News in brief

New arena

Final planning permission has been granted for the construction of the Leeds Arena. In a meeting on 12 November, members of the Leeds city centre plans panel approved a new 13,500 capacity venue. It is due for completion in early 2013.

The new fan-shaped arena will be situated just outside the city centre on Clay Pit lane.   A unique LED lighting system has been incorporated into the external honeycomb design. It is hope to be a striking addition to the Leeds landscape.

Despite being direct competition for other venues such as the O2 Academy, the arena, will bring hundreds of jobs to the city.

Lib Dem speech

Stewart Golton, the leader of the Leeds City Council Liberal Democrat Group, delivered a speech on 11 November at the party’s Annual General Meeting.
The speech outlined plans to give local authorities more power to act on behalf of their community.

Mr Golton aims to forge a partnership between Leeds City Council and the local community. Voluntary activity will be supported, and local associations may begin to run facilities such as libraries and day centres.

He expressed a desire for a stronger community spirit and the need to “encourage professionals to live in and contribute to our poorer areas”.

The councillor described Leeds as “a lively vibrant city” and the speech stressed his enthusiasm for developing and encouraging the city’s cultural and community groups.

Volunteering Exhibition

An exhibition of photographs celebrating Leeds Year of Volunteering has opened in Leeds City Library this week.

The photographs were taken by Martin Maybank, 22, a graduate from Leeds College of Art and Design and were used as part of the final year project of his degree. They document volunteers from a range of organisations across the city such as Dry Stone Walls Association and Sue Ryder Care.

Martin, who is a volunteer himself, said, “It was a real eye-opener for me, and completely dispelled my pre-conceptions about what kind of people volunteer”.

The photographs are situated on the 1st Floor Gallery of Leeds City Library and will remain until 30 November. The exhibition is free entry.