Hunslet and Riverside Labour Labour values in action
August 2021 Newsletter
Welcome to our monthly e-newsletter. We hope you find the content interesting. You can view last month’s newsletter via this link. Even though step four of the roadmap for the end of lockdown was delayed we have been busy working for you. Here is a taster of some of the work we have been doing this month.
Contents
Use the links below to browse the sections of our e-newsletter and use the return to contents links at the end of each section to return here.- Church Street Christmas and Tommy Motifs Approved
- Damage Litter Bins replaced
- Civic Enforcement Officer Post Renewed
- Improving Pedestrian Safety on Tunstall Road
- MICE Grants
- Wellbeing Grants
- Moor Road (LS10) Pedestrian Refuge
- Litter Picking Groups Making A Difference
- Thank you for reading
- Contact Us
Church Street Christmas and Tommy Motifs Approved
We have approved a funding request by Hunslet Tenants and Residents Association (Hunslet TARA) for the installation of four new Christmas motifs and one Tommy motif which recognises those killed or injured during war, on Church Street.The motifs for 2021 are an initial batch, with Councillors planning with Hunslet TARA, subject to funding, to add more motifs in 2022 and 2023. This multi-year rollout is to ensure the initial one-off costs of adding the motifs mounting brackets and power connections on to the lampposts doesn’t cause a budget strain.
The Tommy motif, which is being installed to commemorate Remembrance Day, will be turned on in November and will be located near St Mary's Spire.
Councillors have also advised that the long-standing Christmas Lights display in Hunslet Carr will also have an additional four motifs added to it this year as well.
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“This project has been a long time coming for this area of Hunslet. Sadly, for the last few years, either due to applications not being submitted in time or the impact of the pandemic, no new motif sites were approved and Church Street has missed out. But no more!” Cllr Mohammed Iqbal
Damaged Litter Bins Replaced
We have approved for twenty-two damaged council litter bins to be replaced across the Hunslet and Beeston areas of the ward.The replacement of the damaged litter bins follows on from previous reports here in South Leeds Life of Hunslet and Riverside Ward Councillors investing in new litter bin capacity, as well as their other ongoing efforts to encourage residents to become involved in community litter picking.
Cllr Elizabeth Nash added “The combined efforts of the Council, Councillors and residents is making a huge difference to our local streets. I think it is fantastic to see so many purple litter bags full of litter as I travel throughout the ward. Thank you from all three Councillors for the great work being done by volunteers.”
The replacement litter bins will take around six weeks to be delivered and placed out in the community.
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“Not only do broken bins look really unsightly - they make it much easier for rats and other vermin to rip open the litter bags inside. This results in other bits of litter being scattered around the nearby area. Residents will also be less likely to use these broken litter bins, increasing the risk of littering. Cllr Mohammed Iqbal, Cllr Paul Wray and I are keen to reduce the high levels of littering across the ward and will take steps to remove any incentive for people to not do the right thing.” Cllr Elizabeth Nash
Civic Enforcement Officer Post Renewed
We are happy to have approved funding with the Beeston and Holbeck Ward Councillors to continue to employ a dedicated Civic Enforcement Officer to cover both wards. This will be the third time the post has been renewed due to its success at reducing illegal parking, and litter and dog fouling issues.In 2020/21 the CEO issued 650 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) and Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) which generated an income of £18,109. The money raise from these fines has been used to offset the £28,000 per annum cost to fund the role.
Cllr Elizabeth Nash added “The CEO position we have approved funding for again this year is great value for money. If it had not been for the impact of the pandemic, based on the number of FPNs and PCNs issued - the CEO was on track to be cost neutral for the Council this year. Therefore, Cllrs Angela Gabriel, Andrew Scopes, Gohar Almass, Mohammed Iqbal, Paul Wray and I were more than happy to approve funding to cover the remainder of the £28,000 per annum cost of employment for the role.”
