Robbie's View From Westminster
Open green spaces are precious. These patches of land, especially those in the middle of town centres, offer people a chance to relax, provide entertainment for children, and a home for wildlife.
As time has passed in Keighley, we have seen less and less green spaces in the town centre. However, when Keighley College moved from their old site to a bigger and better one, a rare space emerged just off North Street, adjoining the top of Cavendish Street in the centre of our town. The streetscape was opened up and a new opportunity of a permanent green lung was created.
The unique site was sown with grass, and quickly adopted the name by all across Keighley as the āGreen Spaceā.
Yet the bosses at Bradford Council and local Labour Councillors in Keighley are determined to build on it, no matter what.
We have recently secured ring-fenced funding from our Government to help fund a new Health and Wellbeing Hub in Keighley. This is a project which is much needed and something which I fully support. Indeed, after much lobbying, I am pleased to have helped secure this. But throughout this process, Bradford Council have been fixated on building the Health and Wellbeing Hub on our Green Space, despite there being many other brownfield sites and empty premises in the centre of Keighley. Bradford Council have not actively explored the potential of other sites and in true Bradford fashion, they are determined to crack on with building on the Green Space without any proper consultation with Keighley residents.
This has ignited a real debate between local people in Keighley and Labour run Bradford Council. For almost two years, many people, including Keighley Town Council and myself have tried to send a clear message that we want to protect our much-loved Green Space. I launched my own campaign; #KeepItGreen, to promote this and launched a petition to allow local people to share their views on this matter. Indeed, there is also a very active Green Space Campaign Team who have also worked incredibly hard to get Bradford Council to listen.
Typically, we have been hearing a lot from the other side about why we should build on the Green Space. The heart of their argument is that this is an āeither/orā choice between protecting the Green Space on North Street or having a new Health and Wellbeing Hub. Unsurprisingly, this is complete nonsense ā we can, and we should have both. It is incredibly disappointing that our local authority seem solely fixated on one site, and have not been willing to explore other options. This should not be an either/ or choice. I helped secure funding for the Health and Wellbeing Hub, as part of the Ā£33.6 million this Conservative Government is investing in Keighley through the Towns Fund ā and it is absolutely right that this money is invested on projects, and on sites which the people of Keighley are happy with. When there are so many options, all I ask is that the Hub is built somewhere other than the Green Space.
I am doing all I can to make this point. Last Monday, I raised this point in Parliament. I was delighted to hear the Levelling Up and Communities Minister Stuart Andrew join me in calling on Bradford Council to listen to our town. But of course, I have not been alone in this fight. I thank everyone from our former Town Mayor Julie Adams, Town Councillor Paul Cook, local campaigner Laura Kelly, and District Councillors Julie Glentworth and Mohammed Nazam have all worked so hard on this issue.
It is incredibly frustrating that throughout this whole process, the Executive at Bradford Council have done all they could to silence Keighley on this matter. Last month, at an Executive Council meeting which specifically discussed the Green Space, Keighley Town Councillor Paul Cook, there as a representative of Keighley, was not given an opportunity to speak and put our case across. When he protested this, he was ejected from the meeting. Of course, this was after those like our Labour Council Leader Susan Hinchcliffe were able to speak for five minutes on why we should build on the Green Space.
We have a unique opportunity to have a say on our town. Thanks to the hard work of local campaigners, we have managed to secure a public referendum on whether to protect the Green Space on North Street from being built on. It will take place on Thursday 21st July and all who live within Keighleyās Town Councilās boundaries will be able to vote. Polls will be open from 4pm to 9pm on the day, taking place at your normal polling station. We will be asked three questions; do we want a Health and Wellbeing Hub, do we want it on the Green Space and should we recognise the Green Space as a āpublic open spaceā.
If anyone needs more information, then search āRobbie Moore Keep it Greenā. This is our chance to send a clear message that yes, we want a new Health and Wellbeing Hub in Keighley, but No, we do not want it building on our precious Green Space. Our Green Space needs to stay. I urge everyone to vote YES-NO-YES on 21 July.
Robbie Moore MP
