A POLITICIAN from Otley will take up a place in the House of Lords next year. Councillor Judith Blake CBE, the Leader of Leeds City Council, has been chosen to be a Labour Party Peer in the upper chamber. Cllr Blake was named among the new peers that were announced by the Government on Tuesday, December 22. The former Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will also take up a position in the Lords in 2021. Responding to the announcement, she said: “I am honoured to be selected to join the House of Lords at this hugely important time. “It has been a great privilege to serve as Leader of my home city of Leeds for the last five and a half years.
The price paid is considerably more than the reserve, which is good news. I hope Leeds honours previous commitments and releases some of the money from the sale back to the local community. A spokesperson for campaign group Otley Civic Hub Support said: We look forward to seeing who the new owners are and hearing about what they have planned for the Civic Centre. Our focus will continue to be on getting a new community hub created in Otley to compensate for the loss of this important community asset. We will be asking the community to support us in a future-focussed campaign once we have drawn up a case.
OTLEY is waiting to hear what is planned for the Civic Centre after the building sold for £600,000. Owners Leeds City Council had put the Grade II Listed property on the market as part of its efforts to plug a multi-million pound budget deficit for next year. It was sold via a 24 hour online auction, where the building was listed with a guide price of just £135,000, which ended on December 9. Once the town s major community hub and a home to the Town Council and other groups, including Otley Museum, the Civic Centre has been closed since 2010. Debate has raged ever since about what should happen to the property - which is owned by the city council and in need of substantial restoration - and there have been attempts to have it reopened as an entertainment hub.