IT'S been bad enough losing a school at the very heart of Otley, but to also lose the building, will be a disaster.
If parents fail in their battle to reverse the closure of All Saints Junior School, North Parade, it seems the whole site will very quickly be put on the market. And this is after hopes were raised that the buildings would be used to house the cramped Otley Library - not to mention the 'tourist information office'.
Now, Leeds City Council has announced that it intends to move the out of school club from the Bridge Street annexe to the Cross Green Community Centre - it can hardly be thinking any longer that the North Parade buildings might accommodate the club.
And what about all the other groups that meet up in the annexe - the slimming club and the karate club - where are they going to go? It seems highly likely that if the school, the playgrounds and the annexe go on the market they will be sold off not to some philanthropist keen to see the complex made into some sort of community resource, but a housing developer who will convert the Victorian building and probably knock down the annexe for some more profitable development.
Very nice, exclusive apartments will no doubt be built, but at what expense? How much better to have a new library and day centre - there's plenty of room, and if we have to lose the school, let's not have all houses.
l Aireborough Angling Club is taking a tough line with its members - a red card for anyone upsetting the other users of Yeadon Tarn. The relationship between anglers and canoeists and yachters - and even those trying to enjoy a walk next to the water's edge - has long been fraught. But now, the association has taken a very commendable step and is calling for peace at the tarn. Let's hope the other users will follow suit and declare a cease fire.
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