Beeston Hill Community Association - Leeds Councillor Report July 2025

Tempest Road/Dewsbury Road Junction: Highways Leeds have approved their preferred option for the closure of the central reservation, which will stop right-hand turns through the junction. This is not a full closure as has sometimes been presented, and the overwhelming number of movements through the junction will not be impacted. The work is due to be carried out later this summer.

Green Bin Frequency Update: This has now rolled over across Beeston Hill and for the most part has embedded well, with some issues of contaminated bins, but this has mostly been due to missed collections caused by vehicle obstructions.

The service has seen a significant amount of weight transfer from the blacks to greens, as well as most glass following the universal green bin glass collection rollout.

Weekly black collections will however stay for the foreseeable as we negotiate with the service.

Cross Flatts Park Playgrounds: The Greenspaces Team have identified £48,000 of work needing to be done to the main and junior playground.

£24,000 has been awarded via a grant and £12,000 has been pledged by Councillors that was allocated to the repairing the Watsonia Pavilion Canopy but was covered by different funds. Work is now taking place to identify other funding to cover the difference.

Selective Licensing: The decision on where this is to go ahead is due to go before the Executive Board, which is expected to be either in September or October.

Beeston (H&R Ward) Cumulative Impact Area: This is now in place to limit the number of new off-licences in the area. There have been no new off-licence requests as of yet, but it is early days.

Litter Picking Equipment Grants: We're still offering grants of up to £300 for groups doing volunteer litter picking throughout Hunslet and Riverside Ward. Please email light.addaquay@leeds.gov.uk for the one-page application form.

Dewsbury Road Begging: Targeted work has now limited the numbers of those begging, and the issuing of Community Protection Notices, Community Protection Warnings, and a small number of exclusion orders has had an impact, but there is still a small but active group.

We are currently bidding for funding from West Yorkshire Combined Authority for a dedicated support worker for Dewsbury Road and the surrounding area, who will work with the beggars and rough sleepers.

Tent Drug Dealing: With the increased number of closure orders on drug dens, we have now seen a shift in the dealing model to tents, although this is mixed in with a small number of genuine homeless who are rough sleeping. This was an unexpected development, and services are trying to adapt to this.

We have started applying for closure orders against land, something not done before, to give West Yorkshire Police the instant power of removal of any tent that is suspected of being involved with drugs, and in the longer term, Leeds Antisocial Behaviour are working towards an area-wide Public Space Protection Order for the whole area.

Co-ordination between the WYP and LASBAT and Cleaner Neighbourhoods and Greenspace will ensure that once disruption activity has moved people on, the tents are removed immediately to stop the back-and-forth that has been taking place.

Soliciting Activity: We know how important it is for residents to see action on the concerns raised about drugs, antisocial behaviour, and solicitation around Tempest Road.

We're already taking steps to address these issues, and here are some of the initial actions agreed upon:

• High-Level Meeting Scheduled: Local Councillors, the Executive Member, senior Safer Leeds officers, and West Yorkshire Police will meet in early August. This will be a crucial discussion to delve into the current issues, review ongoing actions, and plan the next steps needed.

• Regular Community Contact Point: We're setting up a face-to-face Contact Point for Beeston Hill residents at Hamara, at least once a month. This will be a dedicated opportunity to speak directly with Safer Leeds and West Yorkshire Police.

• Early Morning On-Site Visits: To gather critical information, Safer Leeds, West Yorkshire Police, and I will be conducting initial on-location visits during the early hours of the morning. This is when we're receiving the highest volume of complaints, and these visits will help us understand the situation better.

• Clear Communication Plan: We're designing a detailed communication plan to ensure residents know exactly what to report and who to report it to. This will make it easier for you to share information and help us tackle these problems effectively.

These are just the starting points, and a more detailed update will follow. Please know that Council officers, partners, and I are committed to doing more for our community. We will deliver on this promise.

Contact Details for services are in the comments on the post. For shares, this will be on the original post.

There were quite a number of questions that sadly couldn't be answered tonight due time constraints. I will try and write a summary and answers to these questions and answers to them tomorrow.