Yesterday was Budget Day on Leeds City Council. The Liberal Democrat group brought a range of budget amendments to the table, putting a particular emphasis on the need to tackle climate change. Some of the key Liberal Democrat proposals were:

• Set up a £3 million Leeds Climate Emergency Fund for citizen schemes to create a carbon neutral city
• Introduce a city wide food waste collection service, & build an anaerobic digester to recycle more & use that waste to power Council vehicles.
• End charges for replacement bins, bulky waste collection and DIY waste tax at Council tips to stop penalising people who want to get rid of waste responsibly.
• Introduce the rollout of doorstep glass collection, as bottle banks exclude those without a car and the disabled.
• Invest in a new children’s residential care home so less of our children are placed in care outside their home city.
• Look into creating an employee owned foster care agency to rely less on expensive profit-motivated private sector agencies.
• Look into a city centre workplace charging levy to fund public transport improvements
• End car parking charges in Otley town centre to promote a free parking guarantee for all our district centres for better access to local shops.
• Respond to local flooding risks posed by the city’s 1500 blocked gulleys and reduce the current 15 year backlog on gulley clearance by doubling the size of the response team.
• Increase the city’s Forestry Team to tackle the treeworks backlog, and better prepare for massive tree planting in response to carbon reduction.
• Employ an extra 9 civil enforcement officers dedicated to outer areas in response to the citywide rise in dog fouling and illegal parking.
• Increase access to electric vehicles for households without driveways by installing 100 residential street charging points.
• Enabling lower income households to access electric vehicles through piloting a community care share scheme.
• Dedicate funding to look at introducing new train stations at Methley and Woodside Quarry to relieve pressure on nearby stations.
• Transform community teams to better accommodate community social and cultural activity to reduce isolation and stimulate local economies.

We were disappointed to see Leeds’ Green councillors joining with the Labour and Tory parties to vote down our proposed Climate Change Fund.