Latest news

Tuesday 19th March 2024

2pm – 4pm

Morley Town Hall, Large Banqueting Suite

Queen Street, Morley, LS27 9DY

Download the latest meeting board papers and minutes by visiting:

Morley Town Deal is featured as part of the Government's Levelling Up campaign toolkit.  The UK Government is investing £1.7 billion in Levelling Up projects for local people and businesses across Yorkshire & The Humber.

Tuesday 23rd January 2024

2pm – 4pm

Morley Town Hall, Large Banqueting Suite

Queen Street, Morley, LS27 9DY

Download the latest meeting board papers and minutes (published later today) by visiting:

Munroe K (owners of the White Rose Park) have submitted a full planning application to the Local Planning Authority for the construction of a new building for flexible office and training uses, ancillary cafe, office extension to an existing office building, cycle parking, modifications to the existing car parking and associated landscaping.

Ingenuity will be a living lab for smart city innovation. Ingenuity is 1,500m2 of purpose-designed space for people to connect, be inspired, uncover opportunities, experiment, prototype and work on projects, with White Rose Park and its tenants providing a real-world testbed for smart city innovations.

Do you own a heritage building in Morley? Is your building within the existing conservation area? Then you may qualify for a Morley Town Deal Heritage Investment Fund grant.

Heritage Investment Fund grants can be used to:

In July 2023, Leeds City Council was successful in its bid to purchase St Mary’s in the Wood United Reformed Church in central Morley for an undisclosed sum.

The Grade II listed Victorian building, located on Commercial Street, is the former Sunday School for the congregation of St Mary’s in the Wood. In 2008, the church consolidated its buildings, and all church worship and activities thereafter operated from the former Sunday School site, which has now been purchased by Leeds City Council. The vacant church building on Coffin Corner was sold to an independent developer in 2008, before being destroyed by fire in 2010. The Coffin Corner site remains in private hands.

The purchase forms a part of the Morley Town Deal’s investment in the town and will see the building’s use change from a church to a learning and skills centre for Morley operated by Luminate Education Group. It is envisaged that the centre will focus on raising skills for adults through vocational training, particularly in new and emerging technologies.

Tuesday 14th November 2023

2pm – 4pm

Morley Town Hall, Large Banqueting Suite

Queen Street, Morley, LS27 9DY

Download the latest meeting board papers and minutes (published 5 days in advance) by visiting:

In June 2023, Leeds City Council secured £176,433 from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to deliver a project under the women and girls outreach programme to contribute to the regions Local Invest Plan (LIP) for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). There are a number of interventions, outputs and outcomes that will be delivered under the Women and Girls Outreach Project (Leeds). Activity will take place through women-friendly park and public realm development through specific consultation work with the Women and Girls Alliance Leeds. Two of the Morley Town Deal projects have been allocated UKSPF to deliver a newly designed area for women and girls using some of the design principles from the ‘Safer Parks’ guidance document. Hembrigg Park has been identified as one of the first schemes.

Women and Girls Alliance Leeds will be in Hembrigg Park this Wednesday (1st November) between 1.30pm and 3.30pm. They would like to hear your thoughts on the proposed new space for women and girls. They’ll be wearing purple high-vis so you’ll be able to spot them!

The Morley Jobs Fair was held on Thursday 5 October 2023 at Morley Town Hall with 20 exhibitors and over 300 visitors throughout the day. The aim of the event was to provide short and long-term job and career opportunities for the residents of Morley and Leeds facilitated by Leeds City Council Employment and Skills and the Morley Town Deal teams. The job roles on offer included retail roles, support/ outreach workers, care settings, warehouse, cleaning, security, maintenance and hospitality.

Earlier this year, 25 students from Years 10 and 12 at Woodkirk Academy took part in a pocket park project as part of Growing Talent Morley, a youth engagement programme supporting the aims of the Morley Town Deal, led by the Ahead Partnership.

Students researched potential new pocket park sites in Morley which could be considered for redevelopment, and created design concepts for a new park area that reflected the needs and interests of their local community. The students considered the social, economic, and environmental impact and potential of the redevelopment and created a space that could be used by all members of the community. They then presented their concepts at #UKREiiF, the UK’s Real Estate and Investment Forum in front of a packed pavilion and a panel of industry experts.

