Council thanks the residents for strike patience and understanding

The leader of Leeds City Council has thanked the people of Leeds for their patience, understanding and co-operation as a refuse strike enters a second week.

 

Councillor Richard Brett says he’s grateful that so many residents are doing their bit to try and help minimise disruption and for the hard work from staff who are continuing to work during this difficult time.

 

Despite growing reports from staff of union intimidation and dirty tactics, the council is doing all it can to maintain a limited level of refuse collection and street cleaning service with the staffing available.

 

Today, (Monday 13 September ) around 13 refuse collection crews are working across the city.  Some of them have been arranged through the private sector to help deal with the backlog of work caused by the strike.

 

This work is designed to try to improve the service offered to residents during the period of strike action and will be monitored and prioritised on a daily basis.

 

At the same time, increasing numbers of staff are choosing to ignore their union’s calls for the industrial action and are returning to work.

 

It means many street cleaning teams are operating normally.

 

Leeds City Council leader, Cllr Richard Brett said:

 “I’m grateful that so many people across Leeds have been doing their bit to try and keep strike disruption to a minimum.

 

‘I’d also like to thank staff who aren’t on strike and say how grateful I am for the hard work they are doing.”

 

Councillor James Monaghan, executive board member for environmental services, said:

“We have a duty to provide a service to the people of Leeds and that’s what we’re concentrating on doing.

 

“We using all options legally available to us so that we minimise the disruption caused by the strike. This now includes using the services of private sector contractors to carry out refuse collection work in order that residents do get a collection. We hope to increase this extra support over the coming days to cover as much of the backlog as possible.”

 

The advice to residents remains the same:

·        If your recycling or waste has not been collected by 8:00 p.m. on your collection day, please take your bin(s) back into your garden or yard and put them out on your next scheduled collection day.

·        If your bins are full please put your rubbish or recycling into bags and put them out with your bin(s) on your next scheduled collection day.

 

Residents can also take any excess recycling or rubbish to one of the city’s 11 household waste sorting site, which the council will try to keep open and will provide more containers for recyclables.

Posted via web from Leeds City Council

New campaign challenges young people to help reduce road casualties among their peers

A campaign has been launched to encourage young people to play their part in reducing road casualties among their peers.

‘In the can’ invites young people to produce a road safety film suitable for use on the internet. The competition is open to anyone under the age of 21, working on their own or in teams, or on behalf of their school, college or university.

There are two £1,000 first prizes and two £250 runner up prizes for the best entries from individuals/teams, and from educational establishments.

23 county councils and unitary local authorities are taking part in the campaign, including Leeds City Council.

Councillor Stuart Andrew, lead member with responsibility for road safety said:
“Instead of us creating a new road safety campaign about the risks and dangers facing young drivers and their passengers, we've decided to throw down the challenge to young people themselves.

“We think that, potentially, they have the best insight into how their peers think about driving and road safety, which will help us to determine the most effective ways to get our important road safety messages across to them.

“I hope that lots of young people in Leeds will take up this challenge, and get involved in this exciting campaign.”

The competition runs until April 2010, when the best entries will be shortlisted. The final winners in each category will be selected via an online public vote, and the winning film(s) may be used as the basis of a national road safety campaign.

The campaign website, www.inthecan.org.uk, contains full details about the competition and useful advice and information for those thinking of entering, including tips on how to get started and on film making; road safety information relevant to young people; research into attitudes among young drivers; and the competition rules and judging procedures.

ENDS

Editor’s notes
1. The 23 road safety partnerships participating in the campaign are: Barnsley MBC, Bradford MBC, Buckinghamshire CC, Calderdale MBC, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Road Safety Partnership, Cornwall Council, Darlington BC, Doncaster MBC, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Essex CC, Hertfordshire CC, London Borough of Hillingdon, Hull City Council, Kirklees MDC, Leeds City Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, North Lincolnshire Council, North Yorkshire Council, Rotherham MBC, Sheffield City Council, Suffolk CC, Wakefield MDC and City of York Council.

2. The campaign was the brainchild of Suffolk County Council’s road safety team and is being managed by Stennik, a specialist road safety publicity consultancy, on behalf of the participating authorities.

3. For further information contact Jo Lazar, project manager, on 01379 650112, or jolazar@stennik.com, or visit the campaign website: www.inthecan.org.uk.

For media enquiries, please contact;
Claire Macklam, Leeds City Council press office (0113) 395 1578
Email: claire.macklam@leeds.gov.uk

Mariners centre to find fun ways to get fit

A fun day event in Beeston is set to bring the whole community together – and hopefully improve their fitness!

The Mariners Resource Centre is to host a fun-packed annual summer event on Tuesday 15th September from 10.30am to 3.30pm and the theme this year will be Fun Ways To Fitness 'Live Well, Live Long, Live Healthily' .

The Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Andrew and the Deputy Mayoress Mrs Dorothy Barker will officially open the event, followed by some fantastic entertainment, information and workshops, with free refreshments and a light lunch.

The centre on Northcote Crescent in Beeston will see free entertainment and activities including Arabic belly dancer, Ronnie the Rhino and a DJ. There will also be stalls and information about health.

The Mariners Resource Centre offers services for people who have a physical or sensory impairment.

The event is sponsored by Leeds Community Foundation and Healthy Leeds Partnership between Leeds Primary Care Trust and Leeds City Council.

For more details contact Catherine or Sue on 0113 246 8982.

ENDS
For media enquiries, please contact:
Michael Molcher, Leeds City Council press office (0113) 224 3937
Email: michael.molcher@leeds.gov.uk