Normally we hold our surgeries on the first Saturday of the month. However this year it fell on New Year's Day so there won't be another surgery until Saturday 5 February. In  the meantime if you have any issues that you want to raise then contact any of the Middleton Park councillors by phone or email:

Judith Blake judith.blake@leeds.gov.uk
Stuart Bruce stuart.bruce@leeds.gov.uk
Geoff Driver geoff.driver@leeds.gov.uk

On another note. Towards the end of last year there was a paucity of blogging. This was due to a very busy period at work. We've started a new business, taken on staff and moved into new offices. All of which took a great deal of time. Hopefully, things are now more settled so I'll have time to resume normal activity!

This is what I'm up to this week:

> Monday evening - Labour Group
> Wednesday afternoon and evening - Full Council
> Thursday afternoon - Leeds South Homes communications sub-group then City Services Scrutiny Board
> Ward meeting with officers about Manor Farm estate
> Belle Isle Tenant Management AGM and official opening of new office with Hilary Benn MP

Lots on last week, which culminated in two overlapping commitments on Friday. Firstly we had a meeting with officers to talk about the action plan for the Manor Farm estate. I had to leave early (along with Geoff Driver) to dash down to the Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation office for its official opening by Hilary Benn, the local MP and Secretary of State for International Development.

It was a good meeting, followed by an equally good opening. Hilary gave an excellent speech which paid tribute to the hard work of the local people that has made BITMO such a success.

This week is also quite busy. It kicked off on Sunday with a leaftleting session on the Westwood estate.

I had a Neighbourhood and Housing Scrutiny Board this morning. Looked at some interesting issues including what happens to all the SRB funded projects as the funding streams start to come to an end. We also had a look at the implementation of the 2004 Housing Act which is yet another manifesto promise that Labour has delivered. This is the act that brings in licensing for private landlords and houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).

This evening I'm off to a meeting of the Friends of Middleton Park. The guest speaker is Cllr John Proctor (Conservative), the Executive Board member responsible for Leisure. It will be interesting to see what John is going to do to help support the local councillors in battling for a better deal for Middleton Park.

It was a well attended meeting last night. Cllr John Proctor gave a very downbeat presentation where he spent a lot of time criticising Wades Charity for "buying land and then expecting Leeds City Council to look after it". He also said that Wades had £3 million of investments that could be used to help look after the land it own. The Wades representative at the meeting made the point that currently this money is distributed to Leeds charities and voluntary groups. Cllr Proctor's idea might be a solution for Leeds City Council but it could end up being very damaging to the people of Leeds.

We also heard about the new path being built in the park to help improve access for people in wheel chairs. The summer programme of events is now starting to come together and is beginning to sound really exciting with activities for all ages. I'll reveal more later as some of the details are finalised.