Category Archives: Rothwell

Local community Dementia cafe stalwart endorses Karen

It’s not just local Labour Party members who are coming forward to endorse Karen as the best person for the job in Elmet and Rothwell, but also influential members of the local community.

Cllr Karen Bruce, Peter Smith and Cllr David Nagle at Rothwell Tea Cosy Cafe

Peter Smith, the man behind Rothwell’s nationally acclaimed (BBC Breakfast News no less!) Tea Cosy Dementia Cafe commented on Karen’s Facebook page:

“Good luck Karen. You have done so much in Rothwell, especially supporting local groups and organisations. Look forward to your first Prime Minister’s questions”

We’re working with Peter to help make Rothwell the first Dementia friendly place in Leeds and want local businesses and service providers to sign up to learn how to be more supportive to people with dementia.

Elmet and Rothwell endorsement from former GMB trade union convenor

Local Labour Party and trade union members are coming forward to endorse Karen as the best candidate in Elmet and Rothwell to beat Alec Shelbrooke at the next general election.

Bob DysonRecently retired GMB Trade Union Convenor at Leeds City Council, and local Rothwell Labour Party member, Bob Dyson said:

“A good local councillor who knows the constituency like Karen is just what we need to beat the Tories and win Elmet and Rothwell back for Labour.”

Karen Bruce seeks selection as Labour candidate in Elmet and Rothwell for 2015 general election

Karen Bruce speaking at Labour Party conferenceI’m humbled and honoured that local Labour Party members and councillors have asked me to stand as Labour’s candidate for Elmet and Rothwell in the 2015 general election and want to let you know that I’ve decided to stand for selection.

We don’t yet know what the timetable will be, but over the next few weeks I want to meet every single local party member to talk about how we win Elmet and Rothwell back for Labour.

As I live in Rothwell, in the constituency, and am a councillor here, I believe that I’m in the strongest position to beat the Conservatives. In fact because of council ward boundary changes I’ve actually been a councillor in three out of the five four council wards that make up the constituency as I used to represent Garforth, Swillington and Methley. I’ve also lived in both Methley and Swillington. This gives me a unique local knowledge and experience.

Elmet and Rothwell is a seat that Labour must win if we are to beat the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition. I know just how hard that fight will be and I’m more than up for the challenge. Since I won the first council seat back off the Liberal Democrats in 2011 we’ve won a second so there is only one left in the constituency. However, we still have a strong base of Conservative councillors that highlight the challenge that we’ve got.

I already use this blog and my Twitter account to take on the Liberal Democrats here in Rothwell and also to challenge Alec Shelbrooke MP our local Tory MP in Elmet and Rothwell. You’ll be seeing even more of that over the next few weeks as we can’t put fighting the Tories and Lib Dems on hold while we decide who Labour’s candidate will be.

I’ve also set up a Karen for Elmet and Rothwell Facebook page that initially I’ll mainly use to have conversations with Labour Party members so that I can build a strong campaign platform to beat Alec Shelbrooke.

I’ll be contacting the local Labour Party members who already know me (and that’s most of you!)  shortly to arrange a good time to meet. But in the meantime don’t hesitate to get in touch with me by texting 07534 822479 or using the contact form.

UPDATE: Quick thanks to Alec Shelbrooke MP for pointing out the typo where it should have said five wards, not four!

UPDATE 2: Added photograph so that the post will display properly in the featured posts list.

Bedroom tax will hurt most vulnerable Elmet and Rothwell residents

At Rothwell Tenants and Residents meeting last night people were very angry and upset about the Tory/Liberal Democrat ‘bedroom tax’. People found it hard to understand why this was happening when there aren’t any properties coming up for people who will be hit to move into to ‘downsize’. Comments like ‘unfair’ and ‘ridiculous’ were made.

In Elmet and Rothwell constituency for every home that comes up there is a very long list of people applying for it. Many of these people are high priorities so are desperately in need of a home, but they are turned down as there are so many applications above them.

Stark choice between eating and heating or losing their home

Time and time again I have been contacted by people wanting to downsize often by people whose families have ‘left the nest’ and are living alone in a three bedroomed house but are simply unable to find a suitable smaller home. These are some of the people who are suddenly being hit with finding up to £22 a week extra just to stay in the home they’ve lived in for years. For many the stark choice is between eating and heating or losing their home.

Some of those worst hit by the bedroom tax include parents who are separated or divorced whose children only stay with them part of the time, soldiers on leave from Afghanistan or Iraq who want to stay with the parents, disabled people living in adapted or specially designed property.

