Oulton | Karen Bruce

New Year message for 2012

Carlton, Labour Party, Leeds City Council, Liberal Democrats, Older People, Oulton, Rothwell, Woodlesford Comments Off

Jan 052012

Councillor Karen Bruce and Rothwell Labour campaigner David Nagle I’d like to start by wishing everyone in Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton a very happy New Year!

So 2011 was a fantastic year for the local Rothwell Labour Party team. On Thursday, May 5 I was proud to help to make history for the local party by becoming the first Labour councillor to be elected in Rothwell in the 21st century, defeating Steve Smith, the sitting Liberal Democrat who had represented Rothwell for the last eight years. The results were Labour Party 2889, Liberal Democrats 2365 and Conservatives 1018.

People of Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton put their faith in me and I pledged to do my best for local people. It’s been hard, being the only Labour councillor when there are two opposition councillors, but local people tell me they think I’ve got off to a great start working hard on their behalf. Some of the biggest issues have been successfully lobbying the council and working with the Labour team to save Dolphin Manor and fighting to keep the Victoria and Reservoir allotments in Rothwell.

I’ve been contacted by many individuals and community groups and have been able to take up local issues on their behalf, as well as holding my popular advice sessions in Morrisons (at 10:30 every third Saturday in the month) and attend many residents and community meetings throughout the ward. The first six months provided me with the opportunity to forge even stronger local links between the Labour Party and the community.

It has been great to be involved in so many great community initiatives such as launching the Woodlesford Park Fun Day organised by the Woodlesford and Oulton Action Group, working the local Rothwell neighbourhood police team, taking part in the Rothwell bible readathon, lighting the Rothwell bonfire, attending the Remembrance Sunday service, helping to save the Rothwell Christmas lights . And it is a good job I had an early summer holiday as August was also busy.

I’m also busy with lots of official council meetings and committees such representing Rothwell on the Leeds City Council outer south area committee.

It was also a big year personally with my little girl starting at Carlton school. I was a very proud mum taking her to school on her first day – she’s loving it and it’s great to see her coming on wonderfully with her reading, writing and sums already. My husband Stuart has changed direction with a more independent career concentrating on some really interesting projects which means he is spending more time at home with our daughter. It has been an excellent Christmas with a little help from Santa of course and the school who helped to make it special for the children.

Pam Clarkson and her wonderful team of helpers once again put on a wonderful Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day at Blackburn Hall to make sure no local person missed out on Christmas day celebrations and I was pleased to give a MICE contribution towards the event. I was delighted that Pam was honoured on ITV’s Text Santa at Blackburn Hall and that ITV helped make the occasion even more special. I really enjoyed going on Christmas Day with my husband and daughter to chat with everyone who came for their Christmas dinner, which looked great, along with carols from Rothwell Temperance Band.

I look forward to working even more closely with local community campaigner David Nagle as he fights to win a second seat for the local Labour Party this May in the local elections. David is a hard worker and has already been busy taking up issues on behalf of local people.

If you’d like to help me, David and the local Labour team work for our local area then please get in touch.

Rothwell gets a visit from Santa Clause

Carlton, Oulton, Rothwell, Woodlesford, Young People Comments Off

Dec 032011

Rothwell will be getting a very special visit from Santa Claus soon when he flies into Rothwell Park on his annual visit. I’ve been told by the elves that he’ll be arriving by helicopter as his reindeer are resting before all of their exertions delivering presents to the boys and girls on Christmas night.

Santa’s helicopter will be landing at 10:30 on Sunday, December 18 in Rothwell Park. Santa Claus will then have a walk about amongst the crowds to talk to the children and collect their letters. Santa will then fly away from Rothwell back to Lapland so he can read the letters and tell the elves what presents they need to get ready. Santa will then be back on Christmas night to deliver the presents to all the boys and girls in Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton.

Rothwell Ladies Circle will be providing the refreshments.

Rothwell bonfire and fireworks a great success (karenbruce.co.uk)
Councillors save Rothwell Christmas lights (karenbruce.co.uk)

Woodlesford and Oulton Action Group

Environment, Family, Leeds City Council, Oulton, Woodlesford Comments Off

Dec 012011

For any residents of Woodlesford and Oulton who have not yet heard of Woodlesford and Oulton Action Group, this is to let you know about this fantastic local group that only started last year and has already achieved a lot. It has a great new website to give you the latest news from Woodlesford and Oulton and what the group is involved with.

If you would like to get involved or to see what is happening to improve your area WOAG would like to see you at its next meeting which is on Tuesday 6 December at 7pm at Midland House, Midland Street, Woodlesford.

Woodlesford and Oulton Action Group were responsible for organising the first ever Woodlesford Park fun day which I was delighted to open in September – it was a great success and we’re all looking forward to an even bigger and better event next year!

