Yorkshire Life – August 2012

The Friends of Parkinson’s Park get an honorary mention in the August edition of Yorkshire Life, in the feature on ‘Make it Happen’, in Guiseley and Menston.   The sub-title being, “the get up and go of two West Yorkshire Communities is inspiring”.

The sub theme of the article is the bounce back from development, and fight against inappropriate development.  Although,  it does not go so far as to say that the ‘bounce’ is going to have to get a whole lot bigger: for Leeds is planning 2,300 more houses in Aireborough before 2028,  whilst Bradford wants 3,408 more houses built between Menston and Addingham. That is 5,708 houses, with a increase in population of over 11,500 along the A65 – the same as adding the whole of Catterick Garrison to our area – maybe with Army cuts that is the idea !!

The positive answer to this is for local people to start organizing their ‘get up and go’ and producing their own neighbourhood development plan to place-make.  Something, we can now do under the 2011 Localism Act.   Aireborough, Otley, Horsforth, and Ilkely are all in the process of doing just that.

More information about neighbourhood planning is on the WARD website, and for anyone interested in place-making with  the Aireborough Neighbourhood Forum you should contact marketing@WARDyorkshire.org.