This was a unique example of including the youth voice in the redevelopment of places and spaces in their local area. Ahead Partnership and Morley Town Deal were delighted to see the creativity, ingenuity, and passion of the young people come through in their ideas and designs.

We are consulting again on Albion Street and Commercial street highway schemes. The in person event will be held on Wednesday 4th October from 5-7pm at Morley library. Please come along and see the outline proposals and chat to some of the highways officers.

Are you looking for work in the Morley area? Then visit the Morley Jobs Fair at Morley Town Hall on Thursday 5 October, between 10am-3pm.

Local employers will be there on the day with live and upcoming vacancies. These include White Rose shopping centre, Leeds City Council, Leeds United, McDonalds, Wetherspoons, Supply Desk, Be Caring, Johnstones Hotels, Utility Warehouse and many more!

Tuesday 12th September 2023

2pm – 4pm

Morley Town Hall, Large Banqueting Suite

Queen Street, Morley, LS27 9DY

Download the latest meeting board papers and minutes (published 5 days in advance) by visiting:

Join the 90-minute walking workshop and contribute to ground breaking research.

As Internet of Things (IoT) devices become increasingly integrated into our daily lives, Lancaster University is hosting a unique walking workshop to discuss the use of IoT devices in public spaces. The 90-minute event, which will take participants on a journey through Morley Town Centre, aims to spark insightful conversations about the implications of such technology, as well as the value of IoT devices.

During the workshop, participants will encounter a variety of IoT sensors strategically placed throughout the town, some of which will be actual devices while others will be fictional. At each device, a discussion will be held to delve into its potential impact on society. This interactive session offers an opportunity for community members to explore the future of IoT technology while contributing to research.

The integration of IoT devices into our daily lives has accelerated, with a wide range of interconnected devices, from smart meters to virtual assistants like Alexa, transforming the way we live. However, these devices raise numerous ethical and privacy concerns that are worthy of exploration. The walking workshop aims to facilitate thought-provoking discussions on these complex issues in order to shed light on the various considerations necessary when implementing IoT devices in public spaces.

Join us for this enlightening walking workshop in Morley Town Centre. We can't wait to see you there!

Our next consultation event is happening tomorrow, Tuesday 25th July. Come and see the latest concept proposals and have the chance to chat to some of the team.

The public consultation covers a range of schemes in this phase including:

The following Greener and Connected and Station Gateway public consultations are all now live on commonplace for you to review the outline design proposals and give us your thoughts on the following schemes:

This week will see the launch of phase 1 of the public consultations for public realm and highway schemes under the Greener and Connected and Station Gateway projects.

The public consultations cover a range of schemes in this phase including:

We are now launching our annual satisfaction survey which aims to capture feedback on Morley and the Morley Town Deal. The information you provide will help us understand and capture community feeling and measure levels of success on an annual basis. This survey will form part of the Towns Fund ongoing monitoring and evaluation requirements.

To safeguard your privacy, responses to this survey are anonymous and no personal information will be made public.

Every survey entry will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 of shopping vouchers to spend at White Rose. You have until 1 September 2023 to complete the survey.

Follow this link to enter!

Morley Town Deal Board meetings are now open to the public. If you would like to attend, the next meeting is on:

Tuesday 11 July 2023

2pm – 4pm

Morley Town Hall, Large Banqueting Suite

Queen Street, Morley, LS27 9DY

Download the latest meeting board papers and minutes (published 5 days in advance) by visiting:

Morley Town Deal Board meetings are now open to the public. If you would like to attend, the next meeting is on:

Monday 22nd May 2023

2pm – 4pm

Large Banqueting Suite

Morley Town Hall

Queen Street, Morley, LS27 9DY

Download the latest meeting board papers and minutes (published 5 days in advance) by visiting:

Business volunteers and employers in and around Morley have supported 2195 young people so far to understand the Morley Town Deal and its opportunities for a successful career and life.

