Calls for rent reductions to help Leeds market traders battling against the recession look likely to be rejected by senior councillors.

But they are expected to agree up to £100,000 can be spent on measures to increase the number of people visiting Kirkgate indoor market.

Members of the council’s regeneration scrutiny board – a watchdog body – urged the council to consider rent reductions for a period after they visited the market.

With about one-fifth of stalls vacant, traders told the board rent reductions were needed to attract new businesses and help existing ones survive.

A report to be considered next week by the council’s executive board recommends that there be no cuts to rents.

It said that in recognition of tough trading conditions, the council last year froze rents at their current levels.

According to council figures, rental costs at largest stalls in the market’s 1904 hall can cost up to £2,200 a month, while a small stall of 100 sq ft in the 1976 section is about £270.

The report said: “This area (the 1976 section) of the market experiences by far the highest vacancies and so it is not true to say that high rents are a disincentive to businesses choosing to locate in the market.

“We get many more applications for the 1904 hall than for the 1976 hall.”

It said while a 10 per cent rent cut would reduce the costing of renting a big stall in the popular 1904 section by £220 a month, it would produce only a monthly saving of £27 for a small stall in the least popular and cheapest 1976 area.

The report goes on to suggest that the executive board considers spending £100,000 on efforts to attract more people to the market. It says money could be spent on marketing and promotion, creating an events space in the “beleaguered 1976 hall”, and establishing a “Marks and Spencer birthplace” display in the 1904 hall as a visitor attraction.

View the original article here

Two friends are hoping to breathe new life into a struggling Leeds market town.

Mick Patterson and Bob Thompson, who has owned a stall on Pudsey Market for two years, are hoping to transform the Leeds market’s future with a weekly car boot sale.

Pudsey Market has seen a steady decline in recent years and the YEP has reported that dwindling numbers of stallholders and a slump in trade threatened to close the market forever.

Mr Patterson said he got the idea after seeing the huge turn out to the town’s Children in Need celebrations last year.

He said: “People have never been to the market before and when they pass through Pudsey they didn’t even know it was here.

“We want to bring the town back to life on a Sunday.

“A lot of the small cafes will be able to open in the morning and we hope other people will follow.”

The market, which runs three days a week, sits in a covered area to the side of Pudsey bus station.

The first car boot sale will be held in the market place on Sunday, May 20.

View the original article here

The towering 226ft spire of Ossett’s Trinity Church is visible for miles around West Yorkshire.

Now local residents will get the chance to get a closer look at one of the county’s tallest churches thanks to cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Trinity Church Heritage Education Project is set to highlight what the landmark church has to offer after the project was awarded £48,000 by the HLF.

Officials at the church say the project will reveal its important architectural features and history for the local community, visitors and school groups.

The scheme will include heritage interpretation boards that will take visitors on a journey around the Grade II listed church and tell the story of the part it has played in the town’s fortunes since it was consecrated back in 1865.

Visitors will be able to learn about Benjamin Ingham, Her Majesty’s Consul in Sicily, who came from Ossett, and who, in 1862, gave £1,000 towards the total cost of £16,000 needed to build Trinity Church.

They will also find out more about the local Whitaker family who gifted the spectacular West Window and get a chance to read the sermon preached at the consecration of the church in 1865, when the then bishop described the church as a “miniature cathedral”.

Education packs will be available for schools groups and there will be specialist conservation workshops of the techniques used to preserve our history.

Vicar Paul Maybury said: “We can now confidently take forward the next stage of making this building accessible to the general public, schools and the local community and welcoming them in.”

The funding allows the church to appoint a project coordinator to get the project up and running and raise awareness of the building and its history in the town.

View the original article here

Campaigners are urging residents to have their say about plans to build new homes in west Leeds.

They celebrated victory 12 years ago when they won their fight to stop a scheme to build 57 houses on a field in Horsforth.

Redrow Homes abandoned its appeal to build on the land in Outwood Lane after the city council failed to make a decision about awarding planning permission.

At the time Redrow appealed to Environment Secretary John Prescott to step in to show his support for the scheme.

But now Redrow Homes has revealed a new set of plans to develop up to 40 new homes on the field.

