Political Opinion: What I’ve learned in my first few weeks
“Listening, being open and acting on what matters to people will remain central to my leadership as we work towards a Cleaner, Greener and Safer Luton”
Monthly column by Luton council leader.
Soggy, tired and aching, but with a real sense of accomplishment and a huge amount of respect for our bin crews. That’s how I felt after an early morning shift with them earlier this week.
My shift took me through Luton’s rainy streets at 5am, where I saw how hard our teams work to keep the town clean, and the problems they face every day, from overfilled bins to fly-tipped waste. Residents can make their jobs easier by using the right bin, not overfilling it, booking bulky waste collections and giving crews plenty of room when driving past.
This was one highlight of a full-on and rewarding first few weeks as Leader, getting out and meeting the people who make a difference every day. I’ve visited our parks teams in Wardown Park, seen our new special educational needs school taking shape and learned more about the work to keep our most vulnerable young people safe. These visits have reinforced why my priorities are a Cleaner, Greener and Safer Luton.
Keeping our young people safe is important to me as a father of three boys. At our Youth Partnership Service, I heard about the vitally important and often unseen work they do to prevent young people going into crime. We need to be honest about the challenges facing some of our children and better communicate the support already available to help them make the right choices and prevent further tragedies caused by knife crime.
Despite the headlines, the overwhelming majority of our young people are doing amazing things, from competing in diving competitions at Inspire Sports Village, to rising through the ranks of Luton Town’s academy and performing with the Next Generation Youth Theatre group. We have so much to be proud of.
Now that the clocks have gone back, we look towards the festive season. I want Luton to feel festive and full of opportunities to come together and celebrate. I’ve challenged the team to bring that spirit to our town centre, with new decorations, lights on trees, illumination on the Town Hall and a packed programme of activities from 21 November. There will be Christmas trees, switch-on events and celebrations in all 20 of our wards, so I’d encourage everyone to get involved and help make this a special Christmas for the whole of Luton.
Finally, I’ll be inviting residents to put their questions to me through a new regular ‘Ask Me Anything’ feature on my social media channels. Listening, being open and acting on what matters to people will remain central to my leadership as we work towards a Cleaner, Greener and Safer Luton.
Follow @lutoncouncilleader on social media to get involved and send me your questions by direct message.