Fighting to save Headingley Post Office

Yesterday, Headingley Liberal Democrats gathered in front of the local Post Office to protest against the plans to close it, and to invite members of the public to sign a petition calling on Post Office Ltd to halt the closure.

Placards and petitions

We collected over 100 signatures in just over an hour, which shows the strength of local feeling about this issue. Some people were queuing up to sign, while others told us how much they or their friends and relatives use and depend on this post office.

If you missed us at the Arndale Centre, but would like to show your support, you can sign the petition online here.

Focus stories: Labour fails recycling target

Leeds Liberal Democrats have accused the Labour-led Council of lacking ambition after Labour bosses announced they plan to reduce their recycling target.

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner Penny Goodman said:

Reducing and re-writing recycling targets is not how to improve sustainability and the environment in our city. Instead it shows a lack of ambition to improve.

From talking to local residents I know that people want to recycle more – residents repeatedly ask me for doorstep glass and food recycling as exists elsewhere.

Instead of playing with the numbers in reports, Labour should be taking this sort of practical action to improve recycling. Then they would not need to re-write targets, we would reach them!

Recycling 2

Food waste and glass can be recycled in many other cities – but not Leeds.

Yorkshire stone theft update

We are pleased to report that Charles Morrison, CEO of Morrison Utility Services, has already replied to Penny Goodman’s letter raising concerns about the theft of Yorkshire stone paving on Chapel Lane. Mr. Morrison stated:

We are fully committed to respecting the environment whilst carrying out work on behalf of our clients. In view of the seriousness of the allegations, I have asked my Contract Director to undertake a full investigation immediately. Once he has completed his findings, we will revert to you with our response.

This is a very promising response. We very much hope that the Contract Director is able to ascertain what happened on Chapel Lane, and to recommend measures which will ensure that it does not happen again.

Yorkshire stone theft on Chapel Lane

Last week, a significant quantity of Yorkshire stone paving slabs were stolen from Chapel Lane in Headingley. The theft was able to take place because the stones had been lifted up as part of electricity works taking place on the street, and were left unsecured by the company responsible.

Chapel Lane 2

Local activist Penny Goodman has written to the Chief Executive Officer of the company concerned, Morrison Utility Services, to draw his attention to the problem and ask him to take action. You can read her letter in full below. We will report back here if we receive any response.

Dear Mr. Morrison,

I am writing to raise a concern about the professional practices of your workmen in relation to work currently taking place on Chapel Lane in Headingley, Leeds, LS6 3BW.

Last week, the Yorkshire stone paving along the lower part of Chapel Lane was lifted by your company in order to conduct electricity works on behalf of Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) plc. I have attached pictures of the site. The stone paving slabs were stacked at the side of the road, with no measures taken to secure them.

As you are probably aware, theft of Yorkshire stone is a serious issue in Leeds. Over the last year, West Yorkshire police have recorded an 18% rise in incidences of Yorkshire stone theft, and Leeds City Council have had to replace £50,000 of stone stolen from the city’s pavements. It is an organised crime, and currently on the rise.

Residents of Chapel Lane were therefore very concerned to see their historic paving stone left unsecured at the side of the road by your workmen. Chapel Lane is part of the Headingley conservation area, and as such its Yorkshire stone paving is recognised as part of the area’s unique local heritage. However, in this case, that heritage has now been lost due to the negligent actions of your company. All of the unsecured stone paving has been taken, most of it in two visits on Friday February 19th.

On one of these two occasions, a local resident witnessed the crime in progress, took the registration number of the vehicle being used, and reported it to the police. We can therefore hold out some hope that the criminals may be caught. However, the fact remains that this theft would not have been possible in the first place if your workmen had taken due care of the historic paving stones, instead of leaving them unsecured at the side of the road.

