The village was certainly very busy this Easter weekend with not one but two Easter egg trails taking place!

the first was arranged by WF3 kindness and the lovely Daniel Frank and this took place through the paths of the constable estate

the second was arranged by Diane of the West Ardsley Little Library and Jackie from the Hare and hounds

The children were all really lucky to not only enjoy walking in the sunshine but to get some lovely chocolate at the end of those walks!

Thank you so very much, our village is so lucky to have people like yourselves in the community

After a tense and heated discussion around the planning permissions of the Haigh wood sites, the council decided their questions were not being answered sufficiently by Redrow and there was not enough detail being presented

therefore the decision has been DEFERRED

When we have more details we will share them with you

Thank you to all the community members who either came out to the site visit on Thursday, came to the meeting at civic hall or those who watched on line, and thank you for supporting the WAAG members who attended.

The Councillors from the planning panel are planning to visit West Ardsley for a site visit regarding the proposed housing development of 289 houses at the 4 sites surrounding Haigh Woods

SITE VISIT – SOUTH AND WEST PLANS PANEL – THURSDAY 14th April 2022

Arrive 10.00 am-
Depart – 11.30
Application 21/07156/RM
Reserved Matters application for erection of 289 dwellings with access within the site,
garaging, parking, landscaping and public open space – Nook Farm, Haigh Moor Road, Tingley

12.00 Return Civic hall

We have now been informed that planning committee will be meeting to discuss the final plans submitted by Redrow housing,

WAAG will be given 4 minutes to speak on behalf of the community and have their objection ready.

If you would like to attend and offer your support you can do this, the room can hold 70 people so it is first come first served-

(all covid restrictions have been lifted at his point and it is individuals choices to wear a mask)

Plans Panel (meeting of Councillors) on 14 April 2022.

At the Civic Hall, Calverley Street, Leeds, LS1 1UR and starts at 1.30p.m

The Best of WF3 awards have now taken place and we are so very proud to have several of the winners from West Ardsley/Tingley

Community hero was our own Camille Leach, who is a big part of this community, she is a lady who gets things done and is often seen around wombling or planting things!

Abi Joy won young person of the year due to her incredible outlook and her wonderful joylets (Bracelets she makes to spread joy)

Abi wasnt the only winner in her family- oh no- her mum and dad won too in the category of carers of the year!

The local Food Pantry at West Ardsley Methodist Church, a food bank which takes place every Friday afternoon, won the make a difference award, their motto is “no one should go hungry”

Tingley Athletic Football club, which a lot of our children are involved in, won the sport and physical activity award.

There are so many people to mention, not only those who won but also all those who were nominated, Your community is proud of all of you!

A massive thank you to Daniel Frank and is his team of volunteers and judges for making it such a wonderful event, it can’t have been easy choosing winners

and a big THANKS too to Mr Billy Pearce, our own king of panto for presenting the awards.

please see the WF3 website for full details of all the winners! Well Done Everyone, you have done us proud

WF3 Kindness

Tingley Athletic

Abi Joy

Camille Leach

Tingley Athletic FC

Food Pantry

As the evening are getting lighter and the clocks are soon to spring forward- Monday Movers will be restarting their evening walks!

They meet at the waterfall at the reservoir at 7pm (Starting back Monday 28th March) and you can do one or two laps of the Rez while having a chat and meeting new people 🙂 you can go at your own pace and wear what you want

Just bring a bottle of water and a smile

Dear West Ardsley Residents,

As you will already be aware the outline planning permission for the Haigh Woods Housing Development was granted during the lockdown of 2020. The disappointment of this decision has been immense for both our community and the WAAG Steering Committee. However, we are not to be deterred!

Where we are now…
Details of the development are still up for discussion and you, as a member of our community, can still have a say. The WAAG Steering committee met with Redrow representatives to discuss community consultation plans. WAAG then invited representatives from Redrow to walk around the area to discuss the existing green space and how the current plans for the new development could affect our community.

Unfortunately, despite WAAG making it clear that our meetings should not be regarded as a substitute for a full public consultation, Redrow have since confirmed that the only form of community consultation to be carried out is the leaflet residents, that they considered to be the most affected, received in July 2021. A revised site plan has been added to the Portal this week (28.02), it is backdated to January, but the revision was made on 14th February. Despite agreeing to consider individual objections for those bordering the site, it is disappointing to see minimal changes.

If you lodged an individual objection, please check to see if these have been considered in the new plans.

What can we still do?
Despite the very limited consultation, our community can still put forward their objections to the detailed plans currently on the Leeds County Council Planning Portal. You can send objections to one or more of the following:

–        On the Leeds City Council Planning Portal https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=QYALDSJB0C000

–        By posting a letter to Leeds City Council Planning Services, Merrion House, 110 Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8BB.

–        Sent directly to Redrow, David.faraday@redrow.co.uk or c.peatfield@redrow.co.uk also CC Mark.Jackson2@leeds.gov.uk so that the comments will be transferred to the portal.

–        Address your concerns directly to the councillors on the City Plans Panel https://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=947

Don’t forget to use the planning reference number 21/07156/RM in all correspondence

Why should I bother when the development will go ahead regardless?
It is true that we cannot stop the development, however we can use this opportunity to have our say about what the houses look like for those directly affected. We can try to influence how the development impacts the surrounding woodlands and our precious green space, that was the saviour of so many residents during the recent lockdowns.

We realise that it has been a long and frustrating fight against this development, and with the recent pandemic, that people may have other priorities now. However, this is our last chance to influence the proceedings and salvage something from the devastating loss of green space to our community.

