Campaigners opposed to the development of the former Leeds Girls High School site have been boosted by a decision to allow them to present their own case at a planning appeal.
Last month members of the council's plans panel west voted to refuse the five applications to build a mix of more than 100 apartments and townhouses on the South Headingley site and instructed the chief planning officer to refer the application back to the next meeting with proposed reasons for refusal.
The panel, which meets again on Tuesday, will be told that since the last meeting developer The Morley House Trust has lodged appeals with the Planning Inspectorate against non-determination of all the applications, which means that the council is no longer able to make a decision on them.
A spokesman for the Friends of Woodhouse Moor group said that earlier this week they were granted 'rule 6' status by the Planning Inspectorate, which means members will be able to present their own case at the planning inquiry and be able to cross-examine witnesses. The inquiry will be held on an undecided date next year.
A Friends spokesman told Guardian Leeds:
"Friends of Woodhouse Moor has been fighting the school's planning applications since October 2006, that's two years before they had even been lodged.
"We knew what to expect from the community's experience of losing the former grammar school playing pitch. Just like the Leeds Girls High School playing fields, that pitch had N6 protected status in the Unitary Development Plan (UDP).
"The developer (Leeds University) and the planning department, argued that replacement playing fields could be established on Woodhouse Moor. Back then, no-one in the community knew to point out that the proposals were contrary to the government's Planning Policy Guidance 17 (PPG17) and that they'd result in a net loss of open space.
"That's why it's so important now that Friends of Woodhouse Moor has been given Rule 6 status. It gives us the chance to make sure that what happened to the grammar school pitch does not happen to the Leeds Girls High School pitches."
Plans Panel West members will be meeting again at the Civic Hall at 1.30pm on Tuesday to discuss the council's position at the appeal. Officers are recommending that two of the five applications should be approved, were the council still in a position to do so.
Local campaigner Bill McKinnon last week described the plans as "Trojan Horse planning applications".
The plans have received widespread opposition in the community, including more than 1,300 letters of objection, the formation of the Leeds Girls High Action Group, a 1,000-name petition to request the purchase of the fields for local schools and objections from Leeds Civic Trust, The Victorian Society and local councillors.
UPDATED 5PM: Leeds Girls' High School Action Group has also been granted rule 6 status, which will give the group the opportunity to present the views of its member organisations and the wider local community to the inspector.
What do you think? Have your say in the comments section below.
