Armley Forum...what happened

The Armley Forum was chaired by councillor Janet Harper and was fairly well organised. My main problem was hearing everything that was said due to people grumbling under their breath and a lot of coughing.
Subjects that were discussed were:

• Armley Leisure Centre - alleged poor conditions of cleanliness both of the the pool and the centre as a whole. The deputy manager defended the condition saying they were mainly down to the age of the centre and the fact that it was impossible to avoid having prams rolling across the poolside.
• The site of the new lesiure centre was briefly discussed. It will be on the site of the existing car park and there will be floodlit outdoor pitches, one of which will be left open after hours for local kids to play on. There was also something about a chill centre for the kids to hang out in.
• There were various complaints about "youths", "bins" and "mini-motos", all of which I expect are a symptom of living in an areas with a large amount of disaffected teenagers. The police said they were concentrating on certain areas such as the Cedars and the Salisburys but a lot of the time they could not arrest the kids as they were not committing crimes. They advised people to phone the non-emergency number if they had evidence or knowledge of anti-social behaviour.
• There was a lengthy presentation from youth worker Kevin Donnelly about his trip to the favelas of Rio de Janerio. I won't go into it but he detailed his various encounters with drugs and violence and took a swipe at the old cynics saying "if we don't value our youths then the drug dealers will".

That's all I can remember. The Todd's debacle was briefly mentioned with someone pointing out that although they have gained planning permission they are yet to get a betting licence.

I also had a brief conversation with the Armley Moor Trust treasurer who said he was having difficulties getting planning permission for a new hut on Charlie Cake Park.

Is Community Dead?

Listen to an ambassador from Britain's friendliest street on BBC Radio Leeds 18th April at 7.45 am

LACK OF TRUST AMONG NEIGHBOURS HIGHLIGHTS NEED TO BOOST COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Confirming concerns that community spirit is in danger of becoming a thing of the past, a new survey has revealed that nearly 60% of Brits confess to never having borrowed anything from a neighbour. Over 35% said that they wouldn't even trust their neighbour to water their plants whilst they were away!

When asked whether they felt that community spirit had decreased compared to fifty 50 years ago, an overwhelming 93% said they feel it has.

All this has prompted Miller Homes to enable its buyers to get to know their neighbours online through a new service being launched this month - www.mymillerstreet.co.uk.

Celebrity psychologist, Geoffrey Beattie explains why we don't know our neighbours as much as we used to, why community spirit is good for the soul and why certain regions are more neighbourly than others.
Plus, for those that can't get to know their neighbours online, he'll give top tips for getting to know the man next door, how to be a good neighbour and how to avoid coming across as a curtain twitcher! (The X LadyM thinks curtain twitching is a very valid pastime)

Did you know?
Scots are the most likely to know their neighbours by name with over 90% saying they know the man next door.
Proving it's not always more friendly up north, residents of Leeds came bottom when asked the same question - in fact over 25% of people in Yorkshire couldn't name the people next door.

Over 80% of Scots also said it was important to know your neighbours, compared to just 68% in Birmingham, 67% in Nottingham and 65% in Leeds.

When it came to community spirit, Cambridge had the poorest showing with a mere 7% of people knowing ten or more people in their neighbourhood. Coventry came a close second with just 13% saying the same followed by Leicester at 22%, Edinburgh at 23%, London and Southampton at 24% and Leeds at 25%.

Proving they're a friendly bunch in Newcastle, over 75% of Geordies said they had spoken to neighbours in the last week

Over half of Midlanders didn't bother to introduce themselves to next door when they moved in with Sheffield, Leeds and Nottingham a very close joint second.

Nearly 20% of Liverpudlians said knowing your next door neighbours did not contribute to a better quality of life - compared to a national average of just 7%

Nearly a quarter of Brits said they would gladly ditch their own neighbourhood to live on Ramsey Street - the fictional setting of long running Aussie soap, Neighbours. The only region where Erinsbrough didn't come out top was Glasgow, where Coronation Street topped the poll.

And finally, one quarter of people in Nottingham said that they didn't consider themselves to be a good neighbour - topped only by Leeds at a sad 26%.

The Next Armley Forum- get along to hear exciting plans and have your say!

No excuses, if we want to have a say then here's the place to do it, with the rest of Armley's fine community, councillors and the local council officers who know what's going on!

Click here to be taken through to a very informative site all about the plans for Armley and regeneration.

The next forum meeting is 17th April 19:00 at Armley One Stop Centre.

Any questions or to join their mailing list email nhd.innerwest {at} leeds.gov.uk