Labour councillor Bernard Atha asked for an update on the Royal Park Community Consortium's bid to take over the former Royal Park Primary School in Hyde Park.

Liberal Democrat leader Richard Brett said that he and joint council leader Andrew Carter had had positive discussions with community activists over their bid to take over the abandoned school.

"The consortium are a much stronger group than they were when I first met them a year ago. I'm very hopeful we will be able to resolve the situation to everyone's satisfaction."

Brett wouldn't agree or disagree to Atha's suggestion that the squatters who occupied the building late last year to highlight its neglect should not be charged £3,000 legal costs by the council.

He said squatting in abandoned buildings was dangerous, and that waiving costs could set a precedent.

Atha's white paper motion asking for costs to be waived was defeated by a non-commital amendment by Brett which noted the request over costs and outlined support for the principle of community asset transfer.

Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/leeds/2010/apr/21/council-roundup-wetherby-trade-royal-par-city-of-leeds

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City councillors today postponed a decision over the future of dilapidated Royal Park Primary School in Hyde Park.

Protesters from Hyde Park lobby against flats plans this afternoon outside Leeds Civic Hall Photograph: John Baron/guardian.co.uk

As previously reported, the Royal Park Community Consortium (RPCC) want to transform the building into a community hub - but council officers had recommended against the council supporting the scheme.

Officers had said in a report to today's executive board meeting that a proposal for student flats and commercial use from one of the two other developers tendering for the building should be accepted and that there were issues over the sutainability of the consortium's plan.

Joint council leader and executive board chairman Andrew Carter said the agenda item had been withdrawn as RPCC was still in talks with fellow joint leader Richard Brett and that it wouldn't be fair to discuss the issue while talks were still ongoing.

Carter said there would also be further talks involving him, Brett and RPCC before the issue was brought back before councillors.

Campaigners had previously asked for more time to put together their business case.

RPCC's fight was today also supported by two Headingley Liberal Democrat councillors, Martin Hamilton and Jamie Matthews.

In a letter to executive board members, they said: "The council cannot support a scheme which would inevitably lead to more student flats in the area ... the last thing this community needs is more commercial premises which will adversely affect existing local businesses.

"We support RPCC's bid to take over the building and ask the council to transfer the building to the consortium for a reasonable period of time to allow them to demostrate that they can implement a scheme which clearly has so much community support."

Hyde Park residents noisily demonstrated outside the Civic Hall against the plans for student flats prior to today's meeting.

Source http://www.guardian.co.uk/leeds/2010/mar/10/royal-park-primary

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