The biggest problem for those wanting to move to a smaller home is that there just isn’t enough social housing for the demand in the Rothwell ward or indeed the rest of the Elmet and Rothwell constituency.

This Tory/Lib Dem ‘bedroom tax’ is designed to hurt some of the most vulnerable and deserving people in society. And the Tories claim they are no longer the ‘Nasty Party’!

Carlton finally gets food waste collection

Black brown and green dustbinsRothwell was the first ward in Leeds to benefit from weekly collections of food waste, but because of how the collection routes are worked out it didn’t benefit the whole ward. While about 8,500 homes were included in the pilot scheme there were about 300 homes in Carlton and on Leadwell Lane that missed out.

The good news is that those homes will very soon start to get a weekly food waste collection.

It’s something that I’ve been asking to happen since even before I became a councillor, so I’m delighted it is finally going to.

Lots of local people have told told me that they like to do their bit for the environment and are keen recyclers, but I’ve always had complaints that not everyone could recycle their food waste and it had to go into landfill.

Initially some people might find the new collection cycles to be confusing, but the council is trying to make it as easy as possible for people by making the collections on the same day every week. Black waste bins will be emptied one week with the green recycling bins emptied on the alternative week and the food bins every week. So all you need to do is know what day of the week to put your bins out and then to make sure it is the right colour one.

The new food waste bins and information packs will be delivered to homes over the next few weeks and the new collection scheme will start in April. You’ll get two bins, one for inside your house and one for outside.

The Leeds City Council website has lots of information about bins and rubbish collection including what goes in your food bin and what goes in your green recycling bin. It’s not always easy to know what goes in the green bin as lots of things that can be recycled can’t be put in the recycling bin! One of the odd ones is tetrapaks (juice cartons) which can be recycled, but can’t be put in the recycling bin and have to be taken to a recycling centre along with glass bottles.  The brown bins are for garden waste such as grass cuttings, hedge clippings and leaves. The brown bin collection service will start again in March and happens every two weeks.

HS2 route through Woodlesford comes as ‘bolt out of the blue’ for residents and councillors

It’s been a very busy couple of weeks as not only have I been dealing with all of the normal duties of a councillor, but both David Nagle and me have been inundated by people contacting us about the proposal that the new HS2 high speed railway line should come through Woodlesford.

The news came as a bolt out of the blue both for residents and councillors – I found out about when I saw local people talking about it on Twitter and Facebook. Understandably some Woodlesford residents have been absolutely devastated to find out that their quiet, picturesque and peaceful  canal side community will potentially be fundamentally changed with a viaduct to carry a high speed train.

Tory transport minister shows staggering contempt for local people

The news came as a shock to us all, but I’m also angry about the way it has been handled so far. As an elected councillor I’m shocked at the incompetence of the so called consultation as there has been no attempt by the government or HS2 Ltd to contact us directly, simply leaving us to find things out for ourselves and hindering our ability to help and support local residents. Neither have local residents been contacted directly. It shows a staggering contempt for the views and needs of local people and makes me question just how genuine the consultation actually is.

I’d like to praise those residents who have already started to work together and I think that it is essential that myself and Councillor David Nagle, Rothwell’s two Labour councillors, and Liberal Democrat councillor Stewart Golton work together to support local people. All three of us attended the Woodlesford and Oulton Action Group meeting on Wednesday Tuesday which was packed with worried local people. David and me met Andrew Hall, from the Leeds City council transport department on Tuesday Monday for our first briefing on HS2 and despite the short notice I persuaded Andrew to come to the action group meeting the following evening.

So far I haven’t heard anything directly from Alec Shelbrooke our local Elmet and Rothwell Tory MP. If we are to get the best result for local people then it’s important that local politicians put aside their political differences and work together.

I am writing to HS2 Limited and Patrick McLoughlin, the Conservative secretary of state for transport, to ask that they come to Woodlesford to see and hear for themselves how local people will be effected. We’ve had far too little information about the consultation process and we especially need to know far more about proposals to provide compensation to those affected. One of my concerns is that people living just outside the 60m distance from the centre of the track will lose out.

I’m sure that everyone living locally has already seen the HS2 map, but for anyone that hasn’t you can view it on the Department for Transport website and I’ve reproduced the key section here:

HS2 route through Woodlesford and Oulton map

UPDATE: There is a Facebook group for SO WHAT (Swillington, Oulton and Woodlesford HS2 Action Group).

