Leeds Liberal Democrats

Otley's Lib Dem councillors have hailed the work of a club that's helping to promote the town's thriving pub scene

Cllr Ryk Downes, (Lib Dem Otley and Yeadon) Cllr Colin Campbell (Lib Dem Otley and Yeadon) and Cllr Graham Kirkland (Lib Dem, Otley and Yeadon) have given £600 in Money for Investment in the Community and Environment (MICE) funds to the Otley Pub Club to help them create an interesting and informative website, which the club hopes to encourage people to visit the town for a tipple.

Older people in Horsforth will get help tackling icy pavements thanks to donations from the area's Liberal Democrat councillors.

Councillors Brian Cleasby and Chris Townsley (Lib Dem, Horsforth) have paid for two new grit bins with £800 from their Members in the Community and Environment (MICE) budgets.

Arrangements for bin collections over Christmas have gone badly wrong in one Leeds suburb.

Residents in Monk Bridge Road and Victoria Terrace in Weetwood usually have their bins collected on a Monday. This week's collection was moved to Sunday 18th December, but residents have been in touch with Cllr Sue Bentley (Lib Dem, Weetwood) to complain they were never told of the change of date and only realised when their bins weren't collected on Monday.

Community spirit was out in force in Headingley last week when long term residents and students in the Ash Gardens and Derwentwater Terrace area embarked on a spree of bulb planting.

Nilesh Chohan of the Ash Road Area Residents Association (ARARA) secured over £200 from 15 local landlords to pay for bulbs and planters. Local students and long term residents then planted the bulbs and placed them in the gardens of 37 properties in the area.

Cllr Colin Campbell (Liberal Democrat, Otley & Yeadon) is calling for a delay in the proposals to turn Prince Henry's Grammar School into an Academy in order to allow parents to have their say on the change.

Local Councillors and residents have raised serious concerns over the divisive way the governors of the school are pursuing their proposals. They feel that they have not consulted the community, and in particular ignored parents.

Cllrs Jamie Matthews and Martin Hamilton (Lib Dem, Headingley) have today called for the old Royal Park School in Hyde Park to be handed over to the 'Royal Park Community Consortium' (RPCC). This follows news that they have been unsuccessful in raising the funds to carry out a full refurbishment of the building.

Cllr Mark Harris calls for more money to be spent on road safety in Moortown.

Leeds City Council is due to spend £1,848,000 on road safety and speed reduction between 2011 and 2012. Figures over £100,000 are due to be spent in some areas such as Bramley & Stanningley, Beeston & Holbeck and Guiseley & Rawdon.

At yesterdays meeting of Leeds City Council's Corporate Governance and Audit Committee Cllr Colin Campbell, (Lib Dem, Otley & Yeadon), called for meetings of the City's new Shadow Health & Wellbeing Board to be open to the public, not held in secret.

Cllr Campbell said : "When this new Board takes on its full powers it will take key decisions about the future of both Council and NHS services across the City, including decisions that are currently taken by the Council in open meetings. Even as a Shadow Board it will have a major influence on the health and wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of people.

Cllr Colin Campbell has welcomed the inclusion of Otley in the pilot scheme bids to access funding for Neighbourhood Planning.

Otley is one of four areas that will each receive up to £20,000 to develop a new approach to planning in their communities. The pilot will see the council working with community groups to establish more local involvement and community leadership on planning issues. This will help the council prepare for the government reforms to the planning system scheduled to be introduced next year.

Planning permission was granted for the run down piece of land called Sparrow Park on Cardigan Road in Headingley.

The planning consent was an important first step in getting this scheme off the ground, but funding is a problem. Headingley and Hyde Park is severely lacking green space for children to play. The park proposals would give young families in the area a great place to play and exercise and it would also act as an incentive for families to move into the area. The park is currently an eyesore, which has problems with litter and needles.