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It’s a disgrace that National Express have relinquished the London to Edinburgh route now they are having a tough time of it. When times were good National Express reaped the benefits of running the line. I’ve always thought that privatisation of the railways was wrong and that a poorer service has resulted for passengers. I worked in various roles for West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive for 14 years so saw first hand the disastrous effects on our transport of first the deregulation by the Conservatives of the bus services and then the privatisation of the railways. Now the government has had to pick up the pieces. The transport secretary, Lord Adonis, said the contract will be put back up for auction to private companies at the end of next year but it is expected to fetch much less than £1.4bn, leaving the state with a gap in its rail budget. I’ve been astounded at the prices charged on this line, the complicated booking system which means that to get the cheapest fares, not only do you have to book online but also need to split your journey! At least we can celebrate it being in public ownership in the short term, even if it might have to revert back to the private sector.
In the Elmet and Rothwell constituency we’ve often had issues with unauthorised traveller sites causing problems for local people. However, even the people who’ve suffered from these problems would be shocked by the online poll that the Daily Mail is running. It asks “Should the NHS allow gypsies to jump the queue?” At the time of me writing this blog post the poll is still live so you’ve got time to register your displeasure by voting YES (so far 93% have, which given the leading question isn’t the hate filled answer the Daily Mail was looking for.) Please vote and make sure you ask your friends to do so as well. UPDATE: As of 16:47 on June 19 the bit.ly link http://bit.ly/w4b6Q?r=td has been clicked 31,980 times (you can see the detail here http://bit.ly/w4b6Q+). Excellent all member meeting yesterday evening of Elmet and Rothwell Labour Party. Whilst this is a difficult time for us as a party it was great to see members fired up and speaking passionately about the issues that matter to them. Colin Burgon, our retiring MP gave a really interesting speech, I can identify with a lot of what he was saying, especially about his background having grown up on the Gipton Estate, and I think this has meant that Colin can identify with people when they are going through hard times. I grew up on Portobello Estate in neighbouring Wakefield then lived all my adult life in Elmet and Rothwell, growing up I also knew what it was like to struggle and do without. It is clear that members are sad to see Colin go as he has worked tirelessly on local issues. The local Conservatives in Elmet and Rothwell are showing their true colours. Alan Lamb, a Wetherby councillor, on his blog, is calling for cuts in public services. He even goes as far as to say and I quote “I hope, and the signs are encouraging, that my party will go into the next general election proudly promising to cut public spending and being specific and honest about what that will mean.” Does Alan care to tell us exactly what he means and which of our local residents will get their operation axed, which older people in our communities will lose their home care, and which of our streets in Elmet and Rothwell will feel the effects of having their local police team cut? I’m proud to say that Labour is there to look after everyone, and we know that cutting our public services hits our most vulnerable people hard, especially those most in need, whereas, the Conservatives have always stood for benefiting the few! Doesn’t time fly! The Garforth Arts Festival is now in its fifth year. This year it runs from Monday 29 June to Saturday 11 July. The thriving festival has attracted a line up including Garforth Jazz Rock Bank, Leeds’s own Chumbawamba, punk band Buzzcocks and Ricky Tomlinson’s Laughter Show. The local bookshop (at 15 Main Street) is selling tickets for this year’s event. I remember that the event was free for the first couple of years, and although there is a charge,the prices are reasonable and I’m pleased to note that there will be discounts for families and local residents. Just an update on the ongoing incinerator issue (the proposed waste treatment plant), the council have four bidders for the plant, three are proposing the use of ‘energy from waste’ whilst the fourth is proposing ‘mechanical biological treatment’. Three of the bidders are intending to use the former wholesale markets site on Pontefract Lane, whilst the fourth is opting for a site in the Aire Valley near the sewerage works. We had a good Rothwell Labour Party meeting this week. We had a lively discussion about what we all thought about recent national issues, including the devastating recent Euro election results, the expenses scandal, ID cards and elected mayors. We also talked about the issues local to us such as the incinerator which is to be built near us, that our MP is retiring, the fact that Oulton residents are feeling the effects of having lost their library, are amongst some of the subjects we got around to discussing. …continue reading Renewing the local Labour Party in Elmet and Rothwell
We went to a local farm, Swillington Organic Farm, which was taking part, with our little girl Esme. I know Swillington well, having lived there before we moved to neighbouring Carlton, Rothwell, I represented Swillington as a Garforth and Swillington councillor for 6 years so have many friends.We have also gone to the farm shop for its lovely produce several times, as well as getting our Christmas trees there regularly. We were lucky as we bumped into Colin Burgon MP for Elmet and Rothwell who was also enjoying the delights of the farm.
A new bike link between Garforth and Temple Newsam is being proposed to encourage local people to ride their bikes more often as Garforth Today reports. Leeds Bike Week (from June 13) will see a range of schemes put forward. Let’s hope this means fewer people will use their cars and add to the congestion we see during the school run and people taking advantage of the sunshine this summer to improve their fitness and pumping out less fumes into the air too! |
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Copyright © 2009 Karen Bruce - Promoted by Karen Bruce on behalf of Karen Bruce, both at 36 Town Street, Carlton, Rothwell, WF3 3QU Hosted by 1and1 Internet |
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