The Official Website of the TV Harrison Community Association
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20 October 2023
Local Company,
Sanako UK Ltd,
Supports TV Harrison Young Guns
Local Leeds Company, Sanako UK Ltd, sponsors TVH Harrison Young Guns. Sport is a great way of doing this, bringing young people from all communities together, so Sanako UK sponsored an Under 10 mixed 5-a-side team, here in the inner city. It's so important that these young people have green spaces to play in a safe and secure environment and just be children, so we are also supporting the TV Harrison Sports Ground appeal.
These young minds have warmly welcomed refugees from all over the world to the team and formed great friendships.
Reader’s letter: Help us maintain ‘Wortley’s Wembley’ for community use
The West Leeds Dispatch Article on 17 August 2023
The TV Harrison Community Sports Field, Oldfield Lane, Wortley Leeds
Dear neighbour;- I want to bring you up to date with the current position of the TV Harrison Sports Ground in Wortley.
First, all of us involved with the campaign very much appreciate the support of the local community. There is no doubt that your support has been significant in preventing the city council developing the ground.
The background to the campaign is pretty well known. If you are new to the area or wish to refresh your memory, then please go to the campaign’s website. The history of the ground and all the details of our victories in the High Court, plus the key listing of the ground as an Asset of Community Value, are there. If you want any further information do please contact us using the details below.
The four years of successful campaigning have been tough but we are reaching the final stage. The involvement of Leeds United has been important and we are looking forward to the ground being bought, initially by our association, and to the whole site then being made available bit by bit for both outdoor and indoor sports and as a community centre.
In the meantime we really need your practical assistance. Maintaining the pitch and the surrounding spectator areas is a big task.
We have a small team of dedicated volunteers and we have the expensive equipment required to maintain it, but we are in urgent need of more local volunteers to assist with clearing the overgrowth, keeping the football pitch fit for matches and, particularly, for the regular training sessions and facilities for local children.
Could you possibly spare an hour or two to join our practical team that maintains the ground? It can be during the week or at weekends to suit your availability.
The existing team members are all local volunteers and they would make you very welcome. No specific skills are required, just a willingness to help in this important work.
If you can join us, just send an e-mail or message to Steve Houseman at steve.houseman@icloud.com. Steve lives on Oldfield Lane and co-ordinates the work on the ground and can agree mutually convenient days and times with you.
If you are unable to help with the practical work then perhaps you could make a donation to help defray the high costs of campaigning and of maintaining the ground. Just complete and return the form below.
Thank you for all your help.
Landowner told ground must be used for cricket even after losing case
The Yorkshire Post Article on Thursday 06 April 2023
A PRECEDENT HAS BEEN SET ON THE USE OF COMMUNITY SPORTS GROUNDS
16 April 2023
Even though the campaign to save the TV Harrison Sports Ground continues, and we are in a much stronger position than the cricket ground which is the focus of this article, we firmly believe that a precedent has been set.
LANDOWNER TOLD ground must be used for cricket after losing case
The owner of a former sportsground has lost his bid to scrap a legal clause which dictates it can not be used for anything other than cricket.
The Old Highbury Works Cricket Club, next to Meanwood Park in Leeds, is bound by a 1997 covenant which prevents it having any other use.
Now the Government Planning Inspectorate has dismissed an appeal by the property's current owner, Ed Arvley, to ditch that agreement, which would have made developing the site easier. Leeds Council had refused his initial application to scrap the clause last year. But despite the ruling, the stalemate around the now dishevelled land appears set to continue, according to figures on both sides of the argument. It has been largely empty since 2004, when the cricket club folded, although it has been used to graze horses.
A number of campaigners in Meanwood have been at odds with Mr Arvley throughout the case; having argued the Green Belt site should be opened up and made available for the community again. They have also criticised him for the land’s unkempt state.
Mr Arvley insisted at an appear hearing in January that the site will never be used for sport while he owns it and accused his opponents of being too narrow-minded in their vision for the site’s future.
In his written ruling following that hearing, Inspector Mark Brooker said there was 2no requirement on the landowner to provide access to the site or to maintain the site for purposes of cricket, but it nonetheless is clear that the area can only be used as a ‘cricket pitch’.”
He added: “In this respect, there is an ongoing demand for cricket playing and training space in the area which the appeal site, although small, could fulfil.”
