My Local Policies
I want you – the people of Middleton &
Belle Isle – to have a say in deciding local issues. I will be your voice. I will act in your best interests. I want you to know that your opinion counts. If difficult decisions have to be made, I
want you to have a say in anything that affects you.
I will be open and transparent. Anything I spend will be shared with you. That way, you can scrutinise what I am doing. I will also look for ways of saving money and using funds to offer better value
for Middleton & Belle Isle.
I will concentrate on issues local to Middleton & Belle Isle. I will campaign for more money to be spent in our area, rather than in the just the City Centre or North Leeds. I will look for
innovative ways to make things happen for the community.
I live in Middleton & Belle Isle, so
people see me around every day. Nothing will change if you elect me as councillor: you will still be able to see me and talk to me.
My focus will be on families and reducing the pressure on working parents when it comes to childcare. I will also seek to provide children and young people with the chance to take part in activities
they are passionate about and, in turn, help them reach their full potential. I want to raise the aspirations of our young people.
I understand that some people will have views that are different to my own. I believe that it will be valuable to listen to those different perspectives. I will always respect your views, and will
strive to develop new ideas constructively. If it benefits our area, and helps the majority in our community, you can expect me to be in favour.
Crime
I pledge
to...
-Work with the Police to develop a working relationship with the community.
-Work with the Police to increase their presence in anti-social behaviour (ASB) hotspots, and to deter other crime.
-Increase the activities available to young people to reduce ASB.
-Work with local businesses to stop fuel being sold to young people who have vehicles without registration plates. This would make it more difficult for illegal quads and motorbikes to fill
up.
-Pressure the Council to employ more staff to deal with ASB, which has been a problem in Middleton and Belle Isle since at least the 80s. I can remember as a child seeing stolen cars and motorbikes driving around, and kids throwing stones at the buses. We still have the same Labour council running the area, and in 40 years, they have done nothing to stop it. It is time to look for better options. As a start, I will fight to make sure the Council responds faster to reports of ASB.
-Pressure the council to employ more enforcement officers to deal with dog fouling. This has also been a problem in our area since I was a child in the 80's, so why has it never been sorted?
-Campaign for the Council to fund more Police on our streets.
Developments
I pledge
to...
-Ensure any new housing and retail development takes into consideration the impact on our
public services and roads, and that the taxpayers do not have to pay to rectify problems later.
-Ensure we do not have any public buildings without a use. Buildings such as the Middleton Mauraders/ Cranmore & Raylands Community centre have all previously been left empty for too long when
they could have been an asset to the community.
-Ensure that new housing developments consider the pressure on local amenities and bring additional resources to rectify the issues they could cause.
Elderly
I pledge
to...
-Develop more groups and activities for our elderly residents and their families; provide
support for elderly carers.
-Reduce loneliness in our community and promote inter-generational activities.
-Continue to support both Middleton Elderly Aid, Belle Isle Winter Elderly Aid and other organisations to support our Elderly residents.
Education
I pledge to...
-Support our schools to ensure breakfast clubs and after school clubs are
sustainable.
-Help schools link with local community groups to develop more activities for children out of school hours.
-Work with charities to support school activities.
-Ensure the best standard of education for our kids.
-Work with local high schools to re-asses the current selection process for high schools with a view to ensuring children are attending local schools, and not travelling far to get to one.
-Ensure the new high school in Middleton is built on time.
Employment
I pledge
to...
-Make sure that those seeking work can get offers of a proper, Monday-Friday, fulltime
job.
-Get support for parents coming off Income Support to move into work, prior to their child turning five.
-Help ESA claimants (who are able) gain qualifications and receive employment advice in preparation for a return to the job market.
-Ensure more support for ex-offenders to move into work.
-Work with local businesses to offer them support to employ local, long-term unemployed people.
-Create new, well-paid jobs through opening new commercial spaces for start-ups and small businesses.
-Expand the council apprenticeship programme.
Environment
I pledge to...
-Reduce dog fouling in local parks and streets by fighting for more
enforcement.
-Ensure regular cleaning of our streets is carried out (the picture above shows just some of the rubbish I helped get removed through LCC Cleansing).
-Work with our schools to encourage children and young people take pride in where they live.
-Ensure better
maintenance of our grass verges.
-Identify any need for bins and install them.
-Ensure regular grass cutting and maintenance of flower beds.
-Support 'In Bloom' competitions.
-Support more environmental projects for children and young people in Middleton Park, in Plantations at Westwoods and New Forest.
Families
I pledge to...
-Support community events – such as Galas and the Middleton Bonfire.