One of the residents whom I spoke to about this matter over the weekend reported that she had telephoned the emergency number provided on your safety barriers to report the theft and raise her concerns. Eventually, she received a call back from Tony Porter, your reinstatement agent, who said that Yorkshire stone paving is usually taken to the depot for safekeeping during work of this kind. However, on this occasion he did not know its whereabouts, and agreed that it had probably been stolen. This tells me that your normal protocol is to take actions to secure historic paving materials, but that on this occasion the protocol failed.

I would therefore like to ask you to review your working practices, to ensure that they do not allow this kind of devastating loss of unique local heritage to happen again in the future. I would also suggest that on this occasion you should undertake to compensate the Headingley community for its losses by offering to pay the cost of replacing these particular paving stones with new Yorkshire stone slabs to Leeds City Council.

I would appreciate your swift reply on how you will be responding to this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Penny Goodman
Liberal Democrat candidate for Headingley ward

February Focus

This week, we have begun delivering a new Focus leaflet. The news that Headingley Post Office is in line for closure broke the day after we finished printing it, so a supplementary leaflet about the Post Office is being delivered alongside the main Focus.

The Post Office leaflet also includes a petition which you can return to us for free if you want to show your opposition to the closure. Just cut it out, fill in your details, and return it to us using the freepost address shown.

February Focus

Post Office stop press

Note: we aim to deliver a leaflet to every household in Headingley, but of course some addresses are inaccessible (e.g. flats with entry codes), and sometimes we just run out! That’s why we put our stories online as well. You can browse through them by following our ‘focus stories’ category.

Headingley Post Office campaign update

Since the news broke that Headingley Post Office is to close, local residents have lost no time voicing their opposition to the plan. Over 1300 people have now signed the petition calling on Post Office Limited to halt their plans, and the campaign also features in the February edition of North Leeds Life.

Did you know? Every time a new signature is added to the petition, it generates an automatic email to the Post Office Limited board of directors, telling them that yet another person opposes their plans. You can add your voice here.

St. Anne’s Road ginnel

The ginnel between St. Anne’s Road and Ash Road is becoming overgrown by vegetation from the adjoining properties. It also has an uneven surface, so that when it rains heavily, puddles build up which are so wide that it is difficult to get by.

St. Anne's road ginnel

We have raised this with the council, who have agreed to investigate and act on both issues.

Headingley Post Office petition

We have learnt this week that Post Office Limited is proposing to close down Headingley Post Office. This is devastating news for the local community. It is a busy branch and a vital service for local people.

We strongly oppose the proposed closure, and have set up a petition calling on Post Office Limited to halt their plans. Please sign the petition to show your support.

Headingley Post Office. Photographer: Michael Taylor

Headingley Post Office. Photographer: Michael Taylor

Another unsafe cabinet sorted – or is it?

This week, we noticed a cable cabinet hanging open right in the centre of Headingley, on the corner of Alma Cottages. This is a busy area – thousands of people pass by every day, including school children catching the bus opposite Sainsbury’s, so it’s a really bad idea to have exposed wires hanging out here where anyone could touch them. Penny Goodman reported the issue to Virgin Media, who own the cabinet, and we’re glad to report it was closed up on Friday afternoon.

Headingley cabinet

Update: walking past this cabinet this afternoon, we noticed that it was open again. So it may in fact have been closed by a concerned member of the public yesterday, rather than Virgin Media. We have sent them a chasing email, asking them to attend to the matter urgently.

Further update: our chasing email worked! Virgin Media replied promptly on Monday morning, and the cabinet has now been secured.

Out on the doorsteps: broadband petition

Yesterday evening we spoke to residents in the Hessles area about their broadband services. Just like hundreds of people across Headingley and Hyde Park, they told us that they are paying big bills for high-speed broadband, but that their connections regularly slow to a crawl, or even cut out altogether.

We don’t think people should be paying for something they aren’t getting, so we are running a petition calling on the broadband providers to speed it up!

If you live in Headingley and Hyde Park and are affected by a poor broadband service, sign our petition here.

Broadband petition Hessles