How can we do this?
By focussing on a positive approach and providing possible solutions to the aspects of the development where the community would like to see changes, Redrow cannot deny that the community has tried to engage with positivity. It is up to us as a community to make our voice heard and make the Councillors of the City Plans Panel take notice.

–        As a confirmed piece of precious Ancient Woodland, do you agree that it needs to be managed? Would you like to see changes, or do you think the funds would be better spent elsewhere? Perhaps other facilities in the area that could be improved? Do you want to see more sports and play facilities for the younger members of our community? Would our area benefit from more allotments or community gardens?

–        In the current climate emergency do you think that the houses could be built in a more sustainable manor? Are there improvements or changes that you think could make them more environmentally friendly?

WAAG needs you, our community, to help with this one last stand. With over 3,000 objections to the original application, we owe it to ourselves to try and preserve our lovely community…

Please don’t leave it too late to make your voice heard – help us make a difference!

Thank you

Leeds city council refuse collectors will be collecting the brown garden waste bins commencing the week beginning 14th March-

please check the app or the council web site for your collection by inputting your postcode https://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/bins-and-recycling/check-your-bin-day

The Bottom end of West Ardsley restart on Tuesday 22nd March 2022

COMMUNITY UPDATE ON REDROW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT. 21/07156/RM AT WEST ARDSLEY:

Update:

Following the “refusal of the “call in” request and the issue of the LCC Outline approval notice, it became apparent that a housing development of some form was inevitable.

The site developer was confirmed as Redrow in mid July 2021. The subsequent detailed planning application, was posted on the LCC portal on 27^th January 2021.

As there had been no proper attempt at public consultation, when the detailed planning application was posted, WAAG re-iterated their request to engage with the developer, in raising and addressing local concerns about the current plan.

To this effect the Haigh Woods Steering Committee, and associated consulting residents held a meeting at 2pm on 27^th September with Redrow representatives at the West Ardsley Community Centre, Batley Road, Hill Top.

Points raised at the meeting:

Public Consultation:

• WAAG referred to, the Redrow 8 Principles set out in their “Designing a Better Way to Live”. Principle 1 Listen to Learn and Principle 2 Keeping it Local in particular and their key importance at this stage.

• Going forward, WAAG offered to assist with community consultation so that residents can have a voice. WAAG emphasised that offering to assist in this way cannot be a substitute for a public consultation. It is only fair that residents should be given the opportunity to comment on the development themselves.

• WAAG have asked Redrow to undertake a more formal public consultation on their proposals; the limited leaflet drop of last July being completely inadequate for this purpose. We await their response.

:

• In the context of the above, we have asked Redrow to produce a single plan, which shows the layout of all four parts of the development and the details of the treatment of the open space and of Haigh Wood, so that people can see everything at one go, rather than having to rummage through dozens of separate plans. Other illustrative aids to visually explain the developments to residents should be considered.

Haigh Woods and Green Space:

• The priority for Haigh Wood should be to preserve its biodiversity as much as possible. The green spaces within the development should be sited so as to be readily accessible to the new residents, and also to discourage inappropriate over-use of Haigh Wood.

• Redrow will come back with a breakdown of what green space is being provided at the Haigh Wood development. This is not provided at the moment. Residents can only estimate.

• Having raised concerns about Haigh Wood and the green spaces proposed within the development. Redrow have agreed to have their landscape / ecology consultants walk the site and neighbouring green space areas, along with our expert colleagues, to gain an understanding of the existing site and how they might improve their current plan.

• WAAG raised the question of whether they had followed relevant Key Policies; Core Strategies and considered LCC specifications on the provision of Green Spaces. WAAG asked for information on how these have been applied. Redrow will review these. They will also consider the design of Green Spaces, which will be inclusive for children with particular needs, such as autism and mobility issues.

Local Housing Needs

• They will look at their proposed mix of house types, given that they have apparently not yet produced the local housing needs assessment required by the outline planning permission, and relied instead on Leeds-wide figures. Note: It was pointed out that the number of new houses proposed conflicts with Council policies however, without LCC Planners applying their policies, Redrow are unlikely to make significant changes on the number or locations.

Traffic

• LCC policy is to apply a 20mph limit to this development. They will consider how best to ensure physically that traffic speeds within the development are minimised.

Public Transport Access

• They will look again at public transport access, given Arriva’s recent announcement of the withdrawal of service 117 to Leeds, which they were not aware of. The 117 is to be replaced by a re-routing of the 203 via Batley Road and Haigh Moor Road

• Redrow will also provide clarification about new footpaths and how cycle routes will be provided as part of the design.

Site Traffic Issues:

WAAG Impressed upon Redrow there will be traffic dangers and difficulties around Westerton and Hill Top school start and finish times.  Redrow will try to mitigate problems, starting with their tendering arrangements with contractors. 

Further Clarifications by Redrow:

Confirm their Design and Access Statement is the most updated and what relevant documents are missing from the LCC website.

For further consideration by Redrow:

• They will look at every existing objection individually with a view to amending their plans so as to resolve as many of these as possible, eg overlooking, overshadowing, boundary treatment, etc.
• Redrow will consider the boundary strategy for biodiversity benefits for example – plans currently show long sections of fencing instead of tree planting which was proposed at outline stage and also provides screening of the new housing.
• Redrow will consider the housing mix for example the feasibility of bungalows near sensitive areas (e.g. edges of the development).

Redrow have committed to looking at every communication, which they receive from local residents. In particular if you live on the edge of the development we would urge you to forward your concerns ASAP.