Bin Laden (with rubbish)

Many bins across Morley have been laden with rubbish as the Councils bin service struggled to cope following the recent bin strike and the subsequent bad weather.

The black bin service is slowing creeping back to something like reliability and the green and brown bin service is back operating on the schedule residents were given last year. The advice to all residents is put put out all bins on the relevant agreed dates.

It was interesting to hear that recycling rates in Leeds still hit 31% despite the strike and the total cost for the strike (offsetting wages saved against other costs) was about £30,000. We argued from the start that Bin Workers wages needed to be maintained but that this needed better productivity to cover these higher costs. We said this prior to, during and after the strike and this was the deal that was ultimately reached. It is regrettable that both sides could not have negotiated a similar agreement without the need for a strike or the loss of bin workers wages.

The new productivity deal will incorporate new routes which will look to fit in all bin clearances between Monday and Friday avoiding the need for Saturday bin clearances. Saturday Clearances are notoriously problematic - additional parked vehicles etc - and I have received numerous complaints over the years. I hope the new routes will reduce the volume of complaints I receive.

People ask what they should do if a bin is left. The best answer is to ring it through to the MBI Office on 0113 2477538 were our team will make sure the bins get cleared as quickly as we can.

Affordable Housing on the Glen Estate

I was reviewing the file relating to the new affordable homes being built on Glen Road which will be finished later this year. This scheme, which is for affordable homes to rent and to jointly own, is one I am proud to be involved with.

The homes at this location, which are family homes with gardens, were made bigger following our request. Many new homes have tiny bedrooms and our thinking was that rooms needed to be bigger if they were to accommodate growing families. The plans had to be adjusted and we ended up with fewer units but with more living space.

The building is progressing well and the skeletons of these family homes can already be seen. They will be built to higher environmental standards than the private sector which will reduce fuel bills for families and decrease their co2 emissions.

Some of the homes are to rent - at an affordable rent. Others will be offered on a joint ownership basis where a percentage of the equity can be purchased at the start and the other part of the equity has a rent paid on it. As the owners financial position improves then they can purchase more equity until they own the whole property. The joint ownership option is an attempt to avoid speculators obtaining the properties cheaply at the start and flogging them off - at a profit - shortly after. The joint ownership option reduces this possibility and helps on to the housing ladder those whose income precludes them from obtaining a large mortgage.

The need to deliver more family homes remains a high priority for the MBI Group. Other schemes, at Morley Bottoms and Corporation Street, will aim to encourage older residents to move to more appropriate accommodation and release larger council homes they are often struggling to cope with. The Morley Bottoms Scheme may also be an option for families with older children - especially with many youngsters remaining at home until there late 20s.

We continue to look for sites in Council ownership to develop more family homes but their numbers have dwindled and we are presently unaware of any further suitable sites. We continue to look at the viability of disused garage sites but the practicality of developing such sites is often overwhelming.

We are making a dent - even if only a small one - on the housing waiting list but we will explore every options that is made available to us to bring more affordable homes to Morley.

Holocaust Memorial Day

I attended the service to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day at Leeds Town Hall yesterday afternoon. The service is held annually on the Sunday nearest the 27th January which was the date the Auschwitz Birkenau Concentration Camp was liberated by the Allies in 1945. The event is a highly emotional event not only focusing on the Holocaust but on more recent genocides such as those in Bosnia, Dhaffur, Cambodia and Rwanda.

It was an opportunity to remember the 6 million people who were murdered in the Holocaust, including Jews, homosexuals, Roma, the Disabled, Communists and Socialists. We must also remember the thousands of people who have died in atrocities carried out after the war when we reflect on mans inhumanity to man.

The growth of extremism, whether from the left or the right, secular or religious, must constantly be challenged by us all as failure to do so has a corrupting and toxic effect on communities which allows this murderous activity to go on unchecked.

The event had readings and performances from local schools while the seven commitment to remember the Holocaust were read out under an encompassing message of the Legacy for Hope. Perhaps the most touching of the readings came from Iby Knil, a survivor of Auschwitz Birkenau with her poem "I was there." This should be compulsory reading for those on the toxic extreme right including the BNP amongst whom there are Holocaust deniers - including their beloved Leader Nick Griffin who failed to explain on Question Time how he had came to hold those views. Perhaps not surprisingly our own toxic BNP Councillor Chris Beverley was nowhere to be seen -as usual! I suspect he is not particularly supportive of the event.

