Read more details about these projects in our Morley Town Investment plan.
What we’re investing in
New and upgraded greenspaces
Over the next three years, tree planting across Morley will connect more people with nature, ensuring green spaces for all.
Improvements to public spaces and new planting will see the transformation of areas around the Town Hall and New Pavilion and greener streets and spaces created in the Town Centre, including outside the refurbished Morley Town Hall.
Significant improvements are planned for parks, playgrounds, and town centre pedestrian areas.
Making it easier to walk and cycle
Morley will get improved access to highways, as many of you want to walk and cycle more easily around the town.
Between Morley Bottoms and the New Pavilion, improvements will benefit pedestrians and the town centre economy.
Improving connections to the train station
We will improve pedestrian and cycle routes to the station, a critical gateway to the town centre, via Albert Road and Station Road. This will improve safety and create a clear route to the town centre for locals and visitors.
Work is nearly completed on the new White Rose Rail Station between Morley and Cottingley on the Transpennine route. This work is separate to the Town Deal funding but will bring benefits for Morley, helping to connect people with job, training, education, and leisure opportunities.
Learning and Skills Centre
We are working with Leeds City College to explore the possibility of developing a new adult learning and skills centre in Morley, which will inspire adults to become lifelong learners.
The campus will include an 'emerging technology centre', developing a wide range of industry-specific skills including:
- coding
- virtual reality
- drone technology
- robotics
- 3D printing
- artificial intelligence
We hope to announce more details and consult fully with the community about the new learning and skills centre in the coming months.
Find out more about the development of the Morley Skills Campus.
Morley Town Hall refurbishment
We will refurbish this historic listed building, bringing more events and activities to Morley. The refurbishment will focus on:
- improving the Alexandra concert hall, the key cultural asset within the building
- introducing a cafe/bar
- improving accessibility throughout the building
- enhancing the space around the building, creating a focal point at the heart of Morley
The area outside the town hall should be redeveloped to become the heart of the town, offering space for community projects and events.
Consultation response
Improving heritage buildings
Through the Heritage Investment Programme, grants will be offered to businesses to invest in shop fronts and restore heritage buildings along targeted areas in Morley.
The fund will also support work to bring other vacant heritage properties back into use.
I would love us to embrace our historical town heritage, create an environment of beauty, and love our history.
Consultation response
White Rose Innovation Hub
Bringing good quality jobs to Morley and tackling the challenges facing the town and wider Leeds area are the goals of a new smart cities’ innovation hub at White Rose Park.
The Innovation Hub will focus on technologies relating to transport, air quality, climate, flooding, waste management and energy efficiency. It will create an inclusive and flexible working space for small businesses and innovators to work on our city's challenges.
It will be led by the developer of White Rose Park, Munroe K working in partnership with the council and partners.
Find out more about the White Rose Innovation hub project.
How we decided on these projects
We formed the Morley Town Deal Board to help us decide how to invest the money. The board comprises of the private sector, residents, local businesses, voluntary organisations, Leeds City Councillors, Morley Town Councillors, and the MP for Morley.
Together with the Morley Town Deal Board, we led a consultation open to residents and other stakeholders. You can see the results of our consultation for:
We analysed consultation responses and proposals to decide on our approach. However, we could not take on all suggestions as they needed to meet the criteria set out by the Towns Fund to get investment.
Morley was one of the 101 places across the country invited to bid for funding as part of the government’s Towns Fund.
Announced in September 2019, the fund welcomed proposals to drive long-term economic growth, with Leeds City Council and the Morley Town Deal Board working together to lay out and deliver the vision for the town.
When work will start
We’ve already started work on some of these projects while others are longer term. Business cases were all approved by Central Government in August 2022 and design and development work has commenced. Public consultations for projects will be undertaken in 2023 and 2024. All projects will be completed by March 2026.
