The latest Council update is below.
Good Afternoon
Happy New Year to everyone.
Connecting Leeds Update: In a bid to enhance accessibility around the Armley Gyratory, the Gelderd Road footbridge's removal is set to begin early next year. This footbridge, spanning 24.9 metres and weighing approximately 75 tonnes, will be replaced by a state-of-the-art structure designed for improved pedestrian access. The first stage of this was the removal and replacement of an existing footbridge, over a single weekend, 12 to 15 January 2024. In addition, the Leeds PIPES district heating network expansion to provide more homes and businesses with affordable, low carbon heat and hot water. This involves lane closures on Westgate from 8th January to 8th March, and on Oxford Place from 5th February to 8th March with diversion routes in place. Cycling and pedestrian enhancements on Crown Point Road are now complete, marking a major stride in improving cycling connections in Leeds city centre. The Crown Point Bridge Gateway scheme introduces over 1km of protected cycle track, promoting connectivity to the city's south-east and encouraging walking, wheeling and cycling for shorter journeys.
Leeds Libraries Opening Hours Consultation: Consultation on proposed changes to library opening hours is now live. The council has a specific statutory requirement to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service and the proposed change in opening hours does not undermine this statutory duty. The survey can be found here, and it should take about 10 minutes to answer all the questions. The last day for responses is Monday 12th February 2024. If you need to speak to someone about this consultation, or require translated, braille or audio versions of the consultation please email [email protected] or telephone 0113 378 5005.
WY Residents Consultation - Funding our police: West Yorkshire Combined Authority would like to hear resident’s views on funding local police services for the year ahead. A new survey has been launched by the Mayor about the level of the local 'police precept' for 2024/25. The precept makes a significant contribution to the total cost of policing in West Yorkshire. To have your say, and to find out more, please visit www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/WYCA-02 by Wednesday 17 January 2024.
Home Upgrade Grant Scheme: Leeds City Council is giving away green upgrades to eligible homeowners, renters, and landlords in Leeds that don’t use gas central heating. Those eligible could receive government-backed financial support to improve their home with measures such as solar panels, insulation, or an electric heat pump system. Eligible homeowners will receive upgrades completely free of charge, whilst eligible landlords will receive a two-thirds discount. Trusted contractors will recommend the most suitable upgrades for properties and make everything easy along the way. It takes just five minutes to check eligibility for this scheme, online or by phone. Anyone interested can go to: www.leeds.gov.uk/homeenergy to find out more. Alternatively, they can call the council’s contractor for the scheme (Everwarm) on 0800 1977755. All applications will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis and all work must be completed by March 2025.
Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair: Organised by the Council’s Employment and Skills service, Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair returns to Leeds first direct arena on Monday 5th February 2024 1pm-7pm. Visitors will have the chance to talk to major employers from a wide range of sectors, including accounting, business and administration, catering and hospitality, construction, creative design, care services, digital, education, engineering, finance, hair and beauty, health, law, protective services and many more! Over 100 exhibitors will be there on the day offering information, advice, guidance and live vacancies. To book your free ticket click here.
Are you our next Foster4Leeds carer?: The Council’s Foster4Leeds service priority is, and always has been, to ensure vulnerable children in Leeds can stay in the local area, close to their birth families, friends and schools wherever possible. We have a fantastic community of over 700 Foster4Leeds carers, but we desperately need more people to provide a loving home for children and young people in Leeds. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation and welcome individuals and families from all backgrounds. It is possible to be a foster carer alongside being employed in another role and there are lots of different types of foster care we provide including long term, short term, supported lodgings and part time fostering such as short breaks (respite) and support care. Hear from some of our wonderful Foster4Leeds carers about the process and what the journey has been like for them so far, at www.leeds.gov.uk/foster4leeds/carers
Weather update: As the weather has taken an icy turn we continue to monitor the situation closely. The UKHSA issued a Yellow Cold Health Alert on the 5th January which spanned from the 7th to the 12th, this has now been extended to the 18th January. The Resilience and Emergency Team are monitoring warnings and will be issuing communications if any triggers are hit. Highways gritting teams are monitoring the road surface temperatures and will grit primary routes according to forecasts which does look to drop from Sunday to Wednesday. You can sign up to receive severe weather bulletins here: Leeds City Council - Severe Weather Mailing List (govdelivery.com) and there is the RET X account @leedsemergency where we also push out higher threshold warnings.
Local developments:
- Suspect sales tactics employed by crafty companies through history will be exposed in a new exhibition exploring the evolution of advertising. Full information can be found here.
- Generations of musical memories are being captured for a new project in Leeds which is reliving some of the city’s most iconic gigs. Full information can be found here.
- A beautiful collection of vintage magic lantern slides has been shedding new light on scenes from some of history’s most iconic stories. Full information can be found here.
- Sovereign Street has become one-way as part of plans to improve cycling and walking connections across Leeds city centre. Full information can be found here.
