This is the archive of the Recent News section of the site.
In here you can find all the articles we have published in the past. (As this is a new page there are no articles from before April 2009).
If you have news items you want to share with us then the best way to do this is via an email to stories@westparkresidents.org.uk.
At the AGM (did you attend?) the police advised that there has been an increasing spate of burglaries involving Euro Profile locks on UPVC doors. These locks are commonly fitted as standard with these doors. The recommendation from the Police is to replace these locks with the much more secure Euro Secure ones. This is a simple procedure which you can carry out yourself. More details of this can be found on the CASAC website by clicking on CASAC. The following two video clips show how to change one yourself Measuring your lock and Changing your lock.
Members should be aware that people are receiving telephone calls purportig to be able to save them money on Council Tax. This is a scam and you are recommended to hang up if you receive such a call. Full details of the scam can be found on the BBC website at council tax refund scam
The latest Chronicle for the Association is now available with details of the AGM, the future of the West Park Centre, Lawnswood School, NGT current state, grass verge problems in our area and the West Park fields village green application. It can be read by clicking on the link of the left hand menu.
Remember the AGM will be held in the West Park Centre on the 30th March 2011 at 19:30. Come along and meet councillors, Police, the Lawnswood head and others. We look forward to seeing you there.
Please note that you can renew your membership of the Association at the same time. The membership fee remains at 3 pounds for the full year.
The West Park Residents Association Annual General Meeting will be held in the West Park Centre rehearsal room at 19:30 on March 30 2011. Please come and support the group. Issues of concern include Lawnswood school and the future the West Park centre amongst others. Current and prospective local councillors are expected to be there so come and tell us and them what you think.
Watch out for the next newsletter which will contain more details.
We look forward to seeing you there on the day.
Please note that you can renew your membership of the Association at the same time. The membership fee remains at 3 pounds for the full year.
The latest edition of the WPRA Chronicle has been sent out and contains information about the RPZ, the future of the West Park Centre as well as NGT and the West PArk fields bid for village green status. You can read the Chronicle online via the link in the left menu.
Also watch this site for details of the Annual General Meeting which, at members request, will be held slightly later in the year.
Signs are going up on all the streets where resident's parking will be implemented. The observant amongst you will notice that they say Mon-Sat for the restrictions. This is WRONG - they should say Mon-Fri. Highways confirm that they will be changed 'as soon as is practicable'. Hopefully no-one will be fined on a Saturday - should any tickets be issued then appeal them immediately.
The equally observant amongst you will realise that no-one has been invited to apply for parking permits. This will also happen 'in the near future' - so the scheme, though active in theory, is not being monitored yet.
There are still a couple of minor glitches with the yellow lines to be sorted out and some more parking bays to be added on Welburn Avenue.
Any problems with this implementation please contact Richard Ellis in the Highways department of the council. His contact number is 3951396.
New Generation Transport - there will be a meeting where you can find out the implications of this trolley bus system for West Park. The meeting will be held in Room 4 at the West Park Centre (Spen Lane) on 20 April 2010 at 7:00 PM.
Some of the implications are that Kepstorn Road is likely to be closed with all traffic from the estate being forced onto Ancaster Road; the West PArk roundabout being replaced with a very complex system of traffic lights and islands; loss of mature trees on Oltey Road and the possible loss of sections of front gardens to cope with road widening.
Come to the meeting to make your views known. Even if the actual implementation of the NGT is in the future, now is the time to influence the planning and design process.
More details of the meeting are located here.
New Generation Transport - At the last meeting (which was well attended by over 70 people) WPRA were asked to arrange a follow-up meeting during a weekend day to allow more people to view the proposals and to comment.
This meeting has been arranged for SATURDAY 15th of May 2010 in room 2 at the West Park Centre on Spen Lane between 10:00 and 12:00.
There will not be a presentation but the plans will be available for viewing and there will be members of the development team there to explain them and to receive comments. Visitors will be able to leave written comments as well.
There will also be some meetings held at the Holt Park Centre between the 20th and 22nd of May 2010.
More details of all these meetings are given here.
There is a new WPRA Chronicle out which members should receive soon by email or letterbox drop.
Amongst other things it gives details of the AGM which will be held at the West Park Centre on 24th March 2010 at 7:30 PM.
There is also some information on the NGT trolley bus proposals for our area (which will have major effects on the Kepstorn Road/Otley Road/Spen Road junction and the Otley Road/Ring Road roundabout).
There is also the start of a discussion about the future use of the Wset Park Centre itself as well as the usual (ubfortunately) commentary on the parking issues and Lawnswood School.
The Chronicle can be accessed via the link on the left menu
There is a new WPRA Chronicle out which members should receive soon by email or letterbox drop. It details the latest state of play on the Resident's Parking scheme, the West Park Centre and Lawnswood School amongst other things. You can access it via the link on the left which saves it all being repeated here.
It is worth repeating that WPRA is only one voice in all of this and the powers that be take more notice of many individual comments that a summary from us. So, if something is worrying you then contact your councillors and others via useful links.
