A new Communication and Engagement Group in Holbeck, Chaired by Councillor Andrew Scopes, held its first meeting last week.
Councillor Scopes and his colleagues Gohar Almass and Angela Gabriel identified a need for a group to help plan Holbeck’s future and also ensure the local community are fully involved in those plans and discussions.
In attendance at the first meeting, in addition to the local Councillors, were local residents and representatives from local businesses, the third sector, the local school, wider partners and Safer Leeds.
The group has a number of aims over the coming months but its primary focus is to engage key individuals who live, work or volunteer in the Holbeck community to play a role in local issues including enhancing the governance structure of the Managed Approach by working together and looking for ways to hear views from the wider public. They also want to develop a 3-5 year plan for the future of the area taking into account the opportunities provided by the new South Bank development.
They are also keen that the group provides a forum to discuss and contribute to Council messaging around issues in Holbeck, the Councillors are keen that the local voice is included in decision making for the area.
Future areas of work which were raised at the first meeting include looking at what will happen as lockdown eases, what work is being done to help women exit prostitution as well as to tackle kerb crawling and what the implications will be of the South Bank development for the area.
A communications plan will be developed by the Group to ensure the wider community is kept up to date with issues and plans.
Councillor Gohar Almass (Labour, Beeston and Holbeck) said:
“My colleagues and I are excited about the possibilities that will be opened up through working in a collaborative way for the benefit of everyone living in Holbeck. We are realistic about the challenges faced by those who live in Holbeck, but we have so much to look forward to with plans to bring improvements to the area.
“I would like to thank everyone who is giving up their time to be a part of this Group and I am confident that we will effect some real, positive change for the area moving forward.
“As your elected representatives we are always happy to engage with anyone who lives in the ward, whatever your views, and will ensure your voice is heard.”
This post is based on a press release issued by Beeston & Holbeck Ward Councillors
Very clever when you have had 2 yrs of lockdown to do this it suddenly materialises and a paper that is trying to be impartial in the run up to local elections has to print it because it is news for the area.
I see no mention of working with the Holbeck Neighboughhood Forum is there.
A new Communication and Engagement Group in Holbeck, Chaired by Councillor Andrew Scopes, held its first meeting last week. What a joke. There already is an engagement group: the Voice of Holbeck who produced the “Listening Well report”. However the Labour dominated Executive of Leeds City Council did not like the fact that prior to the last debate on the So Called “Managed Zone for Street Prostitution” in Holbeck, the Voice of Holbeck sent a copy of the Listen Well report to all 99 city councillors. Once all 99 councillors knew the facts, all the other political parties voted to end this sorry sordid experiment. In petty retaliation, Councillors Coupar & Scopes plus other labour nominees have decided to “hand pick” an engagement committee [which true to form had only 2 local Holbeck residents on it]. What will it take to make them realise that it is impossible to manage vulnerable drug addicted prostituted women and that the only beneficiaries are the criminal men [Pimps, drug dealers and Kerb crawlers] who buy and sell these unfortunate women in the only UK Local Government sponsored open air brothel.
Well said they are full of hot air all talk no action!!
There is already a community group called Voice of Holbeck which represents the residents on the Managed Approach . The VoH is a non political group.
The council and councillors stopped speaking to Voice of Holbeck on 21st January after 3 months of silence.
How many local residents were in attendance x
Ahhhhh this is the new time-wasting team set up with council groupies who will say yes to everything the councillors want them to in exchange for funding for their organisations. All because the actual community of long term residents hate having prostitution in their streets and won’t sit down and shut up as they were expected to!
It’s as if the councillors are too cowardly to tackle the serious issues suffered by the community, so have discriminated against a long established community group in favour of an easy life with their ‘yes’ men! They’ve got their fingers in their own ears singing La la la la la! Especially Scopes! Remember when he tried to tell us his own grotty Keith Vas was a “Dirty Tory”?? He seemed shocked when I told him he was one of his own…….no wonder they love keeping prostitution in the streets!!
Another case of spin for years they haven’t listened to residents concerns and seem determined to ignore the wishes of the people who voted for them .
The red light saga has dragged on and on every so often a sticking plaster solution is enacted instead of what the residents ask for the councillors seem to think all the residents are misinformed and don’t know what they are talking about whereas they ( councillors ) are correct in everything .
Typical case of the majority get ignored and a minority is considered far more important to these councillors they have treated us the residents of Holbeck like an annoyance for years and i for one will never vote for Labour again in local elections after seeing how they have ignored the local populace with what borders on disdain and the attitude of shut up and don’t question us because we are right and you are wrong .