Walkabout set to highlight Holbeck issues

Council photo taken of a dumping incident off Holbeck Moor

A walk around Holbeck highlighting ‘what’s good and what’s not so good’ will help shape an ambitious plan for improving the area.

Dennis Kitchen, acting chair of the Holbeck Neighbourhood Forum, said:

“The Neighbourhood Plan offers a great opportunity for all those who live or work in Holbeck or have an interest in the area to develop a plan which can have a significant impact in shaping how the area develops in the future.

“We want to hear from everyone in the area: how the Plan develops is a matter for you and all the other residents, community organisations and businesses in the area. There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved — how you get involved is up to you!

“Our next event will be a walkabout on Sunday 16th September, meeting at 1pm at the Community Room, Ingram Gardens for light refreshments and briefing before we set off on our stroll — the plan is for small groups to walk particular parts of Holbeck identifying what’s good and not so good about the area, it is hoped that this will help to define the boundary for the Plan.

“Each group will have a designated leader. The walkabout will take about an hour so we aim to be back at the Community Room by 2.30pm for a short discussion and finish by 3.30pm.”

Community stalwart Dennis, who is heavily involved in the Holbeck in Bloom, Friends of Holbeck Social Club and Voice of Holbeck groups, added:

While we are all new to this work, it is worth noting our achievements to date. We held an exhibition about the area and the proposed plan at St. Matthew’s Community Centre in June and followed up by attending the Holbeck Gala to further promote the plan to the community.

“A successful first meeting of the Holbeck Forum took place in July, again at St Matthews. The Forum meeting agreed to establish a small working group to explore some tasks to that would begin to lay the foundation for the plan.”