manifesto - ED CARLISLE for City + Hunslet

A MANIFESTO FOR
CITY + HUNSLET
(The Leeds City Council ward composed of Beeston Hill, Hunslet, and the city centre)
APRIL 2015
Compiled by Ed Carlisle,
Green Party candidate for the City + Hunslet ward in May 2015
(www.edleeds.org)
'Without vision, people die' (ancient Jewish proverb)
This manifesto has been created off the back of
hundreds of meetings and conversations, and
research in this local area, spanning back over
the past 10+ years. Everyone has something
unique to share, a different piece of the
jigsaw – and I hope this document does justice
to all the ideas, hopes, views and challenges
that people have brought up. Massive thanks to
all those who've participated.
Local politics has been overlooked for too
long, with an unhelpful focus on national and
international issues. Those big issues are key,
but so too are the local issues that daily shape
our lives. Councillors have very little influence
on those broader issues – and we need to see
and hear more from them on local issues
specific to their area. This manifesto is an
attempt to do that. First though, some notes on
this document...
concept is good: more than anything else, I will
support local people to take action (or continue
to take further action), and make a difference in
their communities.
Linked with that, there's a lot in here – far too
much for one person. But again, good local
politicians are those who help gather diverse
partnerships of people (and most importantly,
local residents) and organisations to address
challenges together. Building on my work locally
over the past 12-13 years (I'm already working
on a good number of the issues identified below),
I will always look to develop such partnerships to
tackle these issues, and never work unilaterally.
Furthermore, 'community
spirit'
and
cohesion/integration – ie enabling our
communities to be more connected, and to live
well together across age, ethnicity, gender, and
more – is a key priority, but I've not overtly
flagged it up below. Because all my experience of
this work tells me that the best way to foster
cohesion is to help generate good local projects
which different people can gather around and
work on together.
Some of the issues listed are already being
addressed in one way or another by local
residents. It goes without saying that I have no
desire to weigh in, and take either leadership of
or credit for such work. Elected politicians are
– at their best – public servants, simply
I'd also add: if others (the current councillors,
supporting others to make a difference.
other local people, or indeed anyone out there)
'Empowerment' is an overused word, but the
1
wants to get involved, or take any of these on progress I've made (or not) on every single
and make them happen, I'd be delighted. one of these.
Please crack on.
Finally, underpinning all this is my commitment
Also, this document includes elements that are to the local community – not simply what I'll do,
very short-term and tangible, which I would but how I'll work. As your councillor, I will:
hope to achieve within months of being elected.
Make myself available to you, my fellow local
Some would take a bit longer. And some are
residents.
very ambitious, long-term goals – which are
Listen to you.
crucial because, to quote an ancient Jewish
Be totally open with you about any decisions
proverb, 'without vision, people die'.
or votes I make.
To add to that: I'm well aware of the limitations And work with you to make our communities
we all face – especially those in local and our city better.
government. (Leeds City Council has essentially
This kind of positive local politics has been sadly
had a 40% cut in its core funding since 2010.)
lacking for too long in our community – and
I've therefore steered away from projects that
that's why so many people (including myself) are
would be likely to require significant amounts of
looking for change.
government funding. And I'm also convinced –
after 12-13 years doing community
Whatever happens in the election next month, I
development work – that extraordinary
will continue to work on these themes with other
things can happen when people gather
local people – and will continue to develop this
with passion around a shared task. There's
manifesto as we go.
a great deal of resource in our communities and
in our city (time, skills, ideas, resources, money, Thanks for your interest, and I look forward to
goodwill, and more), and it often just needs to hopefully working with you to transform our
be unlocked.
communities and our city.