Since the Growing Talent Morley programme kicked off in January 2023, businesses such as Sterling Capitol, Transpennine Route Upgrade, Sulzer, Leeds Building Society and Landsec have engaged young people aged 10 – 18 years in several exciting and innovative activities focused on their wishes for development in their local area, ecology and the skills needed to be ready for work in Morley.

Ahead Partnership has been appointed to design and deliver the Growing Talent Morley programme with local employers, and so far students from Morley Academy, Woodkirk Academy, Bruntcliffe Academy, Elliot Hudson College, Birchfield Academy, Morley Newlands Academy, St Francis Primary, Gildersome Primary School, and Drighlington Primary School have taken part in the series of careers panels, ‘world of work’ days, workshops and live brief challenges. There are extensive plans to grow the reach of this early careers and skills programme across the Morley area over the coming months.

After taking part in Growing Talent Morley activities, 82% of the students involved said taking part gave them an increased understanding of skills, qualifications, and entry routes into jobs in Morley and all students said they had improved their perception of the career options available in Morley. 97% of the young people involved said it had helped them plan their future goals for life after school.

Gerald Jennings, Chair of Morley Town Deal Board, says: “We are delighted with the progress of the Growing Talent Morley programme which directly engages our youngest stakeholders in Morley around what is happening right on their doorstep. Together with the commitment and passion of our local businesses and employers, we’re helping those young people to envision an improved Morley and really understand what that means for their futures.

Ahead Partnership has been key in bringing this together and delivering activities which speak to and excite local children and young people. The business volunteers love being involved and working collaboratively to improve knowledge and attitudes about Morley. We welcome any individual or organisation who is passionate about Morley to get involved in the programme as it grows throughout the area.”

Thank you for contributing to previous engagement on the ‘Greener and Connected’ element of Morley Town Deal. We developed some outline proposals for the parks in line with your feedback. We are now progressing into the ‘detailed design phase’ for the next two parks. We would like to engage with you further to help inform our final proposals.

Works are due to commence in Spring/Summer 2023 at both Lewisham and Churwell Parks. The anticipated completion is Autumn 2023.

Starting from 21st March 2023 all future meetings of the Morley Town Deal Board will be open to the public, except where certain parts of an agenda contain confidential or exempt information.

In these circumstances, the Town Deal Board may choose to treat that part of the meeting as a ‘private meeting’ by excluding the public. The public are free to attend as observers only and will not be able to participate in the discussions of the Board meeting.

There will be 15 minutes at the start of the agenda to respond to any public questions which have been submitted no later than 5 days in advance of the meeting by email to: morleytowndeal@leeds.gov.uk

Town Deal Board Members all adhere to a Code of Conduct. The Town Deal Board Chair may exclude a member of the public in order to maintain orderly conduct or prevent misbehaviour at a meeting. Five clear working days before each meeting, details of the agenda items to be considered and the associated reports will be published on the website below.

The Morley Town Deal is a £24.3m programme of funding that will deliver an ambitious and transformative vision for the town of Morley.

The programme will deliver five distinct projects tackling regeneration, connectivity, employment and skills, business growth and improving green spaces and the public realm.

Growing Talent Morley is a programme of engagement with schools and children which will embed the benefits of the Morley Town Deal in the town, supporting young people to engage with the themes, activities and outcomes of the Town Investment Plan and enhancing awareness and interest in digital skills and careers linked to job opportunities in and around Morley.

Why get involved?

Your involvement will help young people in a really practical way and help them to envision a more positive future. The programme allows businesses to play their part in creating a more equal and inclusive society, whilst reaching out to potential talent and the unique skills and perspectives that young people can bring to the sector.

All the activities in the programme are organised by Ahead Partnership with support and resources that help volunteers get involved, whether you are office or home based.

What sort of activities takes place through the programme?

The activities we design and deliver together vary according the ages of the young people involved, though we can work with any employer on an idea that they may have to engage young people in understanding their sector.

