April 2019 Focus leaflet

We have been delivering our latest Focus leaflet in Headingley and Hyde Park. Our candidate, Penny Goodman, has lived in Headingley for twelve years and is campaigning for a better, cleaner local environment.

Penny says:

Dear resident,

On May 2nd our area will elect a Councillor and I’m the Lib Dem candidate for this election.

I live in Headingley, so I care passionately about local issues as they affect me too!

If I’m elected, I am determined to push for real action to tackle congestion. The Labour Council are spending millions of pounds ripping up Lawnswood roundabout and replacing it with an American-style intersection. I think the money would be more wisely invested sorting out our roads and improving public transport.

I want to see more street sweeping and greater enforcement action to tackle fly tipping and littering. I think it’s really important that our area
looks nice.

I’m a committed environmentalist, which is why I want to see more done by the Council to tackle climate change. I also want to see increased recycling services. The Lib Dems on Leeds City Council tried to get the Council to introduce kerbside food waste and glass recycling collection, like every major UK city, but Labour blocked it. I’ll continue to campaign for this to happen.

If I am elected I will be an independently-minded strong campaigning voice for our area. I hope you will support me on May 2nd.

Penny

Focus stories: Our fight to retain academic funding post-referendum

Research funding and ERASMUS at risk after Brexit vote

The outcome of the EU referendum has put at risk the UK’s access to European funding for research and study abroad.

In Leeds, this could have a serious impact on the work our universities do and the opportunities available to local students. The University of Leeds currently gets nearly 16% of its research income from European funding, supporting projects from developing better artificial joints to designing environmentally-friendly aircraft. It also sends hundreds of its students abroad each year on the popular Erasmus+ scheme.

The Liberal Democrats are fighting to safeguard the vital scientific research and opportunities for young people which EU funding has supported until now. At the recent Liberal Democrat conference, party members unanimously supported a motion calling on the government to protect both.

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner Penny Goodman lives in Headingley and works at the University of Leeds.

Penny said:

I feel very strongly about this issue, and made a point of attending Liberal Democrat conference this year so that I could vote for the motion. The research carried out in UK universities generates jobs, improves lives and keeps our country competitive. In the same way, sending our young people to study or work abroad gives them the skills, experience and international outlook which today’s employers are looking for. Now we know the outcome of the referendum, it is in all of our interests to protect these activities for the future.

In November, Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder presented a petition to the European Parliament to save the Erasmus+ scheme for British students.

Thank You Focus leaflet

We are currently busy delivering our latest Focus leaflet in Headingley. You may have received yours already. If not, it should reach you soon.

Thank You June 2016 front crop

Thank You June 2016 back crop

Note: we aim to deliver a Focus 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.

Focus stories: The positive Liberal Democrat vision for Headingley

Penny war memorialOn Thursday 5th May there will be local council elections for Leeds City Council. The Liberal Democrat candidate for Headingley ward is Penny Goodman. These are some of the things Penny wants to achieve for our area:

Protecting green spaces: Penny is determined to fight to protect the remaining green spaces in our city from development. “All too often green spaces have been built on – such as Victoria Road playing fields. We must protect  these areas for the future and for the benefit of all who live in Headingley.” Read more about Penny’s efforts to protect green spaces here.

Introduce doorstep glass and food waste recycling: With a falling recycling rate in the city, Penny is fighting to get more doorstep recycling services offered to local residents. “I know that local residents want to do more to help the environment but the Council has to offer the services to help.” Read more about Penny’s campaign for doorstep glass and food waste recycling here.

Tackle poor broadband provision: Penny is campaigning hard to get broadband providers to improve their local  infrastructure. “Many students and people living locally have said they pay high bill prices but get poor broadband  speed. Companies need to act when customers are paying for the service.” Read more about Penny’s campaign for better broadband provision here.

New leaflet

This weekend, we are out delivering our new leaflet, along with an update on the campaign to save Headingley Crown Post Office. Look out for your copy!

New glossy

March glossy front smaller

March glossy back smaller  Post Office update smaller

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.

Focus stories: Local clean-up success!

Working with local residents, Liberal Democrat campaigner Penny Goodman ensured that a neglected area of Ash Terrace was spruced up and made tidy.

Penny Goodman said:

Local residents had raised with me their concerns about the overgrown vegetation. I took the issue to the Council and they agreed to fix it up. Two truck-loads of greenery have now been taken away.

It was great to be able to work with residents to get the job done. If any other residents are having similar issues, please let me know.

See below for before and after pictures of the site:

Before...

Before…

...and after

…and after

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.

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.

Focus stories: Labour’s bin shame

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner, Penny Goodman, is calling on Leeds Labour to sort out the bins in Headingley after receiving complaints from residents in the Ash Road area that the new opt-in recycling scheme, brought in by the Labour Councillors, is not working.

Green bin collections were stopped and residents who wished to sort their recycling were told that they could request recycling bags. But on Chapel Street the old green bins have been left abandoned, blocking the pavement and causing problems for people with disabilities and parents with pushchairs. Some residents have also not received recycling bags despite requesting them several times.

Bins blocking the pavement in Chapel Street

Bins blocking the pavement in Chapel Street

Labour-run Leeds City Council is letting Headingley down by not ensuring that the new scheme is implemented properly across the whole of the pilot area.

Local residents have also been telling us that they would like to see doorstep glass and food waste recycling in their area. Liberal Democrat Councillors in other parts of the City implemented a successful doorstep food waste recycling pilot, which we want to see rolled out across Leeds.

Update: after publishing this story in our Focus leaflet, we reported the bin problems in Chapel Street to the Environment and Housing team, and were told that this street is not part of the Ash Road opt-in recycling pilot after all. Yet the local residents we spoke to believed that they were included in the pilot, and the suspension of their regular green bin collections suggests their bin collection teams thought so too. So the real problem here is poor communication around the pilot scheme, leading to residents and collection teams believing one thing and Environment and Housing believing another.