What's happening in Beeston, Belle Isle, Cottingley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Middleton and Stourton
The recent fire at the Blue residential block by Granary Wharf was a chilling reminder of the risk of fire in high rise buildings. This block has some cladding problems, although it seems they were not involved in the fire. Thankfully the West Yorkshire Fire Service arrived extremely quickly, put
There are now just five months to go before world leaders gather in Glasgow for the big climate change conference. Meanwhile, the scientific evidence about our changing climate accumulates. The 2015 Paris climate agreement committed countries to keep the global temperature increase to just 1.5C above late 19th century levels
Well that didn’t last long, did it? Announced one evening with a surprising lack of advocates, the proposed European Super League dominated the news but collapsed within 48 hours in the face of a universally hostile reaction. It was a great victory for the voice of football fans and for
Exactly a year ago, in my column for South Leeds Life, I reflected on how the world had changed in ways that could scarcely have been imagined four weeks earlier. Twelve months on, who would have imagined that we would have seen 126,000 people lose their lives, three lockdowns, businesses
Cllr Judith Blake is stepping down as the Leader of Leeds City Council following her appointment to the House of Lords. I have had the privilege of working with Judith over many years in her roles both as a Middleton Ward councillor and as Council Leader and I just want
I had a very useful catch-up recently with Elissa Newman of Holbeck Together, the voluntary organisation of which I have the honour to be Patron. Despite the lockdown, Elissa and her wonderful team have continued to support their service users with regular phone calls, help with shopping and prescriptions and
As some of us try and make up for Christmas indulgence by increasing the number of steps we take each day, you notice just how much more of your surroundings you can take in when walking as opposed to travelling the same route by car. I really enjoy looking at
As a hard and difficult year draws to a close, we are all desperately hoping that 2021 will be different. Well, that hope appears to have been answered. Three new ‘stars’ have appeared in the dark winter sky in the form of coronavirus vaccines. It is extraordinary that they have
“It is the Government’s responsibility to make sure that children do not go hungry.” These were the words of my parliamentary colleague Kate Green when she moved the motion calling for free school meals to be funded during the autumn half term, Christmas and Easter holidays. The Government has rightly
Since March, our lives have been dominated by Covid. As I write, Leeds has just been put under new restrictions which mean that families won’t be able to see anyone else in their homes. It is the rising rate of infections in our city that has made this inevitable and