sent out to all households in Churwell, detailing the aims of CAG and their successes and failures was provisionally scheduled for September. Internet could be used in future.

CAG had been able to submit a written riposte to the BBC, regarding a biased article on the local news site quoting comments and praising MHFD as a success for Churwell from two of your very own (Morley North Ward) Leeds City  Councillors (Cllrs. Hill & Jones) which, we were able to ascertain, came direct from the Labour Party Press Office at The Civic Hall. The BBC news team were totally unaware of the controversy surrounding the development and that the response giving a more balanced, though not complete view from CAG was recorded on the BBC local news web-site.

Hon. Colin Challen, M.P. would be able to attend the next meeting scheduled for 24th July, 2002 excepting unforeseen circumstances.

This being the last item the meeting was concluded at 10.20 p.m. with The Chair thanking everyone for coming.

The next public meeting of Churwell Action Group will be on Wednesday, 24th July, 2002 at 7.30 p.m. The guest speaker will be Hon. Colin Challen M.P. and this will be announced too, in the local papers, The Morley Observer and Morley Advertiser.

Yours sincerely
and on behalf of CAG

Stewart McArdle

Secretary,  Churwell Action Group
 
 

Churwell Action Group

"We will actively campaign for the  promotion of, and to safeguard the amenities and environment of, the residents of the community of Churwell in all aspects of their quality of life and for their mutual benefits"