We are hopeful a full year of uninterrupted work will mean the CEO is fully paid for by the fines they have collected next year. Even if this is not the case - the positive impact the officer has on our wards is something we are keen not to lose.
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Improving Pedestrian Safety on Tunstall Road
We have confirmed that following the concerns raised by local residents at the Hunslet Moor and Hall Residents Meeting in July, where residents advised vehicles were mounting the kerb and driving over the footpath in-between Tunstall Road and Burton Road, near to the Tunstall Road pedestrian crossing – we will now look to block this area off to prevent this.A site visit will now be conducted by a Highways Leeds Engineer. They will then feedback to Councillors as to whether this solution is viable. If it is, we will then approve for the work to install the bollards to take place
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“This is a significant public safety risk and we have asked Highways Leeds to propose a solution to prevent this from happening. Highways Leeds have confirmed their preferred option would be to add a series of bollards to close off the gap and prevent vehicles from crossing this segment of footpath.” Cllr Elizabeth Nash
Wellbeing Grants
We have approved the following wellbeing grants:- Hunslet & Riverside and Beeston & Holbeck Civic Enforcement Officer
- Hunslet Carr Bile Bean History and WW1 Rollcall of Honour Lecterns
- Hunslet TARA Christmas and Tommy Lights
MICE Grants
We have approved the following small grants:- Hunslet TARA
- Friends of Hunslet Moor
- Hunslet Gala
- Maltings Residents Association
- Pride of Place
- Leeds Kabaddi Club
Moor Road (LS10) Pedestrian Refuge
We are glad roadworks have started to build this pedestrian refuge following the concerns of many residents who had contacted us to say they found crossing Moor Road at this point difficult and unsafe. The refuge will allow people to cross the road without rushing or waiting long periods for traffic to reduce to do so.We can also confirm a new traffic light will be installed on the Hunslet Carr Wheel side of the junction to improve driver visibility of light changes as they turn off Moor Road on to Belle Isle Road or Balm Road. We have also requested the damaged railings on the Belle Isle/Balm Road traffic island be repaired.
The pedestrian refuge project cost £10,000 to build. This covered the cost of all the staffing, materials and required legal process. This pedestrian refuge follows on from other investments in the area to improve road safety over the last few years. These improvements include the installation of a nearby Speed Indicator Device, and the creation of a Zebra Crossing outside The Parnaby Tavern on Middleton Road.
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Litter Picking Groups Making A Difference
Your Labour Councillors have thanked volunteers from Masjid Ibraheem on Woodview Road due to their volunteering efforts to litter pick the Woodviews neighbourhood around their mosque.To support the mosque, the Councillors provided them with a full community litter picking kit, so they didn’t need to depend on booking the council’s kits weekly.
Cllr Paul Wray added “If other local institutions can commit to a regular litter pick of the area they chose to adopt- Cllr Elizbeth Nash, Cllr Mohammed Iqbal and I will gladly look at providing them with their own litter picking equipment – assuming funding is available at the time of the request.”
Masjid Ibraheem hold their weekly litter pick at 2pm on a Saturday meeting at the mosque on Woodview Road.
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“Thank you to the mosque community for “adopting” these local streets. It is a great example to others, and I hope other local institutions follow suit. Though some people passing through these streets will still drop litter, you can really notice the difference compared to beforehand.” Cllr Paul Wray
Thank You for Reading
This is just a small amount of the work we’ve done this month and doesn’t even cover the individual casework all three of us do that we receive each month which is normally in the high hundreds each, the local engagement with community, the projects we attend, the support we give to schools as governors and as trustees of charities, or the work we do as part of our citywide duties on planning, policing, licensing and much more.Return to contents
Contact us
Do you have an idea about how to solve a local problem or a project idea to help improve the community – let us know using the contact form below and we could help make it a reality. You know your communities best and we want to make sure your local knowledge is used to help make it better for everyone.