In these unprecedented times, some good news can work wonders, so here it is!

On 9th March, the Greenside Greenway group held our AGM at the Royal in Pudsey. Over 40 people packed into the top room to hear updates on the project and our plans for the upcoming year.

Main highlights from the past year have been:

• Regular litter picks along the proposed route. These will continue once lockdown regulations allow.
• The developer applied for full infill of the railway cutting, which we vehemently opposed and campaigned against. Earlier in the year we heard that planning permission had been rejected.
• And finally, news that we had raised the required sum (approximately £10,000) for the feasibility study, and were in the process of instructing Sustrans to begin. The first official site meeting being on 12th March 2020.

The meeting also agreed to re-elect existing committee members and roles and formally elect Gary Lemal as Vice Chair , and Lee Carter and Chris Dunford Kelk as committee members. Martin Stanley was elected as Secretary as David Dowden stood down from this position. We are also looking for any new members who can be of assistance and We also sought two auditors for the accounts and both Tim Devereux and Mark Sewards were elected for this role.

Future plans include:

• A proposal to apply for Charitable Status. Gary Lemal introduced this item and explained the reasons behind the proposal., which will also entail the election of Trustees. The proposal was voted on and accepted.

Thanks:

We thanked in particular The Squeaker for the two-page report from which a lot of fundraising was generated. The Fleece and Sunbeam Brewery for their drinkable contribution, and major fundraiser pledges to the feasibility study costs from The Historical Railway Estate (HRE), Leeds City Council, and Bradford Metropolitan District Council.

Guest Speaker Cllr Peter Carlill, who is the lead member for LCC on Sustainable Travel then gave us a brief update on the sustainable ambitions of the council. Peter then took a number of varied questions before we brought the meeting to a close.

Finally, we would also like to thank the Royal Public House who again provided the meeting room and facilities for this event.