Elmet and Rothwell MP’s vicious attack on local families

I was shocked and disgusted on Wednesday to find out about our local MP’s outrageous attack on local families in Elmet and Rothwell. Alec Shelbrooke obviously has far too much time on his hands – probably because of his lack of activity to help people in this constituency – as he’s found time to dream up a ludicrous scheme to give the poorest families a ‘Welfare Benefit Card’ to stop them frittering away what little money they receive on ‘non-essentials’.

I was so outraged by this that I’ve written my first article for the national LabourList website. You can read the article: ‘My local MP and his vicious attack on welfare claimants’ here.

Rothwell Santa in the Park 2012

Rothwell Santa in the ParkSanta will again be making a flying visit to Rothwell and dropping into Springhead Park on Sunday, December 23 from 12:30. It was great fun last year so I look forward to seeing you all this year. As ever it’s wonderfully organised by the hard working Rothwell Circle (with help from ex Round Tablers).

“There will be refreshments for all the family a chance to win prizes on our chocolate tombola and the opportunity to buy reindeer food to sprinkle on your driveway on Christmas Eve.

The fun begins at 10.30 with Santa flying in a little later on.

Please wrap up warm and remember to bring your Christmas lists!”

Why not let us know you are coming by joining the event on Facebook.

Rothwell fire station saved

Councillor Karen Bruce and Councillor David NagleI’ve just received news that confirms what I’d heard in my last meeting with Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling – Rothwell fire station will stay open! Both I and Councillor David Nagle want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone that worked so hard to help us with the Save Our Station campaign.

The fire authority’s community consultation received more 12,000 responses – of which about 3,000 were from Rothwell. That’s about a quarter of all the responses, which when you consider that there were 10 stations proposed for closure, shows how effective our campaign was and how strongly local people felt about this issue.

The original proposal was to close Rothwell and Garforth fire stations and have just one station at Swillington with just one fire engine between them. The new proposal is that both Rothwell and Garforth remain open and retain their fire engines. A new ‘Day Crew’ staffing system will be implemented at both fire stations.

This is the news release that has just been issued by West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority:

Consultation shapes county’s fire cover plans

Councillors will consider record levels of public feedback on radical proposals to reform fire cover across West Yorkshire.

During a 12-week formal consultation exercise (which concluded on 30 November 2012), West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue officers met with members of the community including district, town and parish councils, MPs and employee representative bodies to discuss the eleven proposals and listen to the views of local people.

This year community engagement attracted 12,037 formal representations, four-times that received during consultation undertaken in 2011 – a „listening exercise with legs‟ enabling concerns to be heard and suggestions presented by the community.

In light of the consultation and following professional analysis, Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling will ask West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority to consider changes to the draft Integrated Risk Management Action Plan 2013-14 at its next meeting on 21 December 2012. If approved, the plan would be implemented between 2013 and 2020.

Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling re-emphasised the reasons for changes to emergency cover: “The success of the brigade‟s fire safety work over the past 10 years means there is undeniable scope for change. Accidental fire deaths and injuries are at an all-time low and some stations are now half as busy as they were a few years ago so I‟m confident we can rationalise and modernise the service whilst still providing effective fire cover.

“We know we have to find cuts of between £8-12m over the next two years – and already have plans in place — but all the messages coming out of central government project further reductions in financial support for local authorities up to 2020,” he explained.

“I believe that these proposals represent changes that will have the least impact on emergency cover for the county, yet contribute significantly to addressing the financial gap the Authority must address.”

The consultation and proposals to changes to emergency cover will be considered by the Fire Authority on 21 December 2012.

You can download a PDF of the full report here.

Save Rothwell fire station

Rothwell fire station has been earmarked for closure under radical plans that will see six fire stations in Leeds close and 200 fire fighter jobs be slashed. The local community in Rothwell, Woodlesford, Outlton and Carlton has reacted angrily to the news and is standing shoulder to shoulder with myself and Councillor David Nagle to fight the proposed closure.

Save Rothwell fire station

Local residents and community groups turned out in force to kick start the campaign to save Rothwell fire station.

Please do your bit by signing our online petition and asking your friends and family to sign it as well. Remember that you sign as an individual so everyone in your house can sign as well. You can also download a paper petition that you can print to get others to sign. Print some copies and take them to your local pub, club, shops, takeaway etc and ask them to put the petition on the counter. We need as many people as possible to sign.

Download the Stop the closure of Rothwell fire station petition PDF.