Mr Arvley had told the hearing the council had been wrong to define the whole site, including the old clubhouse and car park, as a cricket pitch, when it ruled against ditching the clause last year.
But the planning inspector disputed that view, saying the “intention” of the clause is “clear”. He cited evidence from Sport England that though the land is too small for adult-grade cricket, it would be suitable for junior matches.
The Yorkshire Cricket Board’s claim that there is a shortage of cricket facilities across Leeds was also referenced.
Mr Arvley’s claim for the council to refund the costs of bringing the case was also dismissed.
Local campaigner Julian Oxley said that despite the ruling, there was no sign of the 19-year impasse over the site breaking, as the landowner does not have to pro-actively maintain the site for cricket.
Mr Oxley said: “The whole situation doesn’t seem like it’s going to change. Unless the inspector gives the council some sort of impetus to do something about it, we’re no further forward unfortunately. It’s just the latest application that’s had to be fought and rebuffed. It’s a waste of a resource.”
Mr Arvley welcomed the inspector’s finding that he was under no obligation to maintain the site.
Letter to the Charity Commission
LEEDS SCHOOLS’ SPORTS ASSOCIATION, CHARITY NUMBER 1010724
RE: T V HARRISON SPORTS GROUND, OLDFIELD LANE, WORTLEY
11 February 2023
Helen Stephenson CBE
Chief Executive
Charity Commission
PO Box 211
Bootle 7YX
Dear Ms Stephenson
I am not sure which of your colleagues deals with this matter hence my letter to you.
We have corresponded before re aspects of the conduct of the above charity regarding the above sports ground. A great deal has developed since then, hence this letter and enclosure.
Having succeeded in four High Court cases against the Leeds City Council in relation to its attempts to develop the above site, including the listing of the ground as an ~Asset of Community Value”, the above association has applied to purchase the ground under Part 5, Chapter 3, of the Localism Act.
In support of that application we have brought together the legal background that underpins the guarantee “in perpetuity” of the ground being only used for sports. I have pleasure in enclosing a copy of that paper. You will see that the constitution of the LSSA also commits it to maintaining the ground.
This charity is still trying to sell the ground to the Leeds City Council for development even though the covenants on the land do not permit development. I would ask the Charity Commission to rule that the LSSA cannot legally do this.
Yours sincerely
Michael Meadowcroft
Chair
TV Harrison Sportsground Association
TV Harrison Sports Ground
Legal protection from development 01 February 2023
1. Introduction
1.1 This paper sets out the legal basis for the protection of the T V Harrison Sports Ground as a permanent “sports ground and playing field for the children of the Elementary [primary] Schools of the City of Leeds”. As a consequence the designation of it by the Leeds City Council (LCC) as a development site in its Site Allocation Plan of 2019 is nugatory and the attempts by the Leeds Schools Sports Association (LSSA) the current trustees of the ground, to sell it to the City Council for development are contrary to the deed under which it holds the land as Management Trustees. Also the duty of National Westminster Bank is to uphold the terms of the deed under which it was appointed as Custodian Trustee.
1.2 The definitive Deed is that of 23 November 1929 under which the land was conveyed from the teacher and the official of the Leeds Education Department who, along with the late Tom Vernon Harrison, had raised the money to purchase the land from its private owners the year before. This deed was lodged with the West Riding Land Registry in Wakefield on 9 January 1930 and can be viewed in Volume 4, Page 792, Number 299. The key Leeds City Council document which erroneously states that the land is available for development is the Report of 20 December 2019 from the Director of Resources and Development re Procurement of a Design and Build Contract re Council Housing at Oldfield Lane.
2. Context
The site has been recorded as in use as a sports ground from the 1850s. Historically it was owned by the Ingham family. In 1928 it became known that the Ingham family intended to sell the site for development. A Leeds head teacher, Tom Vernon Harrison, together with another teacher, Arthur Thornton, and an officer of the Leeds Education Office, Robert Jarman, launched a public appeal to raise the funds to purchase the site to preserve it for the school children of Leeds “in perpetuity”. (See Yorkshire Post, 29 October 1928). The Lord Mayor of the day, Alderman George Ratcliffe, ceremonially handed the deeds to the Chair of the Leeds Elementary Schools Athletics Association, (LESAA) “which confer the franchise of the ground on the school children of Leeds for ever”, (Yorkshire Evening Post, 29 October 1928). With the help of the Yorkshire Evening Post the appeal raised the equivalent today of £140,000 in just four months and the ground was saved. With their past experience in mind, Harrison and his colleagues made sure that covenants were inserted into the provisions of the deeds in order to protect the site from future development. The land was vested in what is now the Leeds Schools’ Sports Association. Being aware that charities could be ephemeral they also appointed the then Westminster Bank (now the Nat West) as “Custodian Trustee” as a further safeguard.
