Imagine you are starting out as a young scientific researcher. You have an idea and want to test it in a laboratory, but you don’t have one. What can you do?
Step forward a new company based in Holbeck called QuickLabs which has been created to solve this problem by hiring out equipped laboratory space in very flexible ways to research startups. I visited the firm the other way and saw the concept in action.
If you think of office space needed by a new business, there are lots of places now where you can hire a desk or a meeting room or someone to take your phone messages when you’re starting out. We are pretty used to the idea by now, but for research scientists it’s been rather different unless you’re part of a university or have a persuaded a big company to back you.
Britain has an extraordinary reputation for scientific and engineering research and discovery. The UK’s research strengths can be counted in the number of Nobel Prizes that have been won. A few years ago I went on a tour of a research laboratory in Cambridge. They split us into two groups and both the tour guides who took us round had won the Nobel Prize!
Just think of the inventions that we have given to the world. The steam engine, the World Wide Web, the telephone, the jet engine, Portland cement, television, the electric motor, stainless steel, the pneumatic tyre and graphene to name but a few. But it doesn’t always follow that we are equally good at turning these inventions into commercial products. And that’s where people with ideas come in who can industrialise what they have developed. It’s great to think that in the heart of our community there’s one enterprise that is thinking about how it can help others to do precisely that.
I don’t know who invented quad bikes, but they’re really useful for farmers. They’re not so wonderful, however, when they’re speeding down your road or churning up a football pitch at the hands of a balaclava-wearing rider who for some inexplicable reason thinks that this is a reasonable thing to do. It isn’t. And it causes a lot of distress in our community.
I recently met with the councillors from Middleton Park ward and the the West Yorkshire deputy Mayor for policing and crime to discuss what more can be done to deal with this menace. We agreed that the first and most important thing is for people to report what they have seen. I know that some say “What’s the point? I’ve reported it before, and nothing ever seems to happen,” But that doesn’t mean that the police aren’t looking into the reports that other people are making in order to try and identify those responsible so that they can be prosecuted and have their bike confiscated.
The second thing that can be done is to give the police greater powers, and here I’m very glad to be able to report that the new Police and Crime Bill will give the police greater powers to seize quad bikes without warning. I thoroughly welcome it.
I visited Holbeck Together recently for a catch up about the Heart of Holbeck project. This is going to do three things. First, it will refurbish the grade two-listed former St Matthew’s church, and the old Box Office building, owned by Leeds Building Society, on the other side of the road. These will ultimately become the home of Holbeck Together and provide a multi-use social and events space and a health and wellbeing activity programme. Second, it will improve the area and Holbeck Moor, and third, it will introduce much-needed energy efficiency upgrades to 240 back-to-back homes. All in all, over £15 million will be invested in the local community.
Holbeck Together was recently awarded a match day at Elland Road which was a huge privilege and much enjoyed. What’s more, Leeds Utd beat Cardiff 7-0 that day, so I think they’ve now become a lucky mascot! How’s that for the power of community partnership?
And finally, I paid a visit to Elland Road this week to hear from Angus Kinnear, the club‘s Chief Executive, about their plans to expand the stadium. The proposal is to build two new stands to take the capacity from 37,645 to 53,000. Leeds United has an extraordinarily loyal fan base, with 20,000 people currently on the waiting list for season tickets.
The fact that the club’s new owners want to put this investment in is a real sign of confidence in the future, and given United’s current position at the top of the Championship, we are all hoping for a return to the Premier League next season.
It’s not just the additional capacity that these proposals are about. They also involve looking at the land around the ground to see what development opportunities there are. One of the biggest issues will be how all these additional fans will travel to and from the ground. Local residents currently face problems with match day parking, so the more supporters who can walk or come by public transport the better. We should also have an eye on the future Leeds mass transit system, with one of the two routes most favourably received in the recent consultation stopping outside Elland Road.
The club are going to hold a series of roadshows and consultation events in the spring so that the public and the local community can have their say. But my view is that this is absolutely the right thing to do for a club whose name and history – and I trust its future – are synonymous with the pride and success of our great city.
Hilary Benn is our Member of Parliament. He represents the Leeds South constituency.
Email: hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk | Website: www.hilarybennmp.com
Constituency office:
Unity Business Centre, 26 Roundhay Road, Leeds, LS7 1AB
Tel: 0113 244 1097
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“What’s the point? I’ve reported it before, and nothing ever seems to happen”,
That’s the norm, I’ve reported many incidents about many things, and very seldom has anything been done, and when it has it has taken a couple of years to rectify.
Fly tipping, reported and identify the tippers, all the councils do is come around and clear it no action is taken against the fly-tippers, so they just carry on doing the same thing