At primary school level, this may include enterprise challenges and World of Work Days focusing on the local area and the new developments they will see in the future. At Key Stage 3 (11-13 years) this may include careers panels, sector insight days and inspirational speeches. At Key Stage 4 (14-15 years) the programme is more focused on specific job roles, skills and routes of entry through activities such as workplace visits, curriculum resources, speed networking, live briefs and podcasts. By Key Stage 5 (16-19 years) students interested in specific sectors are invited to attend work experience and insight days.

Growing Talent Morley works with young people over a number of years to improve their knowledge of a specific sector and harness and grow their passion through more targeted and specific experiences with the employers involved in the programme.

How can I get involved?

Work has started on the delivery of the first of six Morley Town Deal improvement projects. The projects to redevelop Hembrigg Park and Dartmouth Park mark the first of many spade-in-the-ground milestones in delivering the Morley Town Deal plans.

Funded through a £24.3m grant from the government’s Towns Fund, the works are a culmination of over two years of design, planning, and public consultations led by Leeds City Council and the Morley Town Deal board and follow a complete analysis of each park in Morley by delivery partner, Groundwork Yorkshire. 

The improvements to Hembrigg Park will focus on play, health, and recreational facilities, while work in Dartmouth Park will add additional seating and new planting. Work to Improve Dartmouth Park’s Botanical Gardens is planned in a later phase of development, further to additional public consultation. Each park will also see general improvements in the visitor experience.

The work in both parks is being delivered by Leeds City Council parks and countryside service and Groundwork Yorkshire and is expected to be completed by Spring 2023. The £700,000 investment into Hembrigg and Dartmouth parks are just two of eight Morley parks scheduled for redevelopment as a part of the Morley Town Deal’s wider Greener and Connected programme over the next three to four years. 

Together with the redevelopment of local parks and playgrounds, the Greener and Connected programme will also deliver new and improved public spaces and improvement to public rights of way. The programme will also see significant upgrades to travel choices, especially for pedestrians and cyclists, with enhanced routes around town, improved access to existing highways, and better crossings and junctions to increase safety.

Picture (left to right): Peter Murphy, operations director, Groundwork (Yorkshire) Ltd, Cllr. Wyn Kidger, Cllr. Helen Hayden, Morely Town Deal Chair, Gerlad Jennings, Cllr. Jane Senior, Cllr. Robert Finnigan.

Commenting, Councillor Helen Hayden, Leeds City Council’s executive member for infrastructure and climate, said: “I’m pleased that we are starting to deliver the Morley Town Deal by redeveloping Hembrigg and Dartmouth Parks. These two parks have provided joy to generations of people and these works will make sure that future generations can enjoy them for years to come as well. 

“Just like all work the council does, we have listened to what local people have told us is important to them. The overwhelming consensus from the people of Morley was that people wanted clean and pleasant areas to relax and exercise, as well as space for children to play and enjoy safely. These parks will embody these ideas and I cannot wait for people to start enjoying them in summer next year".

Gerald Jennings, chair of the Morley Town Deal board, said: “I’m thrilled to start delivering the tangible benefits of the Town Deal to the people of Morley so soon after the final confirmation of the funding this past September.

“While the work in Hembrigg and Dartmouth parks marks a major delivery milestone, we still have a great deal of work to do on delivering all the other aspects of the Town Deal agenda. There are many opportunities for people in Morley to get involved, whether through attending our public consultations in early and mid-2023, joining our inclusive design panel or providing ideas and feedback on our plans via our commonplace website. I would encourage as many people to get involved as possible.”

Further information on the plans for Morley and details of how to participate in future consultations are available at:  

An in-person public drop-in event, where the people of Morley were invited to meet Morley Town Deal board members, council officers, and partners, has been hailed as a great success by the chairman of the board, Gerald Jennings.

The well-attended event, held at Morley Town Hall on Saturday 19 November, invited attendees to learn more about each aspect of the various projects through visual displays and a video and have conversations with board members, council officers, and partners in attendance. There were also opportunities to leave feedback.

Speaking after the event, Gerald Jennings, Morley Town Deal board chairman said:

“It was great to see so many people in attendance. The level of engagement with the plans for each project was outstanding.

