Work starts on transformation of former school
The MP for Leeds West, Rachel Reeves has backed plans for 59 new homes on the old Wortley High School campus, as work starts on site.
Ms Reeves joined representatives from Keepmoat Homes, who acquired the site last year, to break ground on the developer’s first site in West Leeds.
The land, which was previously owned by Leeds City Council and received planning permission for a range of three and four-bedroom houses last year. It follows the success of the Leeds Brownfield Programme, where Keepmoat Homes has been working in close partnership with Leeds City Council to deliver more than 193 homes, with a further 417 in the pipeline.
Paul Oldridge, regional managing director at Keepmoat Homes said: “This site sits alongside the hugely successful ongoing Leeds Brownfield Programme, in turn really strengthening our relationship with Leeds City Council. This site is a key milestone for us, it’s our first site in West Leeds and is close to our regional office
“We express our thanks to Leeds City Council, and Places for People, another of our long-term partners, who helped us get to where we are today, with their positivity and pragmatic approach to the planning progression and development.”
Rachel Reeves, MP for Leeds West, said: “This site has been vacant for quite a long time, so it’s really good to see work starting on this site. There is a huge demand for housing in West Leeds – particularly affordable housing, and so making use of brownfield sites like this is really important. It’s great that Keepmoat are developing areas like these.”
In addition to delivering new homes the Doncaster-headquartered firm has pledged to support local people and help them into training and employment opportunities through sub-contractors, work placements and educational visits to the site, and is sponsoring the Under-15s football kit of Wortley Juniors Football Club.