3. Legal provisions re use of the site
The sale of the land from the Ingham family to Harrison and his colleagues was made under a conveyance of 23 October 1928 and no restriction on the use of the land is contained in this conveyance. It was precisely because it was unrestricted that Harrison and his colleagues realised that it was necessary to purchase it, being aware that it was about to be sold to be built on. The Leeds City Council continually relies on this conveyance as giving it the legal right to build on the site. However it is not this conveyance that restricts the use of the site but the conveyance of 23 November 1929 from Messrs Jarman and Thornton (Harrison having died in the meantime) to the Leeds Elementary Schools’ Athletics Association as noted (the predecessor of the LSSA) that is the key legal document. The two surviving owners, following the purpose of the original purchase, made very sure that the land was protected.
Clause 2 of this latter conveyance sets out that:
“The said premises to be set apart and held by the Managing Trustees under their sole control and management for the purpose of providing a playing field and sports ground for the children of the Elementary Schools of the City of Leeds with all profit and suitable buildings and other erections.”
Clause 4 of the same conveyance sets out the regulations for any sale of the land by the trustees if such a sale:
“is desirable by reason of the said premises having become unsuitable or unnecessary for the purpose aforesaid or for any other reason.”
This Clause also provides that if the conditions are met notice shall be given to the Westminster Bank, as Custodian Trustee, to sell the premises. It is clear from the visible evidence of current use and the proposed purchase by LUFC, that the premises have in no way “become unsuitable or unnecessary”.
Clause 5 of this conveyance sets out that the managing Trustees shall apply any monies received from a sale:
“in the purchase of other premises or in the improvement of any premises used or to be used for the purposes set forth herein” or to apply it for the benefit of Elementary schoolchildren.
So, even if the land is sold the proceeds cannot be used for building on it.
Clause 7 of the conveyance states that:
“It is the intention of the parties hereto that the trusts hereby declared shall ensure for the benefit of the pupils at the Elementary Schools of Leeds”
and further that:
“The said trusts shall ensure for the benefit of the pupils of those same schools by whatever names they may be designated the intention being that the pupils of all the schools of Leeds ..... shall at all times hereafter be entitled to the benefits of the trusts hereby declared.”
It is inconceivable that Harrison and his two colleagues, having gone to the personal risk of agreeing to purchase the site and then succeeding in raising the amount required through public subscription, would not ensure that the future protection of the ground would not be watertight and legally protected. I cannot imagine how the legal provisions for the use of the land set out in 1929 could conceivably be clearer. To try and prevent the City Council embarking on planning applications that would be expensively contested in Court, I put these points to the LCC Chief Executive, Tom Riordan, in e-mails of 21 October 2020 (he replied on 30 October 2020) and 4 November 2020. There was no substantive reply to this second e-mail, merely an acknowledgement.
4. The Leeds City Council report of 20 December 2019
Paragraph 4.6.3
“We have satisfied ourselves on the basis of the documents we have seen that there are no restrictions on the disposal of the site by LSSA. Documentation supplied to us by the solicitor acting for LSSA show that the second larger parcel was purchased by Tom Vernon Harrison, Robert Jarman and Arthur Thornton on the 13th September 1928 for £1,800. The conveyance was said to be free of encumbrances, which indicates that the intention of the vendors that any restriction be placed on the future of the site”
Comment: Indeed it was ~free of encumbrances” and it was precisely the knowledge that “speculative builders” were intending to build on the site that catalysed Messrs Harrison, Jarman and Thornton to step in and to buy the site with a view to preserving it as a sports ground.
