Parents, teachers and pupils were delighted last November when St Bartholomew's Primary School in Armley won an X Factor-style public vote to land almost £80,000 in the National Lottery-backed People's Millions TV contest.

Projects went head-to-head for viewers' votes to win backing from the Big Lottery Fund.

The plan to transform a piece of council land next to the school in Strawberry Lane into a sensory garden, play area, sports area and wildflower gardens got the public's nod. But a year on, the school is still waiting for the council to complete the necessary paperwork and agreements so that the money can be released and work get under way.

Father Ian Wright, chairman of the school governors, said it was important progress was made because the money had to be spent by next March.

Coun Alison Lowe (Lab, Armley) condemned as "outrageous" the length of time the council was taking to resolve the issue.

She said: "The council has been involved in this project from day one.
"It agreed to the land being used from the outset and I cannot understand what is going on.

"I have contacted senior officers to try to get this sorted out. This is a wonderful project and would be of enormous benefit to the community.

"It's called Field of Dreams, but it is becoming a nightmare because of the council."

A council spokesman said: "This is an exciting project which we very much want to see come to fruition.

"The Field of Dreams is intended to be maintained by the local community, but the funding arrangements require the council to act as a guarantor if it is not as successful as intended. This includes repaying the grant if the project fails in the first 10 years.
"These details are complicated to arrange, but we are doing our best to resolve them quickly."