Tories betray Northern Powerhouse

The Liberal Democrats have accused Transport Secretary Chris Grayling of a “betrayal of the North,” after he wrote in the Yorkshire Post that it was not up to central government to advance Crossrail in Northern England. Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Jenny Randerson pointed out that the Tory government have dropped pledges to electrify rail routes in Wales, the Midlands and the North, while supporting the £30 billion Crossrail 2 scheme for London. This is unbalanced and unfair, and completely undermines the huge potential which the North of England has to offer.

You can read Jenny Randerson’s comments in full here.

First Bus consultation, phase two

In March, First Bus Leeds ran a consultation about their bus services through Headingley and Hyde Park, including the 1, 6, 19/19A, 28, 29, 56, 97 and X84. Their drop-in event at the Heart Centre in Headingley was hugely popular, and gathered large numbers of responses.

They have now drawn up proposals based on the consultation, and are lanching a second round of public consultation to get feedback on what they are proposing. As before, you can view the proposals and give feedback on their website, or you can attend one of their drop-in events. This time, the Headingley event will be at the Heart Centre on Bennett Road on Tuesday 4th July, from 16.00 to 19.00 pm.

If you can’t make the Headingley event, you can see details of the other sessions on the First Bus website, or in the image below:

General Election result

Well, the General Election is all wrapped up now, and the result for the Liberal Democrats in Leeds North West was disappointing. In absolute numbers, more people voted for our former MP, Greg Mulholland, than in 2015, but a much greater vote increase for Labour means that they won out overall. This was the result:

We can only pay tribute to Greg’s dedication, principle and hard work during his 12 years as an MP, and during the two years before that which he spent as a councillor for Headingley. His will be a hard act to follow, but of course we hope that his Labour successor will be as great a champion for the people of Headingley and Hyde Park as Greg has been.

Meanwhile, our own work at local level in Headingley and Hyde Park will of course continue.

Leeds half marathon road closures

It’s the Leeds half marathon this coming Sunday! Best of luck to everyone who will be running in the event.

There will be some road closures, though, which will affect travel in Leeds on Sunday. We’ve shared the route map below, and you can see further details of specific road closures here.

The route circles Headingley and Hyde Park, so there are no road closures within our area, but you may be affected by them if you are travelling elsewhere. Note in particular that Meanwood Road and Stonegate Road will be closed in the morning until about 11:30am, and a short section of the Otley Road on the approach to the Weetwood roundabout will be closed until 12:15.