Paragraph 4.6.4
“We have also been provided with a copy of the abstract of a further conveyance dated 23 November 1929. This is a transfer of the site from Messrs Jarman and Thornton (Mr Harrison having deceased) as the original trustees of the Leeds Elementary Schools Athletic Association (LEEAS) to Westminster Bank Ltd (now Nat West) to hold the land as custodian trustee. This second conveyance specifically gives the Bank the power, on request of the LEEAS trustees to sell the land. Although the LEAAS intended to use the land as sports field there is no restriction on the sale or mortgaging of the land. We have no evidence that the position has changed since 1929.”
Comment: This is simply misleading and inadequate. It omits completely the crucial restrictions and conditions on any sale of the land, as set out in paragraphs 3 above and 5 below. Whether it was deliberate or simply unintentional I know not but if the key paragraphs had been included it is unlikely that the proposal to change the land’s designation in the Site Allocation Plan would have come forward. It may well have been that “the documentation supplied by the solicitor acting for the LSSA” omitted these paragraphs.
Paragraph 4.6.5
“It appears from a cutting from a newspaper from 1928 that the £1,800 used to purchase the second parcel of land was (at least in part) raised through public subscription. There is no evidence that we have seen that suggests that any part of the site was ‘gifted’ to the children of Leeds and there is no obligation for any purchaser to maintain the site for use by the public.”
Comment: This is completely disingenuous. First, there is ample evidence in the local newspapers of the day, and particularly in the Yorkshire Evening Post, (YEP) which was the key vehicle for the appeal and which published frequent lists of donors, that the whole sum was raised by public subscription. In fact more than the purchase price was raised and the surplus was used to buy equipment for the site. The writer of the LCC report could easily have checked by reference to the columns of the YEP from 23rd June 1928 to the 29th October 1928 for the facts. Second, the precise reason for the purchase by the three individuals was to “gift” it to the children of Leeds, and this was explicitly stated by the Lord Mayor of Leeds when passing the deeds to the trustees of the LEESA, (see para 2 above for references). Once again, by accident or design, the LCC report is extremely inadequate and misleading,
5. The role of the National Westminster Bank as Custodian Trustee
I have also had exchanges of e-mails with Robert Phillips of Hugh James Solicitors acting on behalf of the Nat West Bank. Mr Phillips finally agreed in an e-mail to me on 13 January 2021 that on a request made to the bank by the Managing Trustees “in the terms required by the conveyance” that:
“The Bank will consider whether such a future request would result in a breach of covenant.”
Thus, even if the Managing Trustees (ie the LSSA) made a request to sell, the Bank would then itself have to consider independently whether the terms of the conveyance had been adhered to. This would include whether the necessary special meeting of LSSA members convened for the express purpose of considering a sale, with a resolution in favour requiring to be carried by a three-quarters majority, had been held. It is surely clear that, in the light of the terms of the conveyance set out above, the Bank would not be able to agree to the sale for the purposes of housing development.
6. Asset of Community Value
Following two successful High Court cases setting aside the LCC’s refusal to designate the T V Harrison Sports Ground as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) under Chapter 3 of the Localism Act 2011, the Council finally listed the ground as an ACV on 11 April 2022. This recognition brings certain legal safeguards, including the right of the local community – in this case the T V Harrison Sports Ground Association – to purchase the site as and when it is put up for sale. The LCC accepts that being an ACV does affect its plans, for instance it inserted a clause in the contract with LSSA to purchase the ground if it became listed as an ACV, but it does not completely rule out planning permission. It would, however, be bizarre if the LCC having designated the site as an ACV then destroyed it.
7. Leeds Schools’ Sports Association – “Rules of the Association”
7.1 The Rules and Constitution of the LSSA explicitly recognise that the ground cannot be sold. Under the heading ‘“T V Harrison” Sports Ground’ there are just two paragraphs:
38. The Westminster Bank are the Permanent Holding Trustees and the Management Trustees are the Executive of the Leeds Schools’ Sports Association for the times being.
39. The Trust Deed is so made that in the event of the Leeds Schools’ Sports Association becoming inoperative, the ground reverts to the Leeds Education to be used by them solely for the use of the school-children of the City as a Sports Ground. (Version of 26 January 1962; later amendments do not affect this section.)
In relation to the ground, by its deliberate decision in 2002 to abandon it and to allow it to become overgrown, and then to sell it to the LCC, and quite apart from the covenants, the LSSA could not, under its own constitution, have sold it. The situation has also been very different since 2019 as the local “T V Harrison Sports Ground Association” is in de facto control of the ground and manages it for the benefit of the local community, with events, junior football training and with local football clubs registering with it for regular matches.