Holocaust Memorial Day will be formally recognised on Tuesday. I hope local residents will take a moment to reflect on the Holocaust and other atrocities and to pledge to do all they can to avoid such evil occurring again.

Pensioners Group to get cash boost

Morley Elderly Action is a group that supports pensioners across the Greater Morley Area. This covers pensioners in East Ardsley through to Drighlington. It undertakes a lot of hard work supporting pensioners with gardening schemes, home security, with sorting out problems with benefits and providing luncheon clubs and places for pensioners to meet.

The grant MEA have received form Leeds City Council has been one that has barely increased over the years and has been a significant point of concern for MBI Councillors. We have campaigned for some time for a fairer deal as other similar Neighbourhood Networks have received higher funding per head of pensioner population. A new commissioning arrangement has been agreed which, when implemented in April, should double the size of grant MEA are likely too receive.

This is good news for the organisation and its team of workers, many of whom are volunteers, and expands the opportunities to increase the great work they do.

As the elderly population grows, and older people want more out of life than uninspiring day centres, it becomes essential for more money to be found to support this aging community.

I have to say that Adult Services and Cllr Peter Harrand down at Civic Hall have visited the MEA and have been supportive of the changes that have led to this cash increase. It requires a re-allocation of resources from a building based approach ie using money to keep open half empty day centres that few people want to use and re-focus these funds to offer more opportunities in the community.

Morley Elderly Action do and excellent job and getting them a fairer deal will remain one of our priorities.

Yesterdays Full Council Meeting

Yesterdays Full Council Meeting started at 1.30pm and went on until 7.30pm yesterday evening. It is split into different sections and starts with delegations from local community groups. Yesterdays delegations included the Young Mayor for a Day who spoke passionately on the issues of disability, a group trying to reduce the speed limit in a village near Bramhope and a group of youngsters asking for traffic calming in their community in Chapeltown.

This is followed by a series of questions from Councillors. They come in two versions. The ones from the Labour side are almost universally hostile and the ones from the Administrations side are soft ball ones, usually used to promote whatever candidate is facing an election shortly. Occasionally the MBIs or the Greens will ask a question that might actually be relevant.

We then go into comments on the minutes of all committee meetings held over the last 8 weeks and we can comment on what ever issues we wish. I spoke up about section 106 monies - which are used to improve parks and green spaces (Scatcherd Park and the present replacement programme being a good example). My colleague Cllr Leadley commented on the Comprehensive Area Assessment - a piece of Central Government baloney which is made up of trendy faces such as "going forward" confirming the level of dross in the report. Cllr Terry Grayshon called publicly for the buses to be placed back into public control or at least to be re-regulated. Cllr Bob Gettings spoke up about children's services and the need to improve outcomes for local children.

The other councillor for Morley - the extreme right BNP Councillor Beverley said nothing during the whole meeting. This is hardly surprising as he spends the vast majority of his time outside the chamber on the phone - presumably asking for advice from Nick Griffin!

We break for tea and a sandwich at 5pm which is not the lavish banquet detailed by the YEP and all people present, the public, councillors, officers who are there for the duration of the meeting, all attend. I would invite anyone down to see what really goes on a tea time and you may be disappointed that the tea that is put out is not the Babylonian Feast it is claimed to be.

The rest of the meeting discusses white papers resolutions which can commit Council to implement certain actions. Yesterdays included a debate on a recent Ofsted Report on Children's Services - not pleasant reading - a commitment to reducing Council CO2 omissions (overseen by Friends of the Earth who packed the public gallery) and a brief debate on the Leeds Arena. After several electronically recorded votes, we left the chamber at 7.30.

It is difficult to see what purpose the Full Council Meeting serves. It is barely attended by local voters, is used as a platform for overly political debates and spreads little light on issues while generating much heat and CO2 omissions!

I suppose the ultimate test is that this type of Democracy is the worst possible system - other than all the alternatives.

Roll on the next meeting - the Annual Budget Meeting scheduled for next month!

Skatepark Update

The meeting to discuss Morley Skatepark is to be held on Tuesday 2nd February in the small Banqueting Hall in Morley Town Hall starting at 4.30pm. All welcome.

"The Times" in Morley!

I have been contacted today by a journalist who works for the Times and is writing an article about the new Morley and Outwood Constituency and Ed Balls chances of winning it.

The journalist will be in Morley tomorrow to get a "feel" for the area but I suspect he is more interested in producing a story that will show the battle Ed Balls has with winning the new constituency and what challenges the Tories will present in what everybody predicts will be a close contest.

