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Matthew Murray Railings get new lick of paint

3/16/2015

 
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Lucy and Lauren Photo by Morteza Fahati
The Matthew Murray memorial railings in Holbeck were given a new lick of paint on (Saturday 14 2015). John Cummins from Groundwork led the team which included active residents: Lauren Butler, partner Conor Sheader and myself. This restorative project comes from the City Connect initiative Groundwork is involved in, which aims to get more people out and about in the community. Public street audits with Holbeck in Bloom helped to identify things that were hindrances to people walking to the city centre. These railings will help lift this part of the walkway.

The rain held off but the cold weather kept us on our toes as Lauren and I squeezed through the gap in the railings to paint from inside the monument. Our fetching onesies were surprisingly warm, but it didn't keep passers by from coming over and having a look what we were doing.  One resident was interested and thought at first we were on community service. I think he was surprised when we said we doing it out of the sheer pleasure of improving the area. I didn't forget to plug the Holbeck Neighbourhood Plan forum on 25 April 2015 at St Matthew's Community Centre.

Painting the railings was fulfilling once they were done. But what was more enjoyable was being together for that short period of time doing something different. We had a laugh just chatting and sharing our stories within the area. Holbeck in Bloom, through City Connect project are planning to put up finger posts to show the route(s) to the city centre from Holbeck and the Matthew Murray Monument is a key place to that route.


I'm looking forward to walking past when the sun shines and glistens off the new paintwork on my way into town.

 

Landlord Forum for Holbeck

3/16/2015

 
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St. Matthew's community centre hosted the first landlord forum  (4 March 2015) in Holbeck. The hall was encouragingly filled with local landlords from the community to hear words from ward councilors and different services of Housing sector and West Yorkshire Police. Cllr Peter Gruen introduced forum as the first of its kind locally and the new Leeds Neighbourhood Approach, that will help improve standards of housing in the area.

Peter reported that Holbeck specifically would benefit from support of the forum due to the area having many private landlords and social housing. In regards to the current national housing shortage, Holbeck has already benefited from new homes being built recently through Keepmoat and Unity Homes.

Peter said 'The ambitions of the local council to build sustainable communities with houses that are equipped to reflect the life cycle and changes for one person. This means making sure the houses have enough space to adapt to aging needs and is environmentally efficient. With the help of the forum it will eventually hope to build more sustainable communities with a shared responsibility.'

John Statham: Head of Housing Partnerships, Environment & Housing, went on to address the members of the forum with implementing the  Leeds Neighbourhood Approach (LNA). This will target areas that are already identified in need of improvement in Holbeck, in particular empty houses in the Recreations. (This scheme has already been successfully rolled out in Armley and East Leeds). The idea is that the representatives of LNA will contact the landlords with a time frame to improve the houses and bring them up to the regulated standards. This includes working with the landlords and offering support to improve their houses. If no work has been completed by the private landlords the Neighbourhood Team have the right to take over improvements themselves.

The Councillors were challenged with frank questions from landlords with regards to the current situation and how Holbeck has been overlooked generally in terms of tracking neglectful private landlords. Questions were raised over the bin yards which seemed to be an ongoing bugbear with regards to fly tipping. Cllr Angela Gabriel said she shared the concerns, but was hopeful that with a local landlord forum they could work together and get the support they need. Still it was very positive to see so many landlords attending not only with a vested interest but a shared passion for their community and the people living in it.


Raspal Sahota Housing Officer from Unity Homes said their presence within the community will continue for their tenants. He hopes to encourage a residential forum for the tenants to have a voice within their own neighbourhood.

The Holbeck Neighbourhood Forum will also play an important part in keeping links going with the new initiative.
Report and photographs by Lucy Potter

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