Leeds cricket pitch appeal stumped by inspectors

The overgrown site of a former cricket club in Leeds looks set to remain unused following a planning row.

The old Highbury Works Cricket Club, next to Meanwood Park is bound by a 1997 covenant which states the land can only be used for cricket.

The council batted away Ed Arvley's plans for a dog care centre on the land in 2018 and now planners have stumped a bid to scrap the cricket-only clause.

Mr Arvley pledged the land would "never be used for sport".

The site has been largely empty since 2004, when the cricket club folded.

A number of local campaigners in Meanwood argued the greenbelt site should be opened up and made available for the community again. They have also criticised the land's unkempt state.

Mr Arvley insisted at an appeal 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, published last week, Mark Brooker from the government Planning Inspectorate said there was "no requirement on the landowner to provide access to the site or to maintain the site for purposes of cricket".

However, he added it was "clear that the area can only be used as a cricket pitch".

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 did not have to proactively maintain the site for cricket.

Despite losing the appeal, Mr Arvley said he welcomed the inspector's judgement that he was under no obligation to open up the site, or maintain it and declared he had no immediate plans for the site.

"I don't need to do anything," he said.

Mr Arvley added that any future plans would "go through the planning application system and follow due process".

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