Today, Greg Mulholla
nd is holding his regular MP’s surgery at Sainsburys in the Arndale Centre, Headingley. He will be there from 12.30 to 1.30 p.m. for constituents to raise any issues which they would like his help with. No appointment is needed.
Full details of Greg’s regular constituency surgeries are available here. You can also meet with him by appointment on the third Friday of each month at the Cardigan Centre, Cardigan Road, Headingley.
Thanks to everyone who backed our Save Headingley Post Office campaign.
Since the Post Office announced they would be closing the branch and moving it into a shop, Penny Goodman and Greg Mulholland started the Save Headingley Post Office petition and wrote to the Post Office to demand that it stays open to properly serve the needs of residents. The Post Office have failed to find a shop that will take a counter, so we are calling on them maintain a proper branch with a full range of services.
Penny said:
They are saying that they intend to move the post office into another store, such as a shop or business. We all know what this actually means – the lack of a dedicated post office and a substantial reduction in services.
Greg added:
It is very disappointing that the future of such a vital community asset remains in limbo and we will continue to do everything we can to save it. We will continue to campaign and push the Post Office to retain the branch and the services that hundreds of people use every day.
We were very pleased to hear the news on Friday that an application to build a 262-bed student accommodation block on the Victoria Road playing field (formerly owned by Leeds Girls High School) has been refused. This application was totally inappropriate in an area which is already very densely populated, but has no public playing fields or exercise facilities, and where local schools don’t have enough space for their pupils to play team sports.
Headingley campaigner Penny Goodman said:
“As a local resident I am so pleased to hear that this development will not be going ahead. I objected to this application when it was first submitted, and was surprised that an appeal was even allowed on the original decision, given how obviously unsuitable the plans were for our area.
I have been really impressed with the support shown by the local community for investing in this site to turn it into a proper sports facility. Now that this latest attempt to build on the playing field has been turned down, I hope and trust that Leeds City Council will support the local community in turning that vision into a reality.”
Today, Greg Mulholland is holding his regular MP’s surgery at Sainsburys in the Arndale Centre, Headingley. He will be there from 12.30 to 1.30 p.m. for constituents to raise any issues which they would like his help with. No appointment is needed.
Full details of Greg’s regular constituency surgeries are available here.
Today, Greg Mulholland is holding his regular MP’s surgery at Sainsburys in the Arndale Centre, Headingley. He will be there from 12.30 to 1.30 p.m. for constituents to raise any issues which they would like his help with. No appointment is needed.
Full details of Greg’s regular constituency surgeries are available here.
Headingley Liberal Democrats would like to thank everyone who voted for Penny Goodman in the local election on Thursday, and the fantastic campaign team who supported her.
Sadly, Penny was not elected, but her vote share went up by 6 percentage points, from 12.4% in 2015 to 18.7% this time – a real testament to all her hard work over the last year.
The full details are in the table below, for local politics geeks!
Beyond Headingley, the overall Liberal Democrat vote share across Leeds also went up, and the Liberal Democrats have proven the biggest winners in the local council elections across England. These are the overall results currently showing on the BBC’s local election coverage page, with 122 of 124 council election counts now completed.
We will be back out on the streets of Headingley again soon, listening to local views and working for the community. But for this weekend, we think we have earnt a pint!
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.
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.
A new planning application to build a gated residence for 262 students on the former Leeds Girls High School playing field on Victoria Road has caused widespread anger amongst local residents. Ever since the school left the area, the local community, led by the Hyde Park Olympic Legacy group, has been fighting hard to preserve both the on-site sporting facilities and the playing field for public use. They are badly needed in an area which has all too little of both.
Local campaigner Penny Goodman and Greg Mulholland MP in front of the Victoria Road playing field.
But despite local opposition, outline approval for a development of 24 houses and a supermarket on the site was granted in 2014. Soon afterwards, the sports hall and swimming pool which had previously stood on the site were demolished.