Ultimately, some of these projects might not be
feasible – but let's at least try to make them
happen. And either way, for the sake of
accountability, I'll report annually on the
CONTENTS by theme
TRANSPORT + TRAVEL
HIGHWAYS, PARKING + WALKWAYS
ECONOMY + EMPLOYMENT
ENERGY
PUBLIC SPACES + LEISURE
GROWING + ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS
ARTS + EVENTS
HOUSING, BUILDINGS + HERITAGE
COMMUNITY SAFETY + POLICING
WASTE + ENVIRONMENT
LOCAL POLITICS + PLANNING
EDUCATION
CHILDREN + YOUNG PEOPLE
OLDER PEOPLE
HEALTH + WELL-BEING
TECHNOLOGY
MISCELLANEOUS
It's a quite big document, so you might want to do a search for particular things of interest.
Or grab a cuppa and take your time!
Also, there are inevitably cross-overs (eg between TRANSPORT and HIGHWAYS), so you might need to skip around a little bit.
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TRANSPORT
+ TRAVEL
Continue to campaign to re-route the
trolleybus to avoid the Whitfield estate in
Hunslet – and ideally rethink the whole project.
Call for free wifi to be installed on all buses
and local trains. This is starting to happen now (eg on
some Arriva buses), and I'll push for it to become normal across
the board.
The current councillors are very much in favour of the
trolleybus, including the plan to run it through the Whitfields.
Support the Talking Buses campaign, to
have an audio info system on all buses – of
major significance for those with visual
impairments, and also visitors and newcomers
to the city.
More, better walking and cycling routes
across the ward, especially between the city
centre and south Leeds. We hope the Holbeck viaduct
scheme, which I'm leading on, will be one such route. I also
know those behind the Hunslet Stray initiative, which I will
fully support to develop further.
Work with the bus companies to look at
installing bike racks onto the outside of buses
(as in Canada).
Explore the feasibility of re-opening a Hunslet
railway station (on the already active train
lines there), possibly to be integrated with a
park-and-ride scheme. Could this serve the intended
Develop and support local bike maintenance
schemes and events, such at Pedallers Arms.
purpose of the ill-fated trolleybus?
HIGHWAYS,
PARKING +
WALKWAYS
Traffic calming measures for speeding
hotspots including Woodhouse Hill Road and
Harlech Road.
tarmac) carparks across the city
– these can
significantly contribute to making the city more flood resistant.
Clarify the (currently partly unidentified)
ownership of the towpath between Thwaite
Mills, H2010 and Clarence Dock, which is
holding up development on the route – then
work towards improving it (surfacing, lighting,
bins). A longer term project might look at improving the
Investigate the possibility of free city-centre
parking for electric cars.
Create diagonal parking bays on Beeston
Road, and scrap the now-unused no-parking
lines outside St Luke's School there (the school
themselves say they're unnecessary), to create
more parking for the Couplands and
Greenhouse. If there's still over-demand after
that, create a residents parking scheme.
towpath beyond Thwaite Mills to Woodlesford etc.
Pressurise property developers Allied London to
remove the white hoarding boxes on the
Boulevard at Clarence Dock, which are much
loathed by residents and are negatively
impacting local business.
Support the creation of more parking bays in
the place of often-underused paved areas, eg
on the Waverleys in Beeston Hill.
Improve walking and cycling routes between
Hunslet, and the canal towpath and Thwaite
Mills, including better crossings on Low Road.
See the development of porous (as opposed to
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Pelican crossings at key local points including especially in the congested city centre.
Tempest Road (near Hamara), and on Meadow
We all like trees, but they're wreaking havoc in
Lane (near Asda HQ).
some corners of Hunslet (the Hemingways, the
Fencing or bollards for locations including the Whitfields, the Midlands, the Leasowes, etc),
Bismarks in Beeston Hill, and Royal Close in making for severely uneven paving and
Hunslet, to prevent motorists from driving paths (major trip hazards), and even structural
through ginnels, across green spaces, etc.
damage to buildings. I'll launch a full audit of
the trees in these neighbourhoods, and take
Investigate the feasibility of developing
action. Leeds City Council pays out £5m annually on trips and
smarter, responsive traffic systems (eg falls claims – let's get on top of that.
traffic lights that respond to varying demand),
ECONOMY +
EMPLOYMENT
New local employment schemes, possibly
through a dedicated social enterprise, for local
residents people to get trained and employed in
work including... Installing water meters and
water butts across the community, and beyond;
computer restoration and IT support, like
the acclaimed Airedale Computers communityowned company in Castleford; doing green
refurbishment work on old housing stock
(see HOUSING, below); tree surgery (especially
in Hunslet, where there's a backlog of this work
needed); and handiman/handiwoman work (eg
clearing gutters in Hunslet). The Council could support
these in any number of ways (eg providing free venues in
unused Council property), and also benefit by contracting us to
do this work (eg tree surgery). This could also link with the pop
-up farm projects (see GROWING, below).