As a Rothwell councillor (representing Woodlesford, Oulton, Carlton and Rothwell) I sit on the Outer South area committee of Leeds City Council and at our last meeting we granted £8,000 to be spent on improving Woodlesford Park. The local area committee is made up of all the local councillors in outer south Leeds – that’s five Labour councillors, five Morley Borough Independents and two Liberal Democrats.

Woodlesford and Oulton Action Group, together with the local residents, identified improvements they would like to see as their top priority and the area committee funding will go towards these improvements. The improvements will include fencing to form a seven-a-side court, goal end, surface, sports markings, seats and bins, improved access by the bowling green, entrance sign and bulbs. Rothwell councillors supported the application which then went on to be approved by the full area committee last month.

I fully support the Woodlesford and Oulton Action Group and have been impressed with the work I’ve seen them do since being elected in May and am delighted to have helped with providing funding to make sure the required improvements go ahead, I’m really looking forward to seeing the work completed and working on many future projects with the group for Woodlesford and Oulton.

[

Rothwell bonfire and fireworks a great success

Carlton, Oulton, Rothwell, Woodlesford Comments Off

Nov 052011

The Rothwell bonfire and fireworks last night was a huge success – despite the torrential rain, which didn’t appear to put a downer on people’s fun! I haven’t had any official estimates yet, but to me it looked like at least half of Rothwell was out to enjoy the display. There were crowds of people thronging the streets walking to Springhead Park from right across Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton.

I’d just like to repeat the thanks I said last night when I lit the bonfire and did the count down for the fireworks. The Rothwell bonfire and fireworks were only possible because of the fantastic work of the Leeds City Council staff, the usual dedication and commitment of Rothwell and District Lions and last – but definitely not least Al-Murad Tiles without whose generous sponsorship we might not have had a display this year.

And finally, another thanks – to you, the people of Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton who young and old turned out once again in a massive show of community spirit.

Representing Rothwell on LCC outer south area committee

Environment, Family, Leeds City Council, Oulton, Woodlesford Comments Off

Oct 202011

This week I attended my second outer south area committee meeting. The area committee consists of all of the councillors for the four outer south wards of Rothwell, Ardsley and Robin Hood, Morley South and Morley North. This includes my Labour councillor colleagues from Ardsley and Robin Hood – Lisa Mulherin, Karen Renshaw and Jack Dunn and from Morley South Neil Dawson. There are five Labour councillors on the area committee, five Morley Borough Independents – and two Lib Dems. The area committee meetings move around the area – the last one was in Rothwell and this one was in Thorpe.

At the start of every area committee meeting there is an ‘open forum’ which is a good opportunity for members of the public to make representations or ask questions on matters within the terms of reference of the area committee. There were no members of the public at this particular meeting and so no matters were raised.

Councillors heard presentations, received reports and asked questions on our various subjects including Parks, it was interesting to discover that Springhead Park has the most visits by far than any of the parks in the outer south area with 1,732,000 annual visits according to the 2009 residents survey. Of the nine parks listed, the second most visited was Scatcherd Park with 633,000 followed by Drighlington Moor Park at 619,000. It’s great to see just how popular our Springhead Park in Rothwell is. The top reasons residents gave for visiting Springhead Park in Rothwell was excercise, relaxation and play.

Committee members approved funding for improvements to both Springhead Park, for resurfacing work at park entrances and to Woodlesford Park, towards the project which is being spearheaded by the Oulton and Woodlesford Action group which I’m very happy to support to make various improvements to the park. The group are doing some fantastic work – they’ve only been going for a year and have already had their first fun day and have masterminded a plan to improve the park for people in Woodlesford and Oulton to enjoy! I look forward to working with them to see the plans implemented.

Launch of Woodlesford Park Fun Day

Family, Oulton, Woodlesford Comments Off

Sep 192011

Had fun officially opening the Woodlesford Park Fun Day yesterday. The Woodlesford and Oulton Residents Association did a brilliant job in organising the event in its first year. With the support of local businesses, the Fire Service, Aire Valley Homes and the Leeds City Council to name but a few the Fun Day saw a really good turn out, and glorious sunshine for the first couple of hours! Local families really seemed to be enjoying the day and the children were queuing for the face painting. I think that this could mark the beginning of a very successful annual event for Woodlesford folk and I will certainly support the group in any way I can to build on this and make it an even bigger event and a greater success next year and in future years.

Rothwell Neighbourhood Policing Team – we need it here for good!

Carlton, Community safety, Crime, Oulton, Rothwell, Woodlesford Comments Off

Aug 122011

The 20% cuts to the policing budget is of great concern to my constituents in Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton. Our concern has grown after this week’s riots and disruption. I was at a meeting with Chief Constable, Sir Norman Bettison on Wednesday, he has an incredibly difficult job to do to be forced to make these cuts on behalf of the coalition government and trying to protect the service we receive especially on the frontline with our Neighbourhood Policing Teams. Sir Norman couldn’t give an assurance that there would be no cuts to the Neighbourhood Policing Team numbers, not surprisingly. I asked Sir Norman whether he could give an assurance that we would retain the Rothwell Neighbourhood Policing Team base at Rothwell Police Station and was given an assurance that we would have a police station in Rothwell with the NPT based there.

