Kirkstall Community First – Community Plan Background As a part of our engagement in the Community First process as a Panel, we are required to prepare and submit a Community Plan outlining what we have done to establish what we know about our area, what local people want of their area and what other agencies intend in respect of the area. Much of our plan rests on a very major exercise we conducted to establish a Vision for Kirkstall Ward, a copy of which is appended. That document was developed over a sustained period of effort involving the Kirkstall Valley Community Association, Leeds City Council as the local authority and Leeds Metropolitan University as researchers and facilitators. Local people were extensively consulted through local groups and as individuals through meetings, surveys and responses solicited at displays and exhibitions, the largest of which was at the Kirkstall Festival, which attracts an attendance of around 15,000, mostly from the local area.

Vision for Kirkstall Ward was published in 2010, after two and a half years of work. It is intended to guide physical and social development in the Ward until at least 2020. Several thousand copies were printed and distributed directly to local people and through local agencies such as schools, churches, community associations and other community groups. Feedback was very positive, both as to format and content. It was by far the widest and deepest consultation on community aspirations and felt needs ever undertaken in Kirkstall and is likely to remain in use as a basis for planning local services for some years.

History and Geography About 20,000 people of great diversity live in the Ward. Around a quarter live in 9 distinct social housing estates. There are 6 Primary schools, one secondary school, a range of churches, clinics, doctors, dentists, pubs and clubs. Two very busy roads run the length of the Ward. The A65 Kirkstall/Commercial/Abbey Road runs up the valley from the city centre and is one of the most congested roads in Leeds. Burley Road/Kirkstall Hill/Morris Lane/Spen Lane is an older road running in parallel and is heavily used, but more for local traffic. Two railway lines and the Leeds Liverpool Canal also run through the Ward following the Aire Valley. Kirkstall Abbey, the finest 12th century Cistercian Abbey in the country, lies in parkland to the West of the centre of the Ward. It is a major focus for large scale local events and for family activities. The Abbey Visitor Centre is free and is superbly child-centred. The Abbey House Museum is a very popular attraction. The Hawksworth Wood Estate in the North of the Ward, is the oldest council estate in Leeds. Built for the workers at the Kirkstall Forge it is a very popular estate, full of community activites. Homes in other social housing in the Ward are also very sought after. Most estates have good local associations to support tenants and residents in their locality. For its size, Kirkstall is unusual in having no distinct commercial centre. This state of affairs may well be rectified as the grip of recession eases, but it has left its mark on social development in the area for many years. As a long thin Ward though, Kirkstall benefits from bus services along its major through routes and across the valley at the middle, although frequency of some of these services is currently at risk.

Population Characteristics A few highlights are offered to help reveal the nature of Kirkstall's people. The population is significantly weighted towards young adults. Many of these young adults are students or work in the finance industry. There are slightly more older people than the city average.

Hawksworth Wood Area Substantial pockets of serious poverty occur in various parts of the Ward. The Forge was once the primary source of employment for Hawksworth Wood. Indeed the estate was largely built to house that workforce. It has now gone, as has all heavy industry in that area and unemployment is high.

Burley Area Many of the streets in the Burley area are terraced housing some through but many some back-to-back. Gardens are small, if at all, Heading towards central Kirkstall there is semi-detached housing built later than the Terrace housing. There is a scattering of older large properties that existed before the mass building; many of these have since been converted to flats or HMO's.

Around Kirkstall Valley School, the population is much more transient than it was, including large numbers of recent arrivals from South Asia. Again, most large scale employment has gone. Many of these families need support as they settle into their new lifestyles. The Beechwoods, is still a popular student area, the creation of new halls of residence elsewhere has left some empty HMOs (houses in multiple occupation), which have filled with increasingly distressed single people and families, some evicted from social housing. Mental health issues in this area appear to be significantly increasing. The turnover of residents in these areas of Burley is high, annual turnover can be anything from 30% to 80% in a street, over a period of four years some streets see a 100% turnover of residents – statistics often hidden by the average for the ward. This make it particularly difficult to build community groups in the area, recently a couple of community groups have been formed: Burley Top Community Association and Friends of Burley Park, however there is still a substantial part of these areas not covered by any group.

Central Kirkstall Housing is a real mixture of terraces (including back-to-back’s) some without any gardens or yards, to larger stone built properties that formed the orginal Kirkstall village. Average turnover in this area is around 20%, however there are pockets in the terraces, flats and HMO's that are similar levels to parts of Burley. In the centre of this area is the mostly derelict District Centre, there have been various schemes to develop the site over the years, the current one from Tesco's has received a mixed reaction amongst residents. There are a handful of active community groups in this area.

Queenswoods Mostly council build semi-detached properties with generous gardens along with a couple of high rise blocks of flats and some low rise blocks. This area has an ageing population. The local primary school was closed some years ago during a review of surplus places, there is now pressure on places in the area and children from the Queenswoods and Spens have difficulty securing places at other local schools. Turnover of residents in this area is around 10% per year.

Moor Grange & Spens A very similar makeup to the Queenswood area. Mostly council built semi-detached properties with generous gardens. There are a handful of high rise blocks of flats and a number of low rise blocks. Turnover of residents in this area is around 10% per year.