The MBIs are often asked if they are standing a candidate at the General Election and there is certainly a certainly some pressure being placed on us by local residents who don't want to vote for any of the big three parties and remain unconvinced about supporting the extreme right BNP. It is clearly a challenge for any small grouping to put up a candidate as all other parties - including the BNP with their Euro handouts - have large amounts of cash to run a campaign. The MBIs in contrast are self financing and struggle to compete against this well financed opposition.

I stood at the last general election and can say from a personal point of view that the expense is crippling and the work exhausting. I was pleased to get over 4000 votes, putting me into 4th place behind the big three - with twice as many votes as the extreme right BNP but the chances of an independent candidate being able to make a challenging impact without more human and financial resources is somewhat unlikely!

If you bump into the Times journalist then give him a warm Morley welcome and pass on a message that Morley Folk - and their votes - should not be taken for granted.!

Morley Skatepark Replacement Programme

A certain controversy has followed plans for a new replacement skate park for Morley. Initially we found the funds for an upgrading programme after a lot of hard work and lobbying and a set of plans was published in the Morley Ob. People were given an opportunity to comment on the proposals and sets of plans were placed in both the Library and at Morley Town Hall.

Two young skaters took away the plans and proposed quite a radical re-working of the proposals which would seen a new, fully concrete cast skate park - a smaller (much smaller!) version of the one at Woodhouse Moor. This was proposed as an alternative to the original plan which proposed re-using much of the present equipment and adding an additional concrete bowl and teen shelter. This proposal was one we were going out to tender for but I was visited by a mother of a skater who confirmed that they had a preference for the original plan and could all work be stopped!

Work was stopped while a meeting was held between the two different parties about the options for a consensus view. This did not seem possible so a final consultation event is to be held over the next fortnight or so where everyone who is interested can examine both plans, plus others from Garforth and Woodhouse Moor to see what the wider skating community wants.

The final decision on the layout has to be theirs as most Councillors - me included - don't know one side of a skateboard from the other and it is important that the skate park users make their views known.

At this point there is no way of knowing which of the plans is the more likely to succeed. What I can say is that the final programme will reflect the wishes of as many local skaters as possible - even if full consensus cannot be achieved.

Look out for the details of the consultation meeting on this blog as soon as the date becomes fixed.

Funeral of Lance Corporal David Kirkness

I attended the service for Lance Corporal David Kirkness in Morley and later at Wakefield Cathedral.

This brave young man, who was taken from us far too quickly, is an inspiration to us all. Tributes at the Cathedral showed his overwhelming bravery and humanity and confirmed all that is good about our Armed Forces and the challenging job they have to do.

I was struck by the number of residents who attended at both Morley and Wakefield and the dignity they brought to the occasion. Both sets of residents burst into spontaneous rounds of applause as the funeral cortege passed and made both services extremely moving and emotional experiences.

Regardless of the political debates that surround the present conflict in Afghanistan, Lance Corporal David Kirkness is a shinning example of someone who cuts through the rhetoric and placed his live on the line to save others - at an horrendous personal cost.

We should all take a moment to reflect on the courage of our Local Hero.

Morley Bottoms Housing Meeting

I attended a very helpful Morley Bottoms housing Meeting on Friday. A planning application has been submitted for a high quality and environmentally friendly building which will offer accommodation for local people. Much commenting has taken place on this matter and it is important to set the record straight.

The new housing will be run by a housing association and people will be charged affordable rents. The accommodation, because it has 2 bed roomed apartments as well as a wheelchair friendly lift, will appeal to older families or older residents who need 2 bedrooms - perhaps because of disability. All new tenants will be vetted and will be allocated properties if they have a record of being a previous good tenant. The properties will have a local lettings policy (several of which already exist across the Morley area) to make sure local families receive the highest priority. A further impact should be the movement of tenants from council owned family homes into these properties - allowing us to offer family accommodation for those on council house waiting lists.

Opponents to the scheme do attempt to come up with all sorts of reasons to undermine this scheme but the Morley affordable housing project - which transcends three sites across Morley - is the right priority for any group committed to housing those 2000 applicants on the Morley Housing Waiting list. Being a Councillor is about getting things done - not being a constant spectator who offers endless commentary - but no action - to resolve the problems we face.

The Morley Bottoms Housing Project is a good news story. An ugly building will be demolished and replaced with a building that enhances the area and offers high quality housing for many local residents. It will remove the blight of a private sector housing block which has delivered numerous bad tenants across the years and replace it with good quality tenants who will improve the area and be part of an improving community.