“This type of event is invaluable to us as a board, as we can really get to know what people want from the Town Deal and get face-to-face feedback on the plans. I had a lot of interesting conversations which will help to influence the projects moving forward.

“We have several project consultations coming up in the new year and events like this help to shape our plans prior to formally consulting on them. The more feedback we can get, the more the plans represent the needs of the Morley people.

“The drop-in event was a great success and I really look forward to the more formal consultations in the new year.”

Works are due to commence in Winter 2022 at both Dartmouth and Hembrigg Parks. Anticipated completion is Spring 2023.

Proposals for improving Hembrigg Park will focus on play, health and recreational facilities along with general improvements. Dartmouth proposals will focus on the redevelopment of the botanical garden area, additional seating and planting along with general improvements across the park.

Following a successful recruitment programme, the Morley Town Deal Board has the pleasure of welcoming four new members in March to help continue its vital work in the town.

The recruits will join existing board members in bringing together a range of stakeholders to make Morley a better connected, more environmentally friendly, and greener place to live and work, using funding from a £24.3 million grant from the national Towns Fund*.

Welcoming the new members, Mukesh Patel, Lalit Suryawanshi, Christine Hirst, and Daniel Merrick, Morley Town Deal Board chairman, Gerald Jennings said:

"I am delighted to be able to welcome Mukesh, Lalit, Christine, and Daniel to the Morley Town Deal Board.

"Each of the new members brings a diverse range of experience, expertise, and knowledge, and they will be great assets to the board and the projects they undertake.

"The new board members join us at an exciting time, with the preparation to submit project details to secure final project funding being a priority, a task each of them will play an important role in delivering."

Morley Town Deal proposals moved a step closer in March 2022 as central Government signed off the first project to be submitted for approval. The Heritage Investment Fund will see £1,780,000 invested to support the town centre economy in Morley. Grants will be offered to property owners to improve shop fronts and bring empty properties back into use, helping to increase footfall, support local businesses, and make Morley an even more attractive location for visitors.

The campus will be driven by the needs of local people and businesses, so have your say on what courses the campus should be offering.

It is currently proposed to include an ‘emerging technology centre’ to develop skills in coding, virtual reality, drone technology, robotics, 3D printing and artificial intelligence, developing a wide range of valuable industry specific skills.

The campus will additionally offer English and maths courses for adults without Level 2 qualifications, vocational skills training in key employment sectors and progression advice for higher level learning.

Have your say on proposals to upgrade and create greenspaces, invest in local parks, offer better connections to the rail station, improve air quality and provide easier opportunities for pedestrians and cyclists to get around.

Meet Morley Town Deal Board members, learn more about each scheme and offer your thoughts.

The transformation of Morley, backed by £24.3 million investment, is led by local people.

During last year's large-scale public consultation on what the future of the town should look like, Morley Bottoms was identified as a priority for changes, with local residents highlighting how a lack of crossing and narrow pavements made the area difficult to navigate.

The newly created pedestrianised zone features wider footpaths, creating space for local businesses to use as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, as well as a one-way bus gate.

Helping to improve local air quality in a previously congested area of Morley, this one-way system allows buses to travel through the area while closing the road to traffic at the bottom of Queen Street.

In the coming weeks, further work will be carried out to make the area safer for pedestrians, with crossings being added on Station Hill and Chapel Road.

This work was made possible by £750,000 of government funding secured last year by Leeds City Council and the Morley Town Deal Board to kickstart longer-term growth plans for the town.

In addition to the work on Morley Bottoms, this investment has seen improvements made to Scatcherd Park and new public art installed across the town, including striking temporary panels on the New Pavilion building, designed by Leeds-based artist Ekaterina Sheath.

These projects will continue in the coming weeks, with a new play area to be installed in Lewisham Park and improvements planned along the pedestrianised area of Queen Street.

A further £24.3 million of government investment was recently secured for a major regeneration plan for Morley.

Informed by residents and developed by the Morley Town Deal Board with support from the council, the funding will deliver on key local priorities including jobs, skills, greenspaces, sustainable travel and bringing cherished buildings back into use.

The Morley Town Investment Plan will invest in: