Due to half term holiday's there will be no blog this week.  I will return next Friday when we'll be in November..... where is this year going?  Have a happy and safe Halloween

I do wonder sometimes who comes up with these days, counting your marbles I understand, I often count mine and soon find a few have rolled away!
 
Think of the positives, think how difficult your life would be if buttons were never invented, even button moon would never have been created!
 
 

HALF TERM ALREADY…………………………
OK, who took the last 6 weeks, where did they go, how do we make it to half term already? 

Some great information and links to look at for half term fun

Garforth Library has a Halloween Lego Activity on 27th October from 3-4pm 

Lotherton Hall has a fun filled spooky week, 'Scary Scarecrow Trail' from Saturday 22nd until the 31st from 11- 4pm

http://www.leedsinspired.co.uk/october-half-term-events-leeds

https://leeds-list.com/

http://www.letsgowiththechildren.co.uk/Events/PageID/6/countyname/West_Yorkshire.aspx


Don’t forget to look local for all your Halloween needs, look at our local shop windows too, they’re ace! #spooky


DOROTHY ANNE'S GOES, GOOGLE PLUS........................

Have a look a virtual tour round their shop, see the technical word is in Garforth, you just have to look at it 
If you've never been in to Dorothy Annes... Why?  Now is your chance to have nosey 
https://goo.gl/maps/3ZKqxV1jay62



​

We are organising our next Garforth Hour Live event at Business Works on Tuesday 8th November at 8.00pm.  If you are a local business and would like to attend, please let us know as soon as possible 

http://www.themaindeal.co.uk/garforth-hour.html
 
 You can always tweet with us every Tuesday at 8pm, just put #garforthhour in each post 



May be of some help.............
https://www.whiteroseenergy.co.uk/  This is a really fab company and a non profit one at that, it may not be the cheapest, but probably the most ethical.  Leeds City Council East Leeds Community shared it the other day along with a fellow Garfonian, so I looked into a little bit more.

White Rose Energy is a partnership between Leeds City Council and Robin Hood Energy, a not-for-profit energy company that the council has elected to endorse, through a competitive process. Collectively, we’re driven by the same social motive, which is to provide low cost energy to all households, with pricing that’s fair and transparent. This shared mission drives everything that we do.
At White Rose Energy we believe that people across Yorkshire deserve a better type of Energy Company. Our tariffs are open to all and we serve the interests of every one of our customers but we are particularly keen to provide fairer tariffs to prepayment (pay-as-you-go) customers who have traditionally been poorly served by the energy.



#WOTS
Seeing The Bird In Hand is up for sale, I real shame as I know George Richardson the current landlord has done marvels with this place over the past 5 years and has tried lots to improve it for customers.  I wish George all the luck in the world in whatever he ventures into next.
 
 
Garforth Neighbourhood forum are holding a meeting this Saturday 22nd October from 10.00 am to 12.00pm at Green Lane Primary Academy on Ribblesdale Drive
 
Shared by Garforth Neighbourhood Planning Forum's Steering group

We have had lots happening in the last year. Stocks blocks has had 250 houses proposed, 2500 up by the new garden centre and another 5000 houses proposed for the local area, the Parlington Estate, writing of our plan has started, surveys, research, petitions, new supermarket approved… too much to list. GARFORTH COULD BE DOUBLING IN SIZE!!! Help us plan ahead for the massive changes the near future brings.

Come and join us at Green Lane school on OCTOBER 22nd (meeting starts at 10.00am) and get up to date on the years events, everyone is welcome, members and non-members are invited to join in with the activities, presentations, talks and the events of our annual general meeting.

Have your say on our vision and objectives, projects and we need your opinions and comments on the following:
Identifying all green spaces to be protected Identifying all buildings you would wish to see protected
Community facilities what we have and what we would like to have in Garforth.

Refreshments will be available tea, coffee & homemade biscuits 50p
If anyone has a lot of Facebook experience then we need your help to get the word out on social media.
We hope to see you there
Please note, there is a fairly large car park and considerate parking is requested in the area to ease congestion.
 
 

SHOP TO LET..........
What used to be Adore Antiques and then Garforth Antiques shop, that opened twice; is now back up for rent, this is a great little space with room at the back and is very bright throughout the whole of the day.
 
Thinking of renting, enquire within.  All independents welcome..............  Bring us something new

I’m really looking forward to the GIN SHACK pop up evening at Quirky Ales tonight,  I was forced to like gin about 10 weeks ago… OK, I wasn’t forced, it was an easy glass swap from a wine glass to a gin glass and my taste buds have been altered ever since, long gone are the days of just  Gordons dry gin, this is a new era of many gins with fabulous tonics to boot.  If you’re not able to make it tonight, then you can always get down there tomorrow as Gin Shack and Quirky Ales have extended for another night.  I’m also looking forward to meeting with some people who follow and are supporting fans of The Main Deal.... #happydays locally


Last but not least.............
Yorkshire Choice AWARDS

There's just over a week left to vote, so please get your votes in if you think The Main Deal or any other great local business deserves recognition. I've voted for one of our great local companies, one that deserves so much recognition as they have grown and given back so much.

http://www.yorkshirechoiceawards.co.uk/nominatehere




               PLEASE NOTE WITH IT BEING HALF TERM, THERE WILL BE NO BLOG NEXT WEEK

                                                       HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND #SHOPLOCAL

Until then...................