Set up a commission on the future of Leeds
city centre. High street retail will continue to
decline (whilst not disappearing altogether), so
we need to boldly re-imagine what city and
town centres can become. Centres for culture,
play, and free leisure perhaps – and what else?
Hold to account the mobile sellers who are
exploiting a legal loophole to sell groceries out
of the back of vans in Beeston Hill, and
undercutting rate-paying shopkeepers.
Actively support independent retail and
catering across the ward, including continuing
to support the Dewsbury Road Town Team of
local businesses – who are working to improve
their shopping area with street art, nicer paving,
and less clutter on the street.
Support Kirkgate Market as a key hub of the
city economy – a unique starting point for many
new retailers, and an important budget
shopping venue. Also, encourage weekly late
night shopping there.
Continue to support the Leeds Poverty
Challenge mentoring
and
brokering
programme for young adults in Beeston Hill
to access employment.
As part of this, I'd look to grant more Temporary Occupation
Licences, to support innovation in empty shops.
4
ENERGY
Form a coalition of local residents, to enter into
collective bargaining for cheaper gas and
electric bills. (An effective model developed by Which?
for their Big Switch campaign.)
Long term, support the development of
community-owned energy generation
schemes (eg local wind and solar farms, or water turbines
on the Aire).
Support the H2010 residents calling for
accountability of the company running their
district heating system (DHS).
DHS's are good
in principle, and will expand a lot over the coming generation –
but they currently tend towards monopolisation by single
companies who are then not accountable.
Support the H2010 residents to get full info on
the proposed anaerobic digestor (AD) in
their area, and explore options for either
relocating it or minimising local impact. Again,
AD's are good low-carbon technology in principle – but we need
to fully understand local impact.
PUBLIC
SPACES +
LEISURE
Continue campaigning with local residents for a
community garden to be included in the new
housing development on the Garnets in
Beeston Hill. The current councillors have publicly stated
streets into safe play and leisure areas, and/or
to support street-based business (like the
successful pedestrianisation of Merrion Street in
town). Long term, look to turn more residential
their resistance to the residents’ wishes.
through-roads into cul-de-sacs, which are far
Continue supporting Hunslet Carr residents and better for nurturing a sense of community.
Hunslet Carr Primary School to take over the Help develop a free-running/parkours park
management (and maybe even ownership) of for Leeds, by finding and lending an unused
the Sandon Mount green space.
piece of land to the parkours community, and
Support the development of the Merrion pulling together a partnership of stakeholders
Street Gardens (behind the St John's Centre) (eg Leeds College of Building) to help build it.
into a city centre play and leisure space.
(This
idea, proposed by folk I know, is very much at early stages –
but has great potential.)
Improve and develop more playgrounds, and
leisure and sport spaces, especially in
unused pockets of land across the ward –
Landscape the area at the back of the Penny including the city centre, and at or near H2010.
Hill Centre in Hunslet. I was asked if it could become
a glass-topped tropical garden – this might not be feasible, but Research the legal status of the Leathley
something will be!
Road rail cuttings (behind the Crown Point
See the installation of better, more convivial/ Shopping Park), and start a consultation about
its possible uses. Public ideas so far include: a wild
friendly street seating across the ward.
garden, an orchard, a parkours or skate park, or a bear-baiting
arena.
Support more road closures, either temporary
and permanent – for residents to turn their Continue working to turn the
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infamous
Beeston Hill binyards into positive usable
spaces (clothes drying areas, growing spaces,
dog yards, chicken runs, etc).
