Jackanory Time - Lib Dems

It's coming up to local election time when the prospective political parties will be posting their campaign blurb.  The Liberal Democrats have been quick off the mark and we were intrigued to see the claims made about 'Tackling Speeding' (WHERE?), and 'Supporting local groups' (WHICH?):

The LAWRRAG campaign is the longest running campaign in the area and although Lib Dem Councillor Golton is fully aware of the campaign having been 'involved' in the early years, the Lib Dems have done nothing to 'tackle' the speeding we have campaigned about for 13 years, and Councillor Golton hasn't responded to email correspondence with LAWRRAG for a number of years, let alone offered any support.

Staggering Hypocrisy from Labour councillor!

LAWRRAG is a non-political group and at various stages during the past 13 years  representatives from each of the three main political parties have been involved, each always being quick to blame the 'opposition' for their lack of any action. A typical example of this can be seen below 'Lib Dems - Soft on Speeding', put out by Karen Bruce, then a Labour Party campaigner.  Given that since this first appeared we have a Labour led council, and that two out of the three Ward councillors are Labour members this really does take the biscuit!

Two years wasted!

We first posted about this back in April 2010, and it now looks as though planning approval for the development of a 100 acre business park and distribution centre, just across the M62 is all-but 'rubber stamped'.
  
Setting aside the arguments about the loss of greenbelt land, and the need for a new stadium for Wakefield Wildcats rugby club, the traffic impact upon our area could be massive!  The transport plan supporting the planning application points to the proximity of the M62, and the M1, implying that this will be the main route for all heavy traffic. This same argument was probably put forward in the case of the major distribution developments at Stourton, notably ARLA, and the Royal Mail, and highways personnel, in answer to our concerns about the East Leeds link road, stated that there would not be any traffic impact upon the A639/A642, as a result of that road opening - THERE IS!


In the July edition of the Rothwell and District Record, Councillor Golton is reported as having said:


"This is obviously a very disappointing decision for local residents." .........
"I have no issue with the stadium element of the plan and I sympathise with the Wildcats' need to secure the future of their club.  But I remain very concerned about the effect that a haulage distribution centre and business park will have about the congestion that this will cause in the area" 

WELL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT THEN! 


  

Political Irony?

It seems that it is OK to acknowledge that passing HGVs and other trucks might keep people awake at night ...  IF you are using it for poltical means, as may be seen in this letter that appears in this month's Rothwell and District Record, from Councillor Stewart Golton:

(Double click to view clearly)

We have been asking to Cllr Golton to do something about the existing problem of disturbance from night time HGV traffic for years now but clearly the complaints of local residents are of no consequence!

WHAT IS GOING ON!

It's almost 12 months since we reported on the meeting held with Karen Bruce (11 June 2011), and it really did look then as though we might just somewhere.  Then on 19 December 2011 we posted a comment from our MP, Alec Shelbrooke, confiming that the installation of speed cameras is at the discretion of the local authority.  It is now 25 May 2012 and what has happened?  NOTHING!

For the motorists amongst us who travel in and around Leeds, speed cameras are a reasonably common occurence, what makes the local residents of those areas more important than us?  THEY ARE BETTER SUPPORTED BY THEIR LOCAL COUNCILLORS, & MPs!

LAWRRAG has no political affiliations, we've had many years of hot air and inaction from Liberal Democrats councillors, and a Labour MP, we've had verbal support from a Labour Councillor, and a Conservative MP, but that's all!

Back to square one!

Recent posts have made mention of a meeting with Karen Bruce, and possibly a Leeds City Council executive board member. Unfortunately we are being asked for the umpteenth time to spell out what the problems are, and what it is we hope to acheive. For the casual observer this might seem to be a minor irritation, but what it effectively means is that inspite of 6 years of campaigning, nothing we have said or done has registered.

End of year report

Seasons Greetings to all LAWRRAG supporters

2010 draws to a close with more traffic, higher speeds, and a greater number of HGV vehicles both day and night, so a massive Well Done! to those elected to SERVE the community.

Looking for a career change New Year's Resolution - Get a job where there's no such thing as 'RESULTS' - become a Councillor.