Kirkstall Matters Kirkstall Matters is the magazine of the Kirkstall Valley Community Association, and provides a valuable touch point with all members of the local community to ensure that they are informed on developments, news and issues in the area. It serves to encourage local people to get involved in activities in their local area which in turn makes for better a neighbourhood and community for all. The magazine is produced three times per year by local volunteers and has adapted with the changing ways of receiving information about the community, now also publishing news and issues in real time via website, Facebook and Twitter feeds. First published in 1978, it is often held up as a fine example of community press, and has become much admired by many other organisations. Copies of the magazine are archived in the British Library along with libraries, museums and historical societies. Archive copies of the magazine are also available online for a wide audience to research the local area. Kirkstall Matters provides a valuable lifeline and communication channel to local community groups and charities to reach a wide audience to help them reach their aims, with an estimated readership of 3000 people per issue. It is distributed by volunteers to local members of the KVCA, and is also available for free in local shops, surgeries and newsagents.

Kirkstall Festival Kirkstall Festival is a community fun day that takes place every year on the second Saturday in July in the beautiful grounds of Kirkstall Abbey, with the aim of providing a full day of free entertainment that appeals to the whole family, from grandparents to toddlers. The festival starts with a parade attended by many local groups and schools which travels along Morris Lane and down into the abbey grounds. Recent festivals have included music and entertainment on four stages, birds of prey displays, battle re-enactments, pony rides, a fairground, dog show, canoes on the river, a tea dance, mini motorbikes, mini cars, photo forests, refreshment marquee, children's games, a church service in the Nave and lots more. Alongside the day’s entertainment the festival also has over 100 stalls giving a perfect platform to local charities and groups who can reach a wide audience, and a range of caterers providing hot and cold food from around the world. Attendees are encouraged to take public transport, but we also provide a free car park and disabled parking close to the site for those who need it to get there. The event is organised entirely by local volunteers with the kind support of local councillors, Leeds City Council, grant providers and sponsors. The festival started in 1980 and has run consistently through to the present day, priding itself on moving with the times. It currently attracts over 15,000 people throughout the day, making it one of the largest community festivals in the country.

Environment and Allotments The local environment has a huge impact on a neighbourhood and the people who live there. Our local environment is what we see when we get up in a morning and look out of the window, it is what we walk or cycle or drive through as we go about our weekly routine. The more attractive and connected the local greenspace is, the better maintained the house gardens the more likely people are to enjoy and want to keep walking or cycling around. This needs people to come together to take care of neglected areas, this can be large spaces that become orchards or small beds at key points such as bus stops or road junctions. For some people to be confident in making the most of their gardens they need to meet others to learn skills, borrow tools or actual get a group of friends and neighbours to help them get in control. Food growing has become very popular for many reasons; to grow great fresh veg, to save money , to address food security or just because it is very rewarding. Despite all the books, websites and TV programmes many people still lack confidence in how to grow their own. Kirkstall and Burley has a big range of public greenspaces with two parks and many smaller areas of grass some created when old housing was cleared in the 1960s and 70s. Most of our houses have gardens and there are several allotment sites. The great thing about environmental projects is that much of the work can readily be done by volunteers once they have accessed a little training or founded people in the community who already have the skills and can share them. Kirkstall Community First wants to hear about the ideas that local people have to make the Kirkstall Ward a greener place to live. Help in developing your projects can be found on websites, from several agencies including The Conservation Volunteers who are based at Hollybush, down by the River on the edge of the ward.

Consultation on the Vision Vision for Kirkstall did not start from scratch. Just as this Community Plan builds on that document, so it built on a good range of predecessors, including the Leeds Strategic Plan, Leeds Unitary Development Plan and the Inner North West Area Committee Development Plan. All of these documents are available from Leeds City Council. Vision for Kirkstall differed significantly though, in the level of public consultation employed and the methods of consultation used. These resulted in a document perhaps less technically specific, but far more widely read and used by local people. Principal techniques used for consultation were a widely distributed questionnaire and a series of community workshops held in every distinct part of the Ward. Together, these laid the basis for an outline plan, which was then worked up for display at the Kirkstall Festival, an event with very large scale attendance from the local community, from previous local residents and from neighbouring areas. The process ran from mid 2008 through to the Festival in July 2009.

A Vision for Action Kirkstall people found much they liked about their area and lots of things they did not want to change. They firmly identified though, serious problems they wanted to address and a wide range of opportunities they wanted to follow up on. They also identified a wealth of opportunities to improve their area, which were not very serious, but were fun to do, or were a bit serious, but were worth the effort. M\any suggestions were for input from statutory agencies, but at least half were aimed at voluntary effort by local people acting for themselves. It is these last that are the focus for the Kirkstall Community First Action Plan.

Local Priorities Referencing 'A Vision For Kirkstall 2010 - The Community Plan for a Sustainable Future' http://www.kirkstall-vision.org/vision.pdf (attached) 3.1 Getting Around & About: Making getting around Kirkstall a more enjoyable and environmentally friendly experience. 3.2 Better Places: Neighbourhoods & Housing - Focus on issues faced by local residents where they live. 3.3 Green Spaces: Rest & Play. 3.4 Facilities: Variety & Accessibility. Bids in will be looked favourably on which offer "Social, cultural or environmental impact that will significantly add to the above criteria".