Dear Neighbour,
I've been a resident of Ardsley for over 30 years; having worked locally in the commercial sector (Coca-Cola), served in the Armed Forces (RAF), and now helping individuals with Dementia and Autism maintain independent lives, I have seen the many sides, and shared the many challenges, that life brings here to hard working families.
Over the years I’ve lived here, I’ve come to understand that our area faces unique challenges when compared to much of the wider Leeds area
We find ourselves in the unenviable position of accommodating one of the busiest noise & air polluting motorway intersections in Europe; a rat-run between the M1 & M62. Resulting in our busiest road (A650) contributing nothing positive to the people who live here.
For many, we have no single commercial or community focal point, and our commercial, retail, and community areas are either inadequate, poorly planned, or generally non-existent.
Most of our public transport connections are made up of cross county busses & little else, when our nearest neighbours boast connections to the Metro rail network and Leeds City Link bus systems; delivering smart modern busses every 10 minutes.
Developers continue to exploit our green spaces, building executive housing with little thought to the needs of residents. Our Labour council candidate offers little help and continues to support the building of more homes on land around Haigh Woods; and voted against Conservative attempts to protect this important green space.
It must now be time to take a stand. We need someone to challenge the status quo & stop this neglect. We need a plan to tame our local roads, connect us properly to our city’s public transport network, build, refurbish and bring back into use empty retail/commercial properties. We need to support & encourage absent landlords and local entrepreneurs to open and expand businesses for the benefit of the people living here. We need more say over housing developments and switch priority from executive housing to more affordable housing for our kids to grow into and older residents to downsize without being forced to leave the area.
We need a plan, and we need to understand, not only where we are but where we want to be. Only then will we be able to develop and plot our journey, and work towards creating a community that we’re proud of and that we truly love.
A vote for me, in our local elections, can be the beginning of that change; here in Ardsley
Yours faithfully
Mike Foster
Ardsley & Robin Hood for Mike Foster, your Conservative candidate for Ardsley & Robin Hood