It only remains for us to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
The Highways meeting took place on 17 November and, all the objections except a minor one concerning the length of a section of yellow line were overruled by the board. The report submitted to the board can be found here on the LCC website.
Clearly this was an outcome which will not please residents in Kepstorn Road in particular which remains outside the resident's parking zone and available for rendom parking. It seems a perverse decision to include a strip of free parking in the middle of a resident only zone.
Other residents of nearby streets will be relieved that some of the parking problems will hopefully soon be resolved.
Implementation of the scheme 'normally takes about eight weeks to programme the work, although it is likely that the Christmas period will add to this timescale'. It is not clear whether 'programme' in this context means plan the work or complete it!
Incidentally, a one-off survey carried out on Friday 27 November revealed approximately 150 parking spaces free on the LMU campus so it is clear that on that day all members of staff wishing to park could have been accommodated on campus.
Your local councillors can be contacted using the information on links if you wish to give them your views. Please include us in any emails so we can keep an overview ( leedsmetparking@westparkresidents.org.uk).
A further update has been received from Highways about the status of the TRO for our area. There are 18 different objections from around 50 people and a report has been prepared for submission to the next Highways Board which meets in November.
If the Board overturns the objections, or any recommended changes are minor then the restrictions can be implemented in a month from the meeting. If changes are major then the legal process (notices, advertising etc) will have to be gone through again and this will clearly delay the implementation.
Meanwhile, continue to contact the police to report any parking which prevents access to drives or blocks roads.
The folowing information has been received from Richard Ellis from the Highways department detailing the process which will take place to deal wih the objections and comments received abount the Transport Restriction Order for our area.
"I've received about fifty pieces of correspondence objecting, fifteen making comments and a few in support. Each correspondee will now receive an individual letter to discuss their points which will inevitably result in a reply from them. From there I may have to take some points to our Highways Board as I cannot introduce any changes while there are objections outstanding.
Highways Board debate the merits of each objection before either upholding or overturning the objection.
Timescale therefore is open ended but I would like to reach the point of being able to address Highways Board by End of October."
It looks like we are living with the parking problems for longer than was originally suggested. Lets hope it will produce a solution which is better for Kepstorn and Ancaster Roads.
These are now available from the Leeds City Council website at http://www.leeds.gov.uk/Transport_and_streets/Roads_highways_and_pavements/Roads__enforcement.aspx.
There are two links in the Downloads column on the right hand side of the page which refer to the Ancaster Road/Glen Road TRO.
The council have started the legal consultation process concerning the proposed traffic restrictions for the West Park and Glen Road area to try to deal with the traffic and parking problems caused by Leeds Metropolitan University and Richmond House School. The full details of these proposals are located here here.
All comments (for and against) should be submitted by 7 September 2009 to the addresses detailed in Formal Notice as well.
Hopefully you went to see the NGT exhibition at St Chad's Parish Centre and now know all about the proposed trolleybus scheme for this area (and other parts of Leeds. This will combine with a park-and-ride facility at Boddington to hopefully improve the travel into Leeds from this area.
However, it does have implications for us. In particular the current proposals appear to close off the entrance into Otley Road from Kepstorn Road to provide a trolleybus stop. The effect of this is that the only exit from the Kepstorn/Ancaster/Helmsley/Nothhole estate will be via Ancaster Road - with all the difficulties this entails for ratrunning of the streets and the difficulty of turning right into Leeds.
If you have an opinion on this the you are encouraged to make this clear via the public questionnaire on www.ngtmetro.com/proposals where you can also see the plans.
The latest status report is that the Transport Regulation Order (TRO) is with the Council's legal department for checking. This is expected to take around 5 weeks and then there will be a one month consultation period for objections.
The proposals have been modified recently to provide 24 two hour parking spaces on Kepstorn Road to help solve the potential problem of parking for the shops.
The weather was kind to us and a lot of people turned up to drink a glass of wine or two at each venue and to chat. Thanks to all the hosts who provided a magnificent spread of food and drink.
The walk made a small profit of just over 3 pounds which has been donated to charity.
Following Richard Ellis's recovery from his accident (glad you are OK Richard) the proposed solution to the parking problems in our area have been issued. These have taken into account the overwhelming wishes of most residents for a permit scheme to try to return the area to the quiet residential place it was before LMU moved their car park into it.
Whilst the proposals are not perfect, they do cover many of our concerns. The main outstanding concern is that the northern end of Ancaster Road together with the whole of Kepstorn Road will still have freely available parking - which will clearly affect the residents of these roads. Also there will continue to be staff and student cars circulating around the area looking for parking places - which will continue to be a hazard for residents, particularly children and the elderly.
You now will have a few weeks to object to what is proposed and people in the area affected should have received a letter with the details of the scheme recently. If you feel the proposals have problems then do register your concerns with the council. It is certainly not too late to do so.
The intention is to implement the scheme before the students are back in September.
Full details of the plans are posted here together with the original consultation documents for comparison.