7.2 Given the evidence of the covenants and the LSSA constitution, one should be able to rely on the Charity Commission to be an effective statutory regulator of the charity LSSA. Alas, not so. My efforts to get the Charity Commission to fulfil its regulatory role met with excessive delay and it only eventually gave a perverse opinion accepting the as yet unbuilt proposed Thorpe Park artificial pitches, six miles away on the opposite side of Leeds, as an acceptable substitute for the T V Harrison ground.
7. Conclusion
The changed allocation of the site in 2019 from “N6 Green Space” to housing under the LSS Site Allocation Plan (SAP) came before the local community campaign group had made full representations to the LCC setting out the legal position under the conveyance of 23 November 1929. Now that the covenants have been made clear it is up to the LCC to propose the withdrawal of the site from the SAP. While it exists in the SAP as allocated for housing development it lays the ground open to futile planning applications and theoretically greatly exaggerates its valuation. In this context it is important to note the LCC-owned portion of the land would have to be appropriated for planning purposes under Section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 before it can be developed. This parcel of land also has restrictive covenants regarding its use.
Reverting the allocation of the sports ground land to public open space is important for the future purchase and thus the significant improvement of the ground as a multi-sport facility, including a community centre with changing and shower facilities and accommodation for indoor sports and community activities.
Michael Meadowcroft
1st February 2023
Waterloo Lodge, 72 Waterloo Lane
Bramley, Leeds LS13 2JF
e-mail: Michael@beemeadowcroft.uk
telephone: (0113) 257 6232
Mobile : 0781 541 8597
It's not all about football in the illustrious history of the TV Harrison Sportsground.
16 January 2023
The TV Harrison Sports Ground has been hosting all kinds of sporting events for over 100 years.
Here are just a few photographs highlighting it's rich and varied sporting past, yet another reason to maintain this ground for its intended purpose.
Leeds United icon joins ‘Wortley’s Wembley’ campaign – as club outlines vision for site
December 29 2022
Leeds United’s player liaison officer Peter “Stix” Lockwood has been made honorary president of a campaign to retain Wortley’s TV Harrison Sports Ground for sports use.
Stix, who played on the ground as a schoolboy, has been associated with United from the age of eight – 63 years ago.
Lifelong Leeds United supporter, Arron Lambert, who was the instigator of the campaign to save the TV Harrison Sports Ground, said: “Stix is a Leeds United legend and we are delighted to have him associated with our campaign.”
Our Chairperson responds to the article in West Leeds Dispatch
November 6 2022
Dear Editor
The T V Harrison Sports Ground Committee welcomes the support of Rachel Reeves and her local colleague Councillor Mark Sewards for a swift purchase of the ground from the Leeds Schools' Sports Association (LSSA) by the Leeds United Foundation (WLD, 6 November). The proposed deal will safeguard the ground from being built on and will enable it to be developed for sports and community use.
However, the Foundation also wishes to purchase the quarter of the site owned by the Leeds City Council and leased to the LSSA. Rachel Reeves' and Councillor Sewards' statement does not, alas, comment on the city council's intentions. Does their support indicate that their City Council colleagues have formally abandoned any further application for planning permission? Without this it is impossible for the Leeds United Foundation to purchase the ground.
Yours faithfully
MP urges ‘swift’ deal as Leeds United ‘eye’ historic TV Harrison ground
November 6 2022
Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves has urged Leeds United and a trust which partly owns a historic sports ground in Wortley to ‘swiftly’ conclude a potential deal to buy the land.
As reported by WLD the Leeds United Foundation is set to open negotiations to buy the historic TV Harrison sports ground in Wortley with the aim of adding all-weather pitches, changing facilities and space for community meetings.
Campaigners have spent the past three years rallying against Leeds City Council’s plans to build up to 50 local authority houses on the site. They claim Leeds United Foundation, the football club’s charity, is about to put in an offer for the Oldfield Lane ground.
Leeds United charity ‘to bid’ for TV Harrison Sports Ground
November 2 2022
Leeds United could be about to open negotiations to buy the historic TV Harrison sports ground in Wortley and add all-weather pitches, changing facilities and space for community meetings.