Support the further development of more nonalcoholic venues in the city centre, eg the
excellent IncLucid project.
Push for the creation of a social enterprise
renting out rowing boats at Clarence Dock.
GROWING +
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROJECTS
Continue pushing for the creation of orchards
and/or edible gardens within walking
distance of every resident. Some are already in
Campaign for more allotment sites, and for
allotment rents to remain as low as possible –
and contest any repeat of the recent events
when Leeds City Council tried (and failed) to
force allotment rents up via the courts.
process (eg at Holy Spirit in Beeston Hill), some are in the
pipeline (eg at the new Aldi on Tunstall Road), but there's
much more to do.
Further develop the micro grants scheme
(which I and council officers dreamt up and
piloted last year), for local people to improve
their neighbourhood environment.
Support the development of Hunslet in
Bloom and Friends of Hunslet Moor groups
(both proposed by local residents).
Call for quick-win ecological improvements to
local parks, including bird garden and boxes,
bee zones, and more wild flower areas.
Try to see the creation of fire-pits in
underused corners of public parks like Cross
Flatts Park. There's local interest in this, but the Fire Service
Support the development of pop-up urban
farms on currently unused land (eg land
waiting to be developed). They've pioneering this in
are taking some persuasion...
Work with the Rowland Road Social Club in
Beeston Hill to tidy up the scrub-land behind
their building, and turn it into something
positive (eg an orchard).
Holland, there's one brewing in Hull, and I know some Leeds
folk who looking to make it happen here; long-term, it would
also generate local employment.
Continue to develop street growing projects
for those without or with small gardens, eg the
fab hanging baskets scheme in Beeston Hill.
6
ARTS +
EVENTS
Reopen the conversation about commissioning
artist Antony Gormley to create the giant
Brick Man sculpture just south of the city
train station. Gormley was commissioned to propose a
major piece of work for Leeds in the 1980s, and came up with
the idea of a giant brick man. He was shown the door, so went
up to Gatehead and created the Angel of the North. Opportunity
missed! But Leeds people continue to discuss whether we might
not look at resurrecting the idea...
Continue to support and/or help lead on the
delivery of established major events
including Beeston Festival, Hunslet Gala, the
Waterfront Festival (and maybe initiate a junkboat race; see WASTE, below), and the Leeds
Den Festival...
And look to develop big new events including:
the re-instatement of the annual Leeds Lord’s
Support public art everywhere, including a Mayor’s
Parade, to bring the city’s
totem pole for Cross Flatts Park, and lots of communities together; a chalk art and poetry
murals – small ones on walls, and giant ones on festival; and an annual Leeds pillow-fight (as
cooling towers. The current councillors have previously seen last month in London, Hull, and
demonstrated strong resistance to street art in particular.
elsewhere)!
Set up a scheme whereby professional firms
Work to safeguard the rights of buskers in the
(legal, accountancy, etc) display art work city, alongside my mates who lead the
for sale by local artists in their offices and Association of Street Artists and Performers
meeting rooms. The firms' offices look more
(ASAP). Busking rights have been severely curtailed in several
interesting, and local artists hopefully sell more UK towns and cities; I don’t think we want that to happen in
work: win-win. This has been successfully developed in Leeds.
east London, so why not here?
HOUSING,
BUILDINGS +
HERITAGE
Resist any further demolition of old
houses, especially the Victorian terraces – but
instead work with local housing charities like
Canopy and LATCH to develop green refurb
schemes like the ones in east Leeds (see also
ECONOMY, above).
families and couples, to rebalance the community demographic
here.
Assess the impact of overgrown trees on
housing stock in the Leasowes in Hunslet
Carr, and take action.
Stronger monitoring of and accountability for
bad landlords, and supporting good 'uns – as
per the work starting to happen via the Holbeck
Landlord Forum.
