We’re starting to deliver our October Focus leaflet today. Watch out for yours!
Note: we aim to deliver a leaflet to every household in Headingley, but of course some addresses are inaccessible (e.g. flats with entry codes), and sometimes we just run out! That’s why we put our stories online as well. You can browse through them by following our ‘focus stories’ category.
A few weeks ago, local campaigner Penny Goodman wrote to Wetherspoons, asking them to clean up the Elinor Lupton Building on Headingley Lane. Their Acquisitions & Estates Manager responded quickly, saying that he would instruct contractors to undertake the work. But all that’s happened since is that the hedge in front of the building has been cut down, and some of the rubbish cleared away.
This isn’t really what we had in mind when we called for a clean-up! If anything, the building looks worse now, because the graffiti affecting the front is more visible.
Penny Goodman therefore wrote back to the Wetherspoons Acquisitions & Estates Manager to ask when the graffiti would be cleaned away. But this time his reply was that Wetherspoons would not be removing the graffiti until they go in to develop the building.
Planning permission for Wetherspoons to convert this building into a pub has not been granted yet, and development cannot start until it is. Given the scale of local opposition to the plans, that could take a very long time! But Wetherspoons already own the building, so its condition is their responsibility.
We think that if they want to show their willingness to make a positive contribution to the local community in Headingley, they should clean up the building properly now – regardless of the outcome of the planning process.
The Grade II listed Elinor Lupton Building on Headingley Lane used to be part of Leeds Girls High School. But in 2010 the school moved to new premises, and the building was put on the market. Then in 2014, local residents were dismayed to learn that the school had sold the building to Wetherspoons, who hope to turn it into a huge pub with a capacity of around 1000 patrons. Meanwhile, after five years standing empty, the building has fallen into a sorry state, covered in graffiti and fly-posters, and surrounded by rubbish.
Local Headingley campaigner Penny Goodman has written to the CEO of Wetherspoons, John Hutson, asking the company to take their responsibility for the building which they now own seriously, and clean it up. Here is the text of her letter:
Dear Mr. Hutson,
I am a local campaigner in Headingley, Leeds, and I am writing in relation the Elinor Lupton Centre on Headingley Lane: a local building which formerly belonged to The Grammar School at Leeds and was recently purchased by Wetherspoons.
As I’m sure you are aware, planning permission to convert this building into a Wetherspoons pub is currently being sought from Leeds City Council. Over 70 local residents and residents’ groups have objected to the application, citing concerns about the noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour likely to be generated by the numbers of customers anticipated in the plans, and the fact that an additional licensed premises in this area would contravene the Cumulative Impact Policy already in place for Headingley.
In the meantime, the building itself is increasingly becoming a target for graffiti, litter and fly-posting, turning it into an eye-sore rather than the distinctive landmark feature it once was. Since it is such a large building, and faces directly onto the main road through Headingley, the effect is to make the entire local neighbourhood appear run-down and neglected.
My view is that as the new owners of the Elinor Lupton Centre, Wetherspoons have a responsibility to ensure that it is kept clean and in good repair. Taking measures to clean up the graffiti, litter and posters currently disfiguring the site would also demonstrate your company’s commitment to the character of the local neighbourhood.
I am therefore writing to ask you to take measures to clean up the external parts of this building now, as a way of demonstrating Wetherpoons’ goodwill towards the local community in Headingley.
Yours sincerely,
Penny Goodman