Amidst growing concern over the climate crisis, Leeds City Council have announced a street improvement scheme in Holbeck that would see widened footpaths, segregated cycle paths, traffic calming measures, junction closures and extensive tree planting.
These measures should help to reduce traffic and consequently air pollution, encouraging people to travel on bike or foot.
The Council has given the project a budget of £900,000 to try and improve quality of life in one of Leeds’s most deprived areas, including providing easier access to employment and education by linking it with major infrastructure projects.
This scheme also aims to create a sense of community in Holbeck which is a frequent destination for short-term tenancies, with these plans the council hope to bring people of Holbeck together.
Ed Carlisle, Green Party candidate said “In many ways its lots and lots of wins, Old Holbeck is fairly disconnected from the city with only half-used wastelands between it and the city, so anything that builds better connectivity will be good’ However he expressed his concerns over personal safety in Holbeck hoping the scheme will introduce other safety measures including street lights ‘trees are fantastic but if vegetation is not managed over time it creates barriers to sight that can become an impediment to safety’.
As a green party candidate, Ed is involved in numerous projects that aim to make Leeds greener including the Holbeck Viaduct project which hopes to transform an old railway viaduct into a ‘valuable community asset and sustainable link to the city’. They are working in line with the city council who have plans to re-develop the South Bank hoping to create ‘a distinctive global destination for investment, sustainable living, learning, creativity and leisure’.