Support the creation of mid-sized sites (8-12
pitches) for the Gypsy Traveller community
across the city – both 'negotiated stopping' and
permanent – in consultation with local
established communities. Roadside (ie non-authorised)
Resist planning permission and/or tighten
licensing for any further HMOs (Houses of
Multiple Occupancy, ie bedsits) in Beeston Hill.
encampments work for absolutely no-one, and are costly for the
Council – whereas a negotiated site like Kidacre Street (here in
City and Hunslet), whilst not perfect, has been recognised as a
real success. As part of that, work to release unused Council
land in secluded locations around the city for this purpose.
We seriously need to ensure more local housing here goes to
7
Work with the Canal and River Trust to free up
more local houseboat provision.
Victoria Mill near H2010 is not left to rot, but
that the interim roofing is fixed, and that quickwin projects (eg pop-up arts schemes) are
supported to bring focus onto it.
Work to bring underused church buildings
into circulation for wider community use. Eg
the Holy Spirit church building in Beeston Hill, which I'm
helping to see opened up as a low-cost sports, events and arts
venue.
Work to get the Mabgate area recognised
(and therefore protected) as a heritage zone.
Look to refurbish and restart the iconic St
Mary’s clock tower in Hunslet. (As of last month,
Support the move to turn the Old Cockburn
Sports Hall over to community management,
and see this great local resource well-used
again. On top of those already using it for dance and sports,
a great local resident I know had potentially found someone to
do this. If that comes off, great – and I claim no credit!)
I've spoken with local people interested in using it for music,
boxing, and more.
Support the campaign to ensure that the
amazing (Grade II* listed) Hunslet Mill /
COMMUNITY
SAFETY +
POLICING
Work with local police to instigate smarter Support the development of a women-only
timetabling to tackle anti-social behaviour. Eg taxi service for the city, currently under discussion by
ensure good on-street presence at key times (such as 5-10pm),
in key locations (eg Belinda Street in Hunslet).
some local folk I know.
Set up an annual 'Meet Your Neighbour'
Cutting back bushes and hedges that are day, to build local connections. This could
being used for or that are blocking visibility of possibly lead to 'Love Your Neighbourhood'
criminal activity (eg on the Whitfields in Hunslet, and action days (see WASTE, below).
Beeston Road).
Help instigate self-defence classes, especially
for local women.
WASTE +
ENVIRONMENT
Work with the Community Payback programme Push for the Council to consider employing local
to see a significant and regular increase in residents as community wardens for a few
organised litter picking across the community. hours each week, to help keep their
neighbourhoods tidy.
Aim to have plain-clothed police dishing out
fines in litter and dog fouling hotspots, eg Work with residents to host ‘Love Your
Maud Avenue and the Woodviews in Beeston Neighbourhood’ local clear-up days,
Hill, and Balm Road in Hunslet. Also increase maybe linked with garage sales and car boot
litter and dog fouling signage, and maybe softer sales.
approaches such as a chalk graffiti campaign.
Work with property management companies to
ensure all city centre residents have ready
8
access to recycling facilities (at the moment,
many don't). Leeds spends £15m per year on landfill tax –
enough or none at all. Long-term, we probably need to move
increasingly towards communal rubbish bins (common in many
other parts of the world).
so there are huge incentives to drive up recycling rates.
See the development of further projects like
the successful Revive Centre at the Seacroft
tip, where reusable furniture and other items are
saved from landfill and directed to charity shops.
Also, link these projects up with bike refurb
projects like Pedallers Arms and the Bike Mill.
Initiate a community-led waste and
recycling research project in Beeston Hill – ie
local people getting out and about, talking with
others, and looking to stir up awareness and
conversation about recycling. Recycling rates are
particularly low in Beeston Hill, and this idea came from local
people. Again, there's that £15m landfill tax at stake. And if the
project is a success, we'll do it elsewhere too.
Provide secure needle bins in secluded public
spaces.
Provide free plastic sheeting for residents to use
to cover bulky waste (to stop it getting soaked in the
Explore the possibility of dog zones in parks,
away from the main areas, where dog fouling is
begrudgingly tolerated.
rain, at which point the bulky waste collection staff are often
unable to remove it, and/or re-sell it if it's en-route to a charity
shop).