Campaigners have spent the past three years campaigning against Leeds City Council’s plans to build up to 50 local authority houses on the site.
They claim Leeds United Foundation, the football club’s charity, is about to put in an offer for the Oldfield Lane ground, which has seen past stars such as Brian Deane, Noel Whelan and David Batty play there as youngsters.
LEEDS UNITED BIDS TO BUY TV HARRISON SPORTS GROUND
A statement from our chairman on 1st November 2022
The Leeds United Foundation, working in partnership with Leeds United Football Club, is seeking to buy the historic TV Harrison Sports Ground on Oldfield Lane, Wortley
For further information please contact michael@beemeadowcroft.uk
LEEDS CITY COUNCIL - EXECUTIVE BOARD
21 SEPTEMBER 2022
T V HARRISON SPORTS GROUND
The Council’s Executive Board has a meeting on 21 September 2022. On the agenda is an item on new sites allocated for housing.
It is at: https://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/mgAi.aspx?id=90550&LLL=0
The final entry under Appendix 1 is “Oldfield Lane”, ie the T V Harrison Sports Ground. Obviously it greatly concerns the local T V Harrison Association that this site appears on the list. It believes that, as a consequence of its almost three year campaign, it has succeeded in saving this historic, publicly purchased sports ground.
For The Board's Information The Facts Are:
[1] The site was bought by public subscription in 1928 to save it from private development and to preserve it for the schoolchildren of Leeds “in perpetuity”.
[2] The schoolteachers who organised that campaign (headed by Tom Vernon Harrison) made its safeguarding watertight by including restrictive covenants on any sale and by appointing the Westminster Bank as Custodian Trustee to back up those covenants.
[3] The local Wortley campaign association has brought the football pitch back into use and it is played on regularly by local league teams. It has also brought the hardstanding of the former netball courts back into use for events.
[4] The association has made a formal offer to purchase the ground to the charity which holds the ground in trust: the Leeds Schools’ Sports Association.
[5] The permanent use of the sports ground is backed by Leeds United FC which has made an offer to the Leeds City Council to purchase the site.
[6] The association has twice succeeded in the High Court in having the planning permission to build on the site set aside, at significant cost to the City Council.
[7] Following another campaign by the association - and two further High Court successes - the City Council on 6 March this year listed the site as an “Asset of Community Value” (ACV) under the Localism Act. How can the City Council just six months later seek to destroy it? The association believes that its designation as an ACV is the equivalent of it being in the Green Belt, through which 37 sites were removed from the SAP and safeguarded as open space and/or sports grounds.
[8] In four separate consultations the local Wortley community has backed the retention of the site.
[9] All the Wortley Councillors support the sports ground, including the recently elected Labour Councillor Mark Sewards. Labour Councillors Sharon Burke and John Illingworth also support its retention and Councillor Julie Heselwood has refused to support the City Council’s plans. All opposition Councillors favour the retention of the sports ground.
MM – 20 Sep 22
The Clear Up Continues at a Pace for the New Season
The TVH site maintenance team continue to clear up the rubbish left on the ground. Often unseen but always appreciated, this dedicated team continue to clear up other peoples mess. We cant thank them enough for this.
Anybody who has time on their hands and wants to contribute to a worthy community cause maintaining the ground please do contact us
TVH is now a community asset, we should all respect it as such, if not for us then for our children for whom it was originally intended way back in 1928
Fantastic Fun Day & Announcement From Our Chairman
Following the success of our recent community family fun day, hear about a very positive development from our chairman.
Video Courtesy CVS Digital
Community Family Fun Day !
Enjoy a Fun Free Day Out with the Children of Leeds
30th July 12 noon! fun day, match day , fundraiser day…. Call it whatever, but come along there will be lots of activities for the kids we have An ice cream man, inflatable slide, Nerf shooting thanks to Yorkshire Party Carts Events hire we have loads of activities for the kids crafting, skipping, tug of war, hoola hoops and much more… We have hair braiding thanks to Fauve beauty.
We have delicious treats thanks to Samantha's Cakes & Sweet Treats face painting thanks to Faceadora we have a tombola a raffle with some amazing prizes, we also have refreshments. Last but not least the TVH vs Supporting Charities Football Club with (hopefully) some famous faces maybe? We may even have Danny Cadamarteri managing our TVH team and maybe our regular visitor Noel Whelan. While having all this fun we will be raising money to help us keep maintaining TVH and hopefully the chance to buy the ground.
