The Council’s Inner South Area Committee met last night (5 February 2014) approving a range of grants and reviewing their work programme, as well as hearing from residents during the Open Forum.
£5,000 was approved, in principle, for Health For All to carry out a feasibility study into the future of the Beeston Village Community Centre. The centre is in the old library building on St Anthony’s Drive next to Hugh Gaitskell Primary School. The study will look at the physical state of the building and consult the community about future use.
The Council’s Youth Service was given £5,000 to expand its provision of weekly youth clubs at Cottingley Community Centre, Beeston Village Community Centre and Holbeck Youth Centre.
A further £2,000 was allocated to fund an Inner South Older Person’s event at the Civic Hall on 3 March 2014, 10:30am – 3pm. This is in addition to the original £1,500 allocated to this event and will cover transport, catering, entertainment, demonstrations and taster sessions.
Leeds South Foodbank was allocated £3,476 to help establish two further distribution centres. The foodbank currently operates from Belle Isle Family Centre and Middleton Methodist Church, new centres will open at Hunslet Methodist Church and St Mary’s Church in Beeston.
£2,869 was awarded to Health For All to produce a pilot issue of a magazine for residents in the Middleton Park ward. 8,000 copies of a 16 page A4 magazine will be produced to give local people access to information and news in their community. If successful, they will seek further funding to produce three editions per year.
The Committee went on to review its work programme. The Committee heard that planning restrictions to limit the number of food takeaways were on a long list of issues being considered on a city-wide basis. In the meantime a study has been set up to assess and improve the nutritional values of existing takeaways.
Cllr Kim Groves reported that five teams from within the Council and 25 partner agencies had seen 1,000 local residents to help them prepare to apply for jobs at the new Asda store in Middleton (due to open in May 2014). They are also keen to ensure local people can secure jobs on the PFI-funded housing regeneration scheme in Beeston Hill and Holbeck. There is currently a shortage of bricklayers in the country and the Council is talking to the Colleges to try and address this shortage and open the opportunities to local people.
In the Open Forum, members of the Friends of Stank Hall Barn once more expressed their frustration at the lack of progress with Council officers. They are trying to secure a licence to work on the land next to the barn, near the White Rose Centre, to start a community grow space. Cllr Adam Ogilvie said he supported them and had already contacted the Council’s Chief Executive, Tom Riordan, asking him to translate an email sent to Councillors about the situation into plain English.
The full papers from last night’s committee can be found on the Council website here.