-Develop our Christmas lights and make the ‘Switch On’ a memorable event.
-Support the current tots groups.
-Increase family activities in the area. Make sure they are accessible to working families (e.g., evenings and weekends), so more of the community can access family events.
-Oppose any Community Centre closures in our area.
-Create more playgrounds and develop existing ones further.
-Develop more access to local amenities, parks and other areas for wheelchair users.
Health
I pledge
to...
-Improve access to doctor and dentist appointments in the area.
-Boost support for local groups that promote healthy lifestyles.
-Work hard to encourage
more doctor and dental surgeries to open locally.
-Improve support for charities, such as; Health for All, Middleton Elderly Aid and other vital services in our community.
-I will campaign for the Council to allow local sports clubs in Leeds to have long term leases at peppercorn rents for their sports grounds. This will enable them to grow, gain funding to improve their facilities, but also to get more people active by bringing the cost of playing sports down. This will in turn reduce obesity in our community and promote active lifestyles to everyone.
-Middleton & Bell Isle is one of the
top areas in Leeds for respiratory diseases, and yet our council wants to bring more traffic to the area in the form of a Park & Ride. This will increase the chances of OUR children developing
asthma and other respiratory diseases. Our Councillors supported this in our area, despite knowing it will affect the health of those suffering from respiratory illnesses.
-The Council have excluded us from the Clean Air Zone despite the high rates of respiratory diseases. Instead of a Clean Air Zone, we are a Sacrifice Zone so the posher areas of Leeds can be
clean.
Housing
I pledge
to...
-Improve the standards of our council housing and start to make the housing worth living in
again.
-Work to solve issues of overcrowding for families.
-Campaign for more social housing to be built in the places local people want them.
-Help local people stay in the area in which they were brought up.
-Ensure the infrastructure needed for new developments is in place.
Local Economy
I pledge
to...
-Develop a local business forum.
-Encourage local businesses to employ local people and to take on more local apprentices.
-Create a support network for self-employed people or those considering working for themselves.
-Work with local businesses to offer them support to employ the long-term unemployed or those recovering from illnesses.
Other issues
I pledge to...
-Work with local business to reduce the number of takeaway leaflets we get through our
doors
-Reduce the charity canvassers knocking on our doors.
-Combat Loan Sharks.
-Offer support for families wanting parental support.
-Have more grit bins distributed on local streets.
Transport
I pledge
to...
-Develop a relationship with the bus companies to try to make bus fares more
affordable.
-Develop more initiatives to tackle speeding, such as more speed cameras.
-Campaign for a Middleton
train station.
-Look at ways of easing traffic at peak times on Middleton Park Avenue, Ring Road and especially Belle Isle Road; increase the road to two lanes and a lane for the Motorway from
the Belle Isle roundabout and before that a bus lane. The road either needs to be widened near the junction of Town Street so that buses do not hold up traffic when stopping at the Nesfield Bus
Stop, or the bus stop relocated.
-Campaign for a dedicated lane for traffic going onto the M621 off Belle Isle
Road.
-Campaign against any future Stourton Park & Ride expansion: the rates of respiratory disease are already too high.
Young people
I
pledge to...
-Lift the aspirations of our young people. We must encourage them to be anything they want
to be and support their dreams.
-Make activities sustainable so they can avoid becoming victims to funding cuts.
-Support the local community to develop places for young people to go; support provision at the South Leeds Youth hub.
-Support our sports clubs and help them grow and become more sustainable.
-Help to create new sports clubs such as Rugby League in Middleton and more sports clubs in Belle Isle.
-Support all local dance groups by helping them secure affordable venues and sponsorship from local businesses.
-Encourage new sports to the area and give young people more choice.
-Develop groups for boys and girls, and also mixed groups that look at young people’s issues.
-Develop South Leeds Golf Club into a vital community space with activities for Children & Young People.
Share
i will continue to work with Highways to look at how future developments will impact on a already busy Belle Isle Road and look at developing a dedicated lane for the M621 to reduce conjestion.
I would develop and support youth provision in the area to develop their facilities further, including all local sports clubs and a Youth Centre in Middleton.
I will continue to campaign for improved playgrounds for OUR children and work to develop more safe play areas.
I will investogate the potential for a Middleton railways station. We are surrounded by railway lines and a station would benefit the area and other surrounding areas and in turn offer more jobs and a better commute to Leeds City Centre. This will also reduce pollution in the City.
I will work with developers to ensure that all new developments take into consideration the knock on effects on our roads, schools, health services and other public services in our area, but still offer local jobs for local people.
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