Dear Constituents
Once again, I am writing to you to keep you informed and to let you know what I have been doing as your Councillor, by the time you see this we will have had another Christmas and I sincerely hope that you have had a restful and happy festive season.
As we get to the end of 2023 and reflect on what has been a somewhat difficult year for us all with the cost-of-living crisis, living standards falling to an all time low, taxes rising, and more and more people are losing their jobs and those who are working are having to use food banks to feed their families or having to choose between eating or heating.
I spoke in the debate at the November Council meeting on thirteen years of the mismanagement of the government, raising issues of concern that have been brought up at my Monthly surgeries from people in the communities in my Ward.
On the subject of Councillor surgeries I hold two each month on the second Thursday of the month at the Westfield Community Centre (Com.Unity) Westfield Centre at 1.30 pm, and the fourth Saturday of the month at Crystal Peaks library at 10 am please feel free to come and talk to me about any concerns that you may have. I also attend coffee mornings at St Marks Church, Mosborough Methodist Church and the Elim Church on Queen Street.
My former employers First bus once again supported the S20 foodbank by donating food parcels and on Friday the 22nd of December I was happy to be meet staff members and the worker director Ray Satur of First Bus outside the Westfield Community Centre to receive these food parcels. This food bank covers the S20 area in the Southeast of the City and a huge thanks must go to Ryan Wileman of the Salvation Army and the volunteers who work tirelessly to make sure that vulnerable families have food and support.
After the donation of food from First Bus I along with some volunteers went out in the community to deliver food parcels to see first hand the unfortunate position that some people find themselves in and I have to say that the gratitude was overwhelming.
I have in recent weeks visited one of the newer estates in our Ward near Morrisons. Some of the roads in this area are still unfinished and this has been raised with me on the doorstep. As a result of this I contacted our Member of Parliament who has been in touch with Taylor Wimpy, the developers, who have said that they are working to complete the necessary work on the remaining roads. We then contacted the City Council who in the end decide whether the roads are built to a standard which means that they can adopt them, and the Council takes over responsibility for future maintenance and provides the street lighting, etc.
What the Council have said is that their current understanding is that the final surfacing on the remainder of the site is temporarily on hold pending resolution of the outstanding issues with Yorkshire Water Services.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and New Year and lets all hope for better things to come in2024.
Yours Sincerely
Tony
Tony Downing Labour Councillor for Mosborough Ward