I wholeheartedly agree with Jack Dromey MP, Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, that it would be folly to go ahead with these cuts at this time. Let’s hope this coalition government sees some sense and reflects on the unprecedented cuts to the policing budget and the effect that it could have, and at the same time as slashing the rest of public spending.

Rothwell Bible Readathon

Oulton, Rothwell, Young People Comments Off

Jun 252011

Rothwell Methodist Church

I was very impressed with the Bible Readathon this week at Rothwell Methodist Church. It has meant a marathon read of the whole bible with many joining in from the community both young and old reading out loud – non-stop – cover to cover! A great way to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James’s 1611 Authorised Version and funds raised are going towards sending bibles abroad.

It started off on Wednesday evening and the Lord Mayor of Leeds helped to start the reading at the beginning of Genesis and the local councillors, along with several readers from Rothwell Baptist Church had slots reading from Genesis to help kick off the event along with the readers from Rothwell Methodist Church.

It was great to see the children from Oulton Primary School taking part in the Readathon yesterday when I arrived to do my other slot reading from Proverbs. They did particularly well reading towards the end of Psalms as there were a few tricky words in there and they pulled it off brilliantly! The children from Victoria Primary School had been along earlier to take part too.

Well done to Chrissie Brown for organising the whole event and helping to keep the reading going through the night, no doubt she, her mum and a few more will be catching up on some sleep after the Readathon finishes tonight!

Thank you Rothwell

Carlton, Leeds City Council, Oulton, Rothwell, Woodlesford Comments Off

May 072011

I’d like to say a huge thank you to the voters of Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton who’ve put their faith in me and elected me as the new Labour councillor for the Rothwell ward on Leeds City Council. Before the election I pledged to do my very best for local people and I will keep my promise.

Personally, it was a very proud day for me yesterday as I took office and went to sign my declaration with Tom Riordan, the chief executive of Leeds City Council. My daughter Esme, who’s almost four, was also celebrating as she’s helped out so much on the campaign trail by helping to deliver leaflets and even knocking on doors! When I shook hands with Tom, Esme promptly followed by also shaking his hand.

But this isn’t just a victory for me or the Labour Party, more importantly it’s a victory for the people of Rothwell. I’m keen to get started on the many things to tackle for everyone in our community. These are tough times and the Labour council is being put into a position where it is being forced to make cuts on behalf of the Tory/Liberal Democrat government and our priority has to be to protect the most vulnerable as far as possible from devastating cuts.

I’d also like to thank the local Labour Party members many of who already work so tirelessly in the local community and also found time to help me deliver local Labour community newsletters and knock on doors to talk to local residents and listen to their concerns.

I’m honoured and humbled to be the first Labour councillor in Rothwell since the Liberal Democrats took the three seats. I don’t underestimate how difficult a job it will be, especially with two opposition Liberal Democrat councillors who will be trying to undermine the work I do to help local people. That’s why it’s important to build on what we’ve already achieved and elect another Labour councillor next year.

I also want to build on the work Labour Party members have done in the community and I’d like to extend an open invitation to local people who’d like to get involved and join us in fighting the brutal Tory/Liberal Democrat government who are cutting too fast and too deep. If you’d like to join us then please get in touch using the contact form.

Rothwell Labour fighting for local people

Campaigning, Carlton, Environment, Labour Party, Leeds, Liberal Democrats, Oulton, Rothwell, Tories, Woodlesford Comments Off

Nov 182010

I’m very excited to have been chosen by Labour Party members in Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton to be their candidate in the May elections and helping to take Rothwell Labour Party into a new era. This is a very serious job for serious times.

These are tough times and there will be tougher times to come - at the top of my list of priorities will be fighting to protect local people against the Conservative and Liberal Democrat government’s cuts. The most vulnerable in our community must be protected from the savage cuts which will be imposed on to Leeds City Council.I will do everything I can to protect local older people, those with disabilities, our young people and our children – in fact everyone who relies on our essential public services.

I am already fighting to protect our local environment where there are threats to our local area such as the Yorkcourt Properties planning application on Newmarket Lane towards Methley and potential development on Oulton Hall Estates land. Local residents can be assured that Rothwell Labour Party will always fight to protect the greenbelt.

I know from speaking to people locally that many feel that they have been ‘sold out’ by the Liberal Democrats as when they voted for them they weren’t voting for a Conservative government, but that’s what they’ve got along with the most savage cuts ever. Rothwell Labour Party understand how people feel and we are on your side!

Older Entries