Work will start in early Spring and should be completed by the beginning of next year. Residents who want to be considered for these property can contact the MBI office on 0113 2477538 or by e mail on robert.finnigan@leeds.gov.uk and their details will be passed on to the Housing Association for consideration.

New Scatcherd Playground - work begins

I was pleased to see work commencing on the replacement playground at Scatcherd Park. Despite the appalling weather, contractors have moved in to commence work to replace the tired and old playground with an up to date state-of-the-art one which will become another good reason for visiting Morley Town Centre. The new playground, along with the new Leisure Centre and proposed refurbished skate park will offer a real jewel in Morley's crown encouraging people to come to Morley to shop, be active, skate and bmx as well as visit the new playground with their children.

It will go hand in hand with the renaissance that has taken place in Scatcherd Park and Scarth Gardens which has meant a substantial increase in use of the park by local residents.

MBI councillors have worked hard to find the finance for these new projects and it comes hot on the heels of refurbishments at Hembrigg and Hesketh Lane playgrounds with additional work to be undertaken at Churwell and Dartmouth later this year.

We have been fully committed to working through all playgrounds across the Morley area and will continue to campaign, persuade and cajole additional cash into the area until with can have similar playgrounds at all our parks.

Re-regulate the buses!

The Office of Fair Trading has apparently published a report today stating that the bus companies have been ripping off passengers with higher than necessary fares; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8444961.stm

Most people accept that this has been the case since the buses were de-regulated under the Conservatives in the 1980s. It was claimed at the time that the competition would increase services and drive down prices. The reality was a reduced service and higher bus fares for all. This inevitably had an impact on bus passenger numbers which dropped substantially and contributed to road congestion as many people chose to use their car instead.

!997 came with a New Labour Government who again failed to re-regulate the buses and left many towns with a private monopoly - giving consumers the choice of take it or leave it!

I have consistently argued that the buses need to be re-regulated. The only area were bus use is increasing is in London - which has a regulated bus service. Bus companies have made millions in profit over the last 20 years plus and now is the time to make sure that they plough some of their profits back to offer some social support for other less well used bus services. This cross subsidy seems to be a fair way of increasing bus services - and therefor bus use - while holding down bus fares at a reasonable level.

Lets hope, with General Election coming up, this issue can be properly debated.

Its snow joke!

Ive been around Morley this morning to check out how estate roads are coping with the weather. I was heartened to see a gritter rolling along Scotchman Lane and I have asked for assurances that the gritter will systematically work its way across the major routes initially and then into the main spine routes through the estates.

The Harwell Estate in Churwell seem pretty bad along with the the estate road around the Sandmeads but the Ibbotson Estate along with some of the Birdie Estate seems to have coped reasonably well. I was particularly impressed with some of the roads of Peacock Green where residents have worked together to clear their cul-de-sacs to allow cars to get in and out of the estate. They are to be congratulated.

We are told that this is the worst period of snow in the North for over 20 years and knowing what to do in the future is one of the challenges we must face. Do we gear up, as Canada does, for substantial snow every winter and have gritters on standby and grit mountains stored and waiting? What if the snow does not materialise and we have expensive assets standing around with nothing to do? Can we predict what the future will bring with the variations global warning imposes on us? I suspect we need to accept these challenges will occur more frequently and put an increased but sensible budget aside for such future events. Certainly the City Council did increase this budget last year and we still have enough grit to last for the foreseeable future, but stressed budgets in the future will mean tough but sensible decisions need to be taken.

We will also need to explore the community option and the opportunity to mobilise capacity within the community to find a local solution to these challenges.

Snowed in in Morley?

The weather today has had a significant impact on the Morley wide area. Most of the roads are slow with many vehicles struggling with the hills that surround Morley. Morrison's car park is only about half full and many people are valiantly making their way to work in whatever way they can.

The interesting debate is the one about gritting and snow clearing. After last years problems the Council has put more money into gritting and snow clearing - keeping most of the main roads clear during the Christmas break. Is it now time to consider setting up an extended snow clearing strategy which looks at weeks - instead of days - of heavy snowfall. Is it an inevitable consequence of global warming or a one off where money set aside to gear up for such future events may be wasted?

I think we need a debate on this issue and we also need to reflect on whether we revisit previous years where those who are able bodied and registered as unemployed are asked to join a snow clearing team that particularly focuses on clearing pathways adjacent to properties and areas with large numbers of pensioners. It would enable the unemployed to make a positive contribution to their community and show future employers their working commitment during difficult circumstances.

I'm embracing this new technology. Hope to offer regular reports.