Your Leeds local election 2018 A to Z: Beeston and Holbeck

THE CANDIDATESAlmas, Gohar '“ Labour PartyBirch, Bill '“ Save our Beeston and Holbeck IndependentsBrear, Owen Arthur David '“ Green Party Buckley, Lyn '¨Jean '“ Conservative PartyDurdin, Robert William Fraser '“ Liberal DemocratsGabriel, Angela '“ Labour PartyGaines, Jarrod Anthony '“ Liberal DemocratsRobertson, Ian '“ Conservative PartyScopes, Andrew Timothy '“ Labour PartySturman, Sean Patrick '“ Save Our Beeston and Holbeck IndependentsWalton, Laura Elizabeth - Save Our Beeston and Holbeck IndependentsWinfield, Robert James William '“ Conservative Party

Beeston and Holbeck - key issues and numbers

In Beeston and Holbeck ward, a working class heartland in the south of the city, the controversial prostitution ‘managed zone’ has been dominating discussion forums over the last few weeks and months.

Georgie Adamson is founder of the Beeston Community Hub website.

She says: “The managed zone is probably the one thing that pretty much unites everybody, regardless of what opinion you have of whether it should or shouldn’t be there,

“I’m not necessarily certain it was done with bad intentions, but we all know that it’s not working, and that’s across the board, it doesn’t matter what your political views are.”

She says that regardless of the intentions, “what’s not followed is the upkeep and the maintenance”.

“In fact, for a managed zone, it’s not actually managed,” she said. “And we haven’t got the resources dedicated to it that it needs from any of the partners involved, the police or the council.

“It’s causing issues in wider neighbourhoods.”

Will this be a vote-swayer for the local election? “Yes, very much so,” Georgie believes.

Other issues that people get angry about, she says, are dog mess, “it is very frustrating and I have had to deal with outside my own gate”, and flytipping.

Many believe the council’s recent introduction of a £20 collection fee for bulky waste has not helped matters when it comes to the latter.

A change of heart on the fee “would be very welcome” says Georgie,

“I’m always getting a headboard or a sofa or an armchair getting dumped at the end of our street,” she says. “If people haven’t got a car, it’s because they can’t afford a car. And if they are not going to take it to the tip themselves, they are certainly not going to pay £20 for someone to pick it up.”

The controversial Ice Pak development – and the aftermath of its approval – also continues to rumble away in the background, and could sway a few voters in the ward.

What will be the vote-winner for your votes in Beeston and Holbeck Email [email protected]