Demolition in progress on the Victoria Road site.
Now, in a new twist, a further application for a 262-bed gated student residence has been submitted. Just like the previous application, this will rob the local community of much-needed green space, but this new proposal would also affect the local population balance by increasing the concentration of students in the area. Students are valuable members of the Headingley community, but diversity and balance are important too. It is not good for anybody to create student ‘ghettos’ anywhere in Leeds.
Penny Goodman has therefore submitted an objection to the new planning application, joining 25 local residents and Greg Mulholland MP in doing so. You can see her letter on the council’s Planning Applications website (search for application 15/05863/FU, and then go to the Documents tab), or read it here:
Headingley Liberal Democrat campaigner, Penny Goodman, and local MP, Greg Mulholland, are calling on the Labour-run Leeds City Council to review its housing targets after admitting they are inaccurate and too high.
Labour’s housing targets are too high, putting precious green space across Leeds under threat from development and will put strain on Headingley’s infrastructure.
Local MP, Greg Mulholland, has slammed the Labour-run Leeds City Council who closed the Royal Park School and are now seeing a crisis over school places in the area. Now Labour wants to build more homes in Headingley, but where will these families send their children to school?
Greg Mulholland MP said:
The housing allocations are based on what are now recognised to be flawed figures meaning more sites are identified for development than are required. I have called for affordable housing on brownfield sites to be prioritised and also campaigned in Parliament to give local people more say on planning issues by introducing a Bill in Parliament to balance the rights of developers and local communities.
The Liberal Democrats voted against the Core Strategy which set the housing target on Leeds City Council because it was inaccurate. Labour and the Conservatives voted for it.
Earlier this year Labour Councillors shocked local residents by voting in favour of allowing developers to build houses and a supermarket on the green playing fields off Victoria Road. The Liberal Democrat Councillor on the Plans Panel voted against following the community campaign with Penny and Greg.
The Council is currently carrying out a consultation with residents to hear their views on the proposed housing sites.
Penny Goodman said:
We understand the need for more affordable homes, but believe they should be on redundant brownfield sites and support the community. Labour needs to listen to the concerns of local residents, so we urge local people to take part in the consultation and have their say.
The Leeds City Council Site Allocations Plans public consultation runs for 8 weeks from 22 September until 5pm 16 November 2015.
You can comment on the plans online here.
Alternatively you can send written comments to: Planning Services, Leonardo Building, 2 Rossington Street, Leeds, LS2 8HD
When sending in written comments, please make sure your letter clearly states which sites you are writing about, preferably by quoting the plan reference number.
Headingley residents are increasingly raising concerns about the theft of Yorkshire stone paving slabs in our area. We have heard about it several times during our regular doorstep survey sessions – for example, from residents living in the St. Michael’s Road area and The Turnways.
We also see the impact of the thefts all too often on the local pavements as we are walking around the area. Thieves simply turn up in vans and remove slabs directly from the pavements with crow-bars, leaving empty holes which are ugly and dangerous.
A patch of missing Yorkshire Stone in the pavement on Harold Grove.
We have been working alongside local Liberal Democrat MP, Greg Mulholland, to find out what can be done about this issue. Greg investigated further, and discovered that West Yorkshire Police have recorded an 18% rise in thefts of Yorkshire stone in the last year. It is an organised crime, carried out by thieves with the intention of selling on the stone to rogue builders, and it is on the rise.
In response, Greg has now tabled a parliamentary Early Day Motion, calling on the government to tackle the issue through legislation, a taskforce and an awareness-raising campaign. Similar actions were used in the last parliament to stop the theft and re-sale of scrap metal, and have been effective. Greg’s motion raises the need to apply the same approach to the theft of Yorkshire stone, to stop this attack on our heritage.
The Yorkshire Post has reported Greg Mulholland’s action on this issue today, and you can also read the text of his Early Day Motion here.