Leader of Council sets out the Three Principle Challenges for Leeds (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Leader of Council sets out the Three Principle Challenges for Leeds

November 6, 2006 4:04 PM

Leader of Leeds City Council Mark Harris (Lib Dem), speaking to an audience of leading city planners and academics from across Europe today, identified the three principle challenges faced by Leeds. Cllr Harris was speaking at the Congress for European Urbanism's* 2nd International Conference in Leeds. The theme for the conference is 'Sustainable Urbanism'**.

Cllr Harris said "The city of Leeds faces three principle challenges in the coming years. First of all we must sustain the economic growth and confidence that Leeds has benefited from in recent years. "

"The second, and absolutely crucial challenge, is to ensure that we help those individuals and communities who have so far missed out on Leeds' prosperity. We have to give everyone in Leeds the opportunity share in the city's economic, social and educational success. Narrowing the Gap between the haves and have-nots is vital to Leeds' sustainable future."

"Thirdly, we must deal with the challenges brought upon us by climate change. Leeds City Council is already one of the leading authorities in the country in terms of the way it is responding to this challenge. Our Climate Change Strategy sets out the way we must respond as a city - by improving our ability to deal with flooding for example - as well as the things we have to do here in Leeds to reduce our impact on the environment."

Note:

Founded in 2003, the Council for European Urbanism (www.ceunet.org) comprises a rapidly expanding network in a number of European countries dedicated to the advancement of Cities, Towns, Villages and Countryside.

** The Congress programme explores sustainable urbanism based on the three key strands of physical, social and economic sustainability, considering how sustainable urbanism can be approached holistically in a variety of urban settings in cities, towns, and villages around Europe and beyond. This triple bottomline approach to sustainable development will be explored at a range of scales from the micro-urban to the broadly regional, with an emphasis on examples which reflect the C.E.U.'s' vision of humane urbanism for Europe's future.