Work with local residents to make use of their
binyards, to safeguard them against fly-tipping
(see PUBLIC SPACES, above).
Encourage local composting schemes, eg with
free compost bins, or by providing advice. Another
way to save some of that £15m annual landfill tax.
More public waste and dog foul bins,
especially in hotspots such as around Lodge
Lane in Beeston Hill, outside the Job Shop in
Hunslet, and the towpath out towards H2010.
Get public bins emptied more often, especially
around Cross Flatts Park and Holbeck Moor near
the Northcotes. And get the many broken locks
fixed on these bins – the swinging doors are
dangerous, especially for runners.
As mentioned above, support the local
community at H2010 to get full info about the
proposed anaerobic digestor – and relocate
it if possible, or minimise local impact.
In the short-term, provide more or bigger
residents bins – especially for streets where there are
Oversee the launch of an annual junk boat
race, probably as part of the Waterfront Festival
– for teams to build rafts out of rubbish, and
race them down the river/canal in town.
Ensure Council building contractors sign up to
minimise unnecessary waste, even if that adds
time to the work. (During recent demolition work in
Beeston Hill, dozens of perfectly workable double-glazed
windows were sent to landfill.)
many HMOs (especially in Beeston Hill), and low-rise flat-blocks
such as on the Telfords in Hunslet where there are either not
LOCAL
POLITICS +
PLANNING
Help form informal residents groups, to
meet and take action on local issues. Eg several
For future elections, organise hustings (ie
debates) for the local/council candidates, in
partnership with local organisations and bodies.
residents of the Longroyds have expressed interest in this.
These might in due course become formalised, but we'd not
rush to do so – people just meeting, talking, and taking on small
actions together can make a real difference.
This is far beyond the remit of a lowly city
councillor, but we desperately need to bring
our voting system into the 21st century –
Year on year, develop increasing participation
amongst residents in local decision making –
for instance, by enabling people to vote online. I'll push for this.
Also, I like the idea that all voting slips should include a 'none of
the above' (NOTA) option – and if NOTA gets the largest share
of the vote, it triggers a re-election.
including budgeting, housing allocation, highways and public
spaces issues, and more. Use both meetings and online
technologies to facilitate this.
9
Rethink + pro-actively rejuvenate
processes around planning. The current
local
set-up is
pretty arcane: eg small-print posters stuck to lampposts, to flag
up a local planning issue. There are several local cases where
residents have failed to find out about key planning issues, and/
or where consultation has been very slight (maybe wilfully so). I
will look to pro-actively flag up all planning issues with other
residents, and ensure that proper consultation is conducted.
Campaign
to
hold
the
Beeston
Neighbourhood Plan to account. It has been set
up in such a way that it excludes participation from residents of
Beeston Hill, whilst laying claim to key shared community assets
such as Cross Flatts Park and Holbeck Cemetery. We need to
ensure that Beeston Hill residents are at no point excluded from
key decision-making that affects these spaces.
EDUCATION
Help to establish more local, probably volunteer
-led English Language (ESOL) provision,
including conversation sessions.
Look for provide free mediation training for
local residents, to build up conflict resolution
skills from the grassroots.
Develop spaces for skills-share workshops –
eg knitting, home tailoring (mending old clothes
etc), DIY, bike maintenance, growing, cooking,
etc. Tool/equipment-share schemes could also be developed
alongside these.
CHILDREN +
YOUNG
PEOPLE
(See also PUBLIC SPACES, above.)
As mentioned above, help to get the unused
Holy Spirit church open for the community –
and in particular, as a space for sports and
youth activities.
Continue to support the delivery of streetplay programmes (see PUBLIC SPACES, above).
Further develop low-cost family events – such
Continue working with bodies including the
Hunslet Club and the Real Junk Food Project,
who are currently looking to set up a new joint
youth and food programme.
as the Leeds Den Building Festival and the Middleton
Community Camp, which I co-delivered last year.
