Over the weekend, flood warnings were in place at Pudsey Beck where water levels have risen as a result of the recent persistent rainfall. In Wortley, the lower ring road also flooded due to the heavy rainfall.

Photographs from local residents showed that the network of becks that run through the valley all burst their banks on Saturday.

Councillor Ann Forsaith (Farnley & Wortley Ward – Leeds) said “It’s really worrying to see our communities in West Leeds experiencing flooding this weekend, and more people being put at risk of flooding in the future.

“We are seeing more and more, ‘freak’ weather leading to flooding in our communities and we need to face facts that this is being driven by choices being made locally – from planning decisions to cuts to local services like drainage.

“Our green spaces act as an important natural defence as rain water is soaked in and takes longer to enter water courses. But when you build on these green spaces, rain is able to get into the waterways quicker which leads to flooding.

On Monday (7th February), Bradford Council will start a public consultation on its Local Plan. The current draft proposal includes 325 housing sites with 21% being within the Green Belt. The draft highlights the Tong Valley and Holmewood as being a particular focus area with 2,200 houses being suggested for the area.

Matt Edwards, Green Party community campaigner for Tong Ward added, “There is already a long list of reasons why the Tong Valley is not a suitable place to build 2,200 houses – and the associated link road – and what happened this weekend perfectly demonstrates one of them.

“We can’t just keep building more without any regard for our local environment. The Tong Valley is the last area of Green space between Bradford and Leeds and it acts as an important defence for flooding for Wortley and Pudsey.

“It is clear that Bradford Council hasn’t fully grasped the reality of the climate change we’re already experiencing locally. Big changes need to be made in the way we plan for the future and we can’t just keep carrying on the way we have been.

“Instead of trying to build on green spaces, we should be looking at ways to protect this area for future generations.”

The post Bradford and Leeds Greens warn housebuilding plans for Tong Valley could lead to more flooding in West Leeds appeared first on Yorkshire & The Humber Green Party.

Bradford Community Energy has been established to help groups install renewable energy technologies on their buildings to save money on their energy bills and do their part to tackle our climate crisis.

Councillor Andrew Cooper, who is also the party’s energy spokesperson, has visited the Park Lane Centre in Little Horton which is one of the first buildings the society is looking to help benefit from greener and more affordable electricity and heat.

Councillor Cooper has said,

“It is really exciting to visit such an ambitious community energy project right here in the centre of Bradford. It is literally power to the people.

“Community energy is right at the heart of what the Green Party stand for. It helps community groups be more self-sufficient, it’s better for the environment and means that profits savings can be reinvested back into the local community.

”If we want to tackle climate change, we need to embrace people owned power projects like this and I hope they are able to meet wish them every success in reaching their funding requirements targets to take the scheme forward.”

Carlton Smith, one of the directors of Bradford Community Energy said:

“Over the last twelve months, we have seen growing support for radical action to tackle climate change and we are giving people a way we can do this and support community projects at the same time.

“Anyone who invests in Bradford Community Energy will not only receive a return on their investment, but they will be helping fund community projects relating to fuel poverty and low carbon lifestyles.

Full detail of the community share offer area available at www.bcel.org

The post Our mayoral candidate visits Bradford project looking to harness ‘people power’ appeared first on Yorkshire & The Humber Green Party.