So please come along and have an amazing fun day while supporting a great cause!
Children of Leeds Enjoying TVH Young Guns Kickabout Happy in The Knowledge The Ground Has been Saved Again
The children of Leeds enjoying a Saturday morning game of football in a safe environment following the latest High Court ruling in favour of the TV Harrison Sports Ground
High Court Decision
For the fourth successive time a High Court judge has quashed Leeds City Council’s ‘unlawful’ decision to grant outline planning permission for housing on a Wortley sports field.
Inner City Green Space
Inner city green spaces are hard to come by and should be preserved at all costs for future generations of children, especially those which are a sports fields with a long and illustrious history in the community
Ground Maintenance
The TV Harrison volunteer ground team have done a fantastic job ensuring the pitch is playable at all times of the year. Often the ground is far better maintained than local Council managed pitches.
Children Should Play
Its always better to get children away from their electronic devices to play together. Too much time in front of the TV or tablet is not good for their development & understanding of the world.
For Physical Health
We all want our children to be healthy, what is better than running off some of their energy whilst keeping fit in a safe environment. Making friends and just being children while they can.
For Mental Health
Children are under pressure by all kinds of social media these days. What is more relaxing than sitting in a field, in the sun, and watching a game of football
High Court Judge Again Overturns Leeds City Council's Planning Decision
Wortley’s historic sports ground is safeguarded by judge’s decision
Statement on the announcement in the High Court
Statement on the announcement in the High Court today, 6th July 2022, that Mr Justice Eyre has quashed the Leeds City Council’s Plans Panel decision of 25 October 2021 to approve the application to build on the T V Harrison Sports Ground in Wortley. .
Michael Meadowcroft, Chair of the T V Harrison Sports Ground Association commented today:
“Once again the Leeds City Council’s planning decision to build on the T V Harrison Sports Ground has been overturned in the High Court. This follows a previous identical City Council planning decision in March 2021 which was also overturned in the Court. It means that the campaign to safeguard this sports ground has taken a further huge step forward. A further earlier High Court victory led to the City Council listing the sports ground as an Asset of Community Value.
The hope of the campaign is that the City Council will now see the light and accept that the T V Harrison site should remain as a well-used and much loved Wortley asset and let us get on with returning it to its former glory. “We are just a local voluntary organisation which has only resorted to legal action as a last resort. Every time we apply for Judicial Review of a Council decision we risk huge amounts of money in costs if we were to lose.
The City Council ‘s costs over the four cases amount to over £130,000. The fact that our David has won against the Council’s Goliath is due above all to our splendid lawyers, in particularly Ricardo Gama of Leigh Day and Jenny Wigley QC of Landmark Chambers.”
Background Information
The TV Harrison Sports Ground
The ground is a focal point for the local community and was always well used by local schools and for informal training. In particular it was the home of the Leeds Boys’ team which nurtured many Leeds United stars. As well as the football pitch, with its floodlights for evening use, there were netball pitches and a pavilion. It was a great blow when the Leeds Schools’ Sports Association, the successor to the charitable trust to which the ground had been entrusted after its purchase by public subscription in 1928, abandoned it in 2004. But when the land was re-allocated for housing in 2012 the local community took action, cleared the land and reinstated the football pitch. Now, once again, there are two local teams that are based at T V Harrison and which are already playing home matches there each weekend. The ground is named after Tom Vernon Harrison, the Leeds Head teacher who led the successful public appeal in 1928 to save it being sold for development after seventy years as a sports ground. The appeal, greatly assisted by the Yorkshire Evening Post, raised today’s equivalent of £140,000 in just four months. Harrison died a year later and the ground was named after him in recognition of his great effort in saving it.
A Game Changer - Campaigners claim Leeds United offered to buy historic TV Harrison Sports Ground to save it from development.
A historic football ground with links to Leeds United could be saved from the threat of development, campaigners say, as a former MP has claimed Leeds United have offered to buy the site.
The TVH Community Action Group
Elects A New Chairperson
In August 2020 Mr Michael Meadowcroft takes over as new chairperson of the TVH Action Group, thanking the previous chairperson, Mr Arron Lambert, for his outstanding work .
Video Courtesy CVS Digital
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