Support local youth-workers to (safely) develop
'risky' work, eg giving young people
opportunities to experience and manage risk –
through fire, tree-house-building, etc. I've been
Work with the Council's adoption team to push
for increasing use of the new 'Foster to
Adopt' national programme, whereby
fostering and adoption are much more closely
integrated.
doing this kind of work for 10+ years, and it's uniquely
powerful for youngsters.
Also support local youth-workers to put
volunteering opportunities at the heart of
their provision – ie not just providing services
for youngsters, but encouraging them to play a
part in their community.
10
OLDER
PEOPLE
Continue to support the Ciaran Bingham
Foundation Trust (CBFT), in particular by
enabling them to find a venue to run a lunch
club in Hunslet.
daytime social care.
Explore what role Social Clubs could play in
providing venues and possibly programmes for
Eg I'm talking with the Hunslet Hawks about their volunteers
potentially using their minibus (often unused during the week)
to take folk to the coast for day trips.
Like most bars or pubs, they're quiet
during the day – an underused resource waiting to be tapped.
Help coordinate day-trips for older members
of the community, to the coast or countryside.
HEALTH +
WELL-BEING
Continue to develop walking groups, events,
and trails, eg the community hiking trips I've
co-organised these past two years; phone apps
for local heritage walks; and the Holbeck
walking trails (which are great, and which I've played no
creation of GP and dental surgeries in the
city centre, to serve the massively increasing
population there.
Work to ensure electric cigarettes remain
legal in pubs and social clubs. There remains
part in, but which I think we should replicate in City and
uncertainty about the harmful effects (or not) of e-cigarettes,
and they have been banned in some pubs and other venues –
but the fact remains that they produce almost zero secondhand smoke.
Hunslet).
Work with the local NHS trust to see the
TECHNOLOGY
Aim to develop communal
internet
schemes, starting in tower blocks and flat
blocks. This has been successfully developed in Huddersfield,
currently pretty slow.
(I'm no expert on this stuff, but
am just doing what I'm told by the locals!)
and made for huge savings for the users (although obviously
the broadband companies don't like it). Long-term, I'd look to
develop this on streets too.
Push for the Hunslet internet exchange to
get upgraded – internet speeds in that area are
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Form a Repair Cafe in the city – these are
pop-up, volunteer-led projects where people
can (with luck) get their broken electrical goods
fixed.
MISCELLANEOUS!
Look to develop a community fund, whereby
people can contribute small sums (eg £1 per
month), then collectively decide what to do
with it. And/or maybe link it with the Soup Club model
developed in Detroit.
Work with bodies such as Cats Protection to
enable local residents to get cheap or free
access to cat neutering schemes – to overcome
the increasing over-population of cats in some parts of the
ward.
Develop better management of the city's
woodland, including the establishment of a
project (within or outside the Council) to create
and sell wood pellets.
Support and fund the creation of communal
washing lines and areas, eg lines suspended
above terraced streets. This could potentially save
people lots of money on tumble-drying, and is a special priority
in neighbourhoods where people don't have yards (eg back-toback areas of Beeston Hill).
Erect a blue plaque in the city for the last
British casualty of World War One, a Leeds
lad called George Ellison.
Support the ongoing development of the
David Oluwale Memorial Association,
formed to mark the life, tragic death (in the city
centre), and legacy of the man here in Leeds.
Lean on Morrisons in Hunslet to play a more
active and positive local role, including
clamping down on noise pollution in their
loading bays at night.
Improve local
communication
and
connections across the area, eg more
community noticeboards and simple
neighbourhood events.
Campaign for more bank holidays.
We have
fewer public holidays here in the UK than any other Western
European country – that's not right.
THANKS!
Thank you for your interest, and special thanks again to all those contributed to this manifesto.
Let's now get to work!
For more info on Ed Carlisle and his election campaign, visit: www.edleeds.org.
And for more info on the Green Party:
please check out the Leeds party’s city manifesto (leeds.greenparty.org.uk),
and the national Green Party's policy framework (policy.greenparty.org.uk).
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