New 20mph zone is a good news story!

The newly introduced 20 mph zone on Fountain Street is a good news story. It slows the traffic down on Fountain Street and keeps students using Fountain Primary and Morley Academy safer. The scheme - which is part of a Government pilot project - reduces the speed limit across a specific area and will be rolled out to other areas after it is fully assessed and the results are clear.

A similar scheme is to be introduced into Gildersome with the aim of slowing traffic that flows past both primary schools in the village and a further road marking scheme for Churwell Primary also offers a safer traffic environment for children and parents.

So you'd think that everyone would be happy with this. Apparently not the Labour Party! At a recent Town Council meeting the whole Labour group voted against an MBI amended resolution welcoming the change. Unbelievable!

We have worked hard on traffic safety schemes and the new system we delivered on Britannia Road seems to be working well as car speeds are reduced because of road narrowing measures. We still have work to do and a road safety programme for Wide Lane close to the school is working it way through the processes.

Highways concerns will always be an issue and with increasing car numbers on roads aligned to a large group of intolerant and ant-social drivers around I suspect we will have plenty of work to do in the future.

Defending Morley Greenfield Sites

The news of a new housing development proposal on Daisy Hill in Morley comes as no real surprise. The site, which was allocated by the Labour Party for Housing Development when they voted for the UDP in 2001 has been kept green by strong resistance put up by the Community and the MBIs. This battle hotted up when Labour - with the full support of local MP Ed Balls - agreed higher housing targets in the Regional Spatial strategy in 2009 ( a decision supported by local Labour Councillor Neil Dawson). These new targets were to be abolished said the incoming Tory/Lib Dem Government but they failed to take the legal action to do so.

This leaves us in a mess as Labours Housing Targets - although clearly unrealistic - are used by Developers to claim that greenfield sites - such as Daisy Hill - need to be handed over for development to reach these bogus targets. The Developers took legal action and won when a judge - equally as barking as many of his associates - agreed that such housing targets were legal and that planning appeals should therefor be shelved!

Leeds completed about 1000 new homes over the last year , 3000 below these bogus Labour targets. The 3000 unbuilt ones are carried over to next year which means an additional 7000 need to be built to keep up. Clearly Developers will cherry pick the best sites and avoid brownfield ones where real regeneration needs to take place.

Labour continue to moan and carp even though this is a problem of their own making. To satisfy their targets will inevitably mean giving up greenfield sites and this means Morley's eight greenfield sites are presently under real threat.

The choice in Morley is a clear one. You can either back Labours approach which means Morley Greenfield sites are doomed as they sprint to achieve their targets or back an MBI alternative which will put future housing development on brownfield sites and save greenfield sites for future generations.

Skate Park News

The new skate park for Morley is back on track following a recent meeting to discuss the financing of the improvement programme. The cash is now sorted and the final plan is out for some minor tweaking by the young people who initiated the proposal and whose ideas are being accommodated in this plan.

It has been a hard slog to bring the finance together - especially in this difficult financial climate - and many people have been sceptical that this plan could be delivered. But the plan is to be implemented later this year - weather permitting - with the new skate park available next Spring. The support (and patience) of young people and other residents has been much appreciated and the whole process with community involvement has been a positive one with the final plan much improved through their input.

It has been suggested that I give it a crack myself on a skate board when it is completed but opponents may be disappointed that I have no intention of breaking my neck just yet!

Here's to happy skating in the future!

Knowle Manor success!

Regular readers of this blog will wonder where I've been for several weeks prior to this entry. I've had a couple of weeks break and then been working hard behind the scenes to get the above campaign to impact upon LCC decision making process.I'm delighted to say that after the support of thousand of Morley Residents, a rally outside the Town Hall, support from the residents from the home itself, Look North, Radio Leeds and my MBI Colleagues we have been able to keep Knowle Manor open while brand new, purpose built accommodation is provided for all Knowle Manor residents who will move together as a community. My target is an extra care unit in Morley which will accommodate both staff and residents at Knowle Manor. I have visited similar schemes and they are a real asset to local communities.What can we say about the politics of it all? The Dilnot Commission confirmed that the previous Government cut funding for Adult Social Care from 2006. It also confirmed that all Governments have underfunded Adult Social Care for many years which - along with demographic changes - has left adult Social Care as the Cinderella service it is today.My thanks go out to Tony Moorhouse who was the super campaigner from the home and Cllr Shirley Varley whose knowledge and insight has helped us to deliver a campaign that has been a real community success!

E Petition on line!

I have been attempting to lodge an e petition with HM Government for several months but unfortunately the HM Gov Website has been blocking the request for a while because of technical problems.

These now seem to have been resolved and the Governments e petition website went live last week with a certain amount of interest shown by the national media. My e petition is an attempt to get the law changed on Travellers to allow an early eviction when they illegally occupy sites. Presently this trespass is a civil matter and requires a court order (which can often take several days) before an eviction takes place. This change would make such trespass a criminal offence and allow the Police the powers to evict Travellers immediately following a request from the landowner. This approach is used in the Irish Republic and appears to have been very effective in reducing this blight.

The recent unauthorised site in Gildersome is a clear reminder that firmer action needs to be taken and that this change is long over due. We cannot continue to publicly subsidise the poor behaviour communities have inflicted upon them by Travellers occupying land illegally.

You can support the petition by going to http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1309

Whingers revisited

It often makes me laugh when those that claim their rights to free speech do all they can to stimey the same rights for others. A good example of this is the complaint made against me by failed Ex Conservative Councillor Paul "mines a pint" Jamieson to the Standards Board in Leeds.

Now the Standards Board oversees the behaviour of Councillors and can take action - up to an including banning Councillors from a Council - if their behaviour breaches the Councillors Code of Conduct.

Of course they are not there to suppress a councillors right to speak out against their political opponents and in Jameson's case they threw out his bogus complaint. A recent report confirmed that each bogus complaint costs over £1000 to investigate. Not that that bothers Jamieson as a non income tax payer as he can always get others to foot the bill! You watch as the man raves on Facebook about the cruelty of it all!

That reminds me of another tale of Jameson's involvement in a money making scam involving a Town Clerk - but that will save for another day.

Making Criminals Pay

We are presently looking into a crime prevention programme for Siegen Close in Morley following the theft of lead from several canopies that are fixed above many residents front doors. As many of the residents are elderly, the thefts - often in the thick of night - is distressing and upsetting.

The theft of lead from this location - which is driven by high prices for precious metals at scrap dealers - can be combated by replacing the lead with a less valuable alternative or impregnating it with Smartwater - which is a substance that cannot be cleared off the metal but gives it a unique reference marking which can be traced back. It also marks the thieves as well if it is touched.

To make residents safer we are also exploring a small CCTV scheme for the location. Readers will know that I am a big supporter of such schemes and it would seem to be a practical option as the close only has one real way in and out.

But in these difficult financial times where would we get the cash? Well the Proceeds of Crime Act - which allows the Police to confiscate luxury goods from convicted criminals and use the proceeds to fight crime is an option. Local Police chiefs do have some funds to support local crime reduction initiatives and we are exploring the options for this fund to support our plan.

We are hopeful that a plan can be agreed between all residents, the Police and Leeds City Criminal - making the criminal pay to deliver a safer neighbourhood!