Penny Goodman selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Headingley in May

Yesterday evening, Leeds North West Liberal Democrats held a hustings for candidates hoping to represent the party at the Leeds City Council elections in May 2016. Penny Goodman, who lives on Grove Lane, was selected by the local party to stand as the candidate for Headingley ward.

Penny said:

I am thrilled to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Headingley. I have lived in Headingley for nine years now, and it is a fantastic community. It’s diverse, vibrant, active and engaged, and has something to offer for everyone.

But it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Headingley’s Labour councillors aren’t doing everything they could to help the community and protect its interests. On the doorsteps, residents constantly report concerns to me about bins and graffiti, which I have been able to tackle on their behalf. But why aren’t the Labour councillors dealing with these issues properly? It is supposed to be part of their job.

Headingley can do better than this, and the record of action which I have already built up shows what I could do for this community if I am elected next May.

Penny and Greg

Local candidate Penny Goodman with Greg Mulholland MP

Out on the doorsteps: opposite the Arndale

Today, the Headingley Liberal Democrats met up opposite the Arndale Centre to speak to residents in the streets nearby, including Dennistead Crescent, Alma Cottages, Chapel Street and Ash Terrace.

Canvassing 10 Sept 2015

On Chapel Street and Ash Terrace in particular, almost everyone we spoke to was deeply unhappy about the situation with their green bins. They said that collections have been stopped as part of the Labour council’s pilot scheme to remove dedicated recycling in the area and use automatic sorting instead to filter out recyclable material from black bins. But the old, empty green bins have not been removed, and are now causing a serious blockage on the pavement. Meanwhile, one resident asked several times for opt-in recycling bags, but has received nothing.

After we had finished speaking to the residents, Penny Goodman took some pictures of the problem:

Abandoned green bins Chapel Street

Chapel Street bins 1

Chapel Street bins 2

That’s all on one street – and not a very long one, either! No wonder residents are feeling fed up.

Elinor Lupton Building let-down

A few weeks ago, local campaigner Penny Goodman wrote to Wetherspoons, asking them to clean up the Elinor Lupton Building on Headingley Lane. Their Acquisitions & Estates Manager responded quickly, saying that he would instruct contractors to undertake the work. But all that’s happened since is that the hedge in front of the building has been cut down, and some of the rubbish cleared away.

Elinor Lupton 7

This isn’t really what we had in mind when we called for a clean-up! If anything, the building looks worse now, because the graffiti affecting the front is more visible.

Elinor Lupton 6

Penny Goodman therefore wrote back to the Wetherspoons Acquisitions & Estates Manager to ask when the graffiti would be cleaned away. But this time his reply was that Wetherspoons would not be removing the graffiti until they go in to develop the building.

Planning permission for Wetherspoons to convert this building into a pub has not been granted yet, and development cannot start until it is. Given the scale of local opposition to the plans, that could take a very long time! But Wetherspoons already own the building, so its condition is their responsibility.

We think that if they want to show their willingness to make a positive contribution to the local community in Headingley, they should clean up the building properly now – regardless of the outcome of the planning process.

Out on the doorsteps: Wood Lane and Alma Road

This evening Penny Goodman and the Lib Dem team spoke to residents on the doorsteps on Wood Lane and Alma Road. These are some of the surveys they completed, telling us their priorities and concerns.

Surveys collected 19 Aug 2015

Several residents were unhappy about the number of cars which drive the wrong way along Alma Road – supposedly a one-way street. We also heard about two areas regularly affected by litter: the recycling bins in front of the Headingley Taps, and the Alma Road entrance to the Lupton student residences, where there is currently no bin, and students often leave litter on the pavement while waiting for taxis.

We will be working on all these issues, and will report back here with any progress.

Success on Alma Road

A couple of weeks ago, we discovered that there were four telephone cabinets on Alma Road in need of a graffiti clean-up. We reported the problem, and the good news is that three of the cabinets have now been repainted. Local campaigner Penny Goodman models this season’s ‘in’ colour – olive green:

Cabinet after 3

Cabinet after 1

Cabinet after 2

The remaining uncleaned cabinet belongs to British Telecom. We will be chasing them up to make sure that it too gets a fresh coat of paint.

Out on the doorsteps: St. Michael’s Road

Penny Goodman and the Headingley Liberal Democrat team were out on the doorsteps in the St. Michael’s Road area earlier this evening. We spoke to residents about their priorities for the local area, and picked up concerns about thefts of Yorkshire stone paving slabs and anti-social behaviour after matches in the Carnegie Stadium. We’ll now be working on those issues to help make for a better Headingley.

Canvassing 22 July 2015

Focus story: Greg Mulholland MP, Penny Goodman and the Headingley Liberal Democrat team say Thank You!

Local MP, Greg Mulholland, and Penny Goodman would like to say a big thank you to local people for their support at this year’s General and Local Elections.

Greg Mulholland said:

Thank you to local people for putting their trust in me to keep delivering for our area. We have fought hard for our communities over the last ten years, but there is still much more to be done including pushing for integrated public transport and protecting our precious green space.

Penny Goodman said:

A big thank you to local residents for supporting Greg and me this year. The recent elections may have been difficult for the Liberal Democrats nationally, but here in Leeds we continue to hold the Labour-run Leeds City Council to account and work hard for local residents to ensure Headingley and Hyde Park are areas we are proud to live and work in.