But it has been told by the council that it needs to submit a flood risk assessment before a planning application goes in front of planners.

Peter Crosland, from the Cragghill and Woodside group, said: “This was fought 12 years ago when there was an application to develop on the land.

“It is green space but we are looking to register another adjacent piece of land on Outwood Lane as a village green.

“It is inappropriate infill development.

“If you don’t want development make sure your voice is heard because there won’t be many opportunities for people.

“Don’t rely on someone else to say something because people need to be heard.”

There will be a public meeting at Woodside Methodist Church from 7pm on Friday, May 11, to discuss the scheme.

Councillor Chris Townsley (Horsforth, Lib Dem) added: “It doesn’t matter whether it is four, 40 or 400 homes. I wouldn’t want to see a single additional house. Once you lose a green field you have lost it for good and this is the very thing that we have got to protect.

“There has been history with the site. It was thrown out in 1999 but what has changed?

“There is a lot more traffic on the roads now.”

View the original article here

Private Daniel Wade.

Published on Friday 11 May 2012 08:49

The funeral of a soldier who died along with five colleagues in a bomb attack in Afghanistan will take place today. (May 11)

Private Daniel Wade, 20, of 3rd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, was killed on March 6 when the Warrior armoured vehicle he was travelling in was blown up by a massive improvised explosive device about 25 miles north of the capital of Helmand province, Lashkar Gah.

The force of the Taliban attack – the deadliest single attack on British forces in Afghanistan since 2001 – turned the Warrior upside down and blew off its gun turret.

Private Wade, from Warrington, Cheshire, joined the Army in January 2011 and his Battalion in July that year.

He and his colleagues had only been in Afghanistan for a few weeks when the explosion happened.

He died alongside Private Anthony Frampton, 20, Private Christopher Kershaw, 19, Corporal Jake Hartley, 20, and Private Daniel Wilford, 21, all also of 3 Yorks, and Sergeant Nigel Coupe, 33, of 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

Private Wade left behind his mother Lisa, his sister Stacey, his fiancee Emma and unborn baby, Lexie.

Following his death, his family said in a statement: “Daniel was a loving son, fiance, brother, nephew, grandson, cousin and friend to many.

“He would have made a fantastic father to his baby girl Lexie who is due on June 12.

“We are all devastated to have lost such a wonderful caring, brave man.”

The funeral will take place at St Elphin’s Church, Warrington.

View the original article here

THEY spend their days dressing the sets of hit Yorkshire soap Emmerdale.

But this team of props men will be really moving on Sunday – when they take part in the YEP-backed Jane Tomlinson Leeds Half Marathon.

The group will be joining almost 6,000 others taking part in the biggest race in the event’s three decade history.

Props master Ian Robertshaw and trainee props man Christopher Frost will tackle the full 13.1 mile course through city centre Leeds.

Meanwhile, a team of six – Tony Brookes, Stuart Gibson, Gary Barnes, Scott McPherson, Darren McKeown and Richard Hodkin – will run the race’s team event in relay, each clocking up just over two miles. All of them are raising money for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Christopher, 25, said the group chose the cause as many had had relatives diagnosed with cancer. His own mother and two grandmothers have fought the disease.

Christopher said: “I think everyone knows someone who has been touched by cancer, certainly most people in the team have been affected in one way or another.

“As blokes, we’re not able to run the Race for Life, so we thought we’d do this event so we could do our bit for people suffering from cancer.”

As props men, the colleagues are responsible for the scenery, settings and dressings at the set of the soap, which is filmed in Leeds.

As well as making sure the Woolpack is well-stocked, the team have to cook up all the food for the pub.

Christopher said: “Right now I’m looking at Yorkshire puddings and roast potatoes. We’re supposed to be in training but it’s very hard to resist temptation!

“None of us are in the best physical shape, but we’re going to give it a go.”

To sponsor the team go to www.justgiving.com/Emmerdaleprops

The Half Marathon was previously organised by Leeds City Council but this year has been taken over by the Jane Tomlinson Appeal’s For All Events Team, which also runs the successful Leeds 10K race.

It starts at 9.40am on Sunday.

View the original article here