So it says, World Egg Day  - how do you eat yours?!


Another busy week of evenings out and about.  However, some of my meetings are starting to turn into more like a get together, I should not complain when I arrive to this

Last night I spent an evening at the First Direct Arena watching the much loved 70’s and 80’s icon of electronic music, Jean Michel Jarre; he’s more my husband’s taste, whereas I have always turned my lip up over the last 20 years as his ambient tunes were played in the house; he doesn’t really fit in my 1940’s genre of music!  However, his concert last night was mesmerising, he's so clever and extremely talented, the graphics he added to his music were out of this world; I now understand the reason my hubby likes him so much and how he influenced him in his music taste, it’s the science, the feeling and his passion in the content that really blew me away.   We are so lucky in Leeds to have areas where we can watch great talent, a man who was the first westerner to play live in, The Peoples Republic of China!  He also holds the world record for the largest ever audience at an outdoor event, and here he was, in little old Leeds!
 


Wetherspoons
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, it will be called, The Briggate! One of our lovely local residents and local artist, John Harrison found out for us, non-historical Garfonians, that Main Street was once called, Briggate.  It’s nice that Weatherspoon’s did a little digging in our local towns history to come up with the name.  The artists impression doesn’t look half bad; anything is better than what it looks like now!  



I thought I would write about the traffic issues  this week, as seen as there are so many issues and so many people complaining on different threads of social media about it…..!
 
You have to look at it like this;
 
A lot of Garforth’s housing estates were built in the 1960’s when Hilman Imps were fashionable and most people walked, everywhere… Ooo, how slim we were as a nation!
 
MOVE ON 50+ YEARS……………………
 
Garforth’s housing development has extended, people have extended their homes, families are staying at home longer together, therefore per household, there often more than 2  cars.

• Schools have expanded, so what was once a small residential estate school is now open to more people living further away, so they have to drive in!
• The Rail company charge a ridiculous fair to travel from York to Leeds as it crosses the boarder (should we issue passport stamps?) from North to West Yorkshire, therefore it’s cheaper to come to Garforth and Park and then catch the train – to be fair, I’d probably do it… come on, so would you! 
• Also a fair few of us carry our technology to work.  If you live on the Meadow Estate, it’s a bit of a hike, so to drive to a station is more feasible.
• Mums are now working either full or part time, so have to drop kids at school, then rush to work, so they may need a car
• We have very few shops empty in Garforth; which is great, however each shop has at last 2 members of staff, some have 15!  They need to park somewhere
• Most, if not all the houses on Church Lane now have cars, originally only a few perhaps did, and now with buses, more cars and other vehicles, most days it’s causing a bottle neck along with angry Garfonians dreading the Church Lane ride - to be honest, if you could park outside your own house, would you drive all the way round the back?!

So as you will read, expanded in people and cars and it brings quite a lot of the issues that have been created,  however, the roads have NOT expanded, the infrastructure is still much the  same as it was in 60's…..… So whose fault is it?  Who should we blame? 

Leeds City Council, should they not invest more money in one town more than any others?
Local Councillors, should Mark Dobson and Sarah Field sort it ALL out? 
Should we just blame the Government?

When really, are we actually not part of the problem?
 
Some of us want bigger houses, better gardens and don’t always realise the implications we are having, over time.
​
As a community should it be up to us to do something?
 
I tend to not think outside the box, but to kick the box away ……………………


A few ideas!

• If you have a spare drive in the day, rent it out!  - someone suggested this week
• Make Garforth Station a Pay and Display for non-residents?
• Make East Garforth Station a walk to only station and give  Permits to all residents and only they can Park Locally (but not stupidly)
• Create a crowdfunding pot to buy land and make Church Lane bigger?  Imagine if we just put in £2 each household, of course we'd have to pass the new road back to highways to maintain it... but we could initiate it!

Unless you can have another solution?
 
Garforth's infrastructure WONT EXPAND not in the way we need it to.  But why keep complaining persistently about the problem, it’s a solution we need, a home-grown one otherwise we can keep complaining and then,  wait and wait, and wait for someone else to sort it out!

If we don’t take a step forward, we remain in the same place! 

Last note - as much as it may be frustrating, there is a reason for the 20 miles per hour limits, with all this traffic, we need to keep our roads and community safe
 
  

Our lovely Guest Blogger, Sean Field is back with his third and final blog
​

Back To Commuter World!

After a couple of months of idling around, I’m back at work full time next week and it’s got me thinking about how I’ll have to readjust my shopping behaviour.

As well as the indulgent moments of having breakfast in Pride & Produce or a coffee in Cielo, I’ve also got into a habit of buying the food I need on a daily basis from Main Street. It’s been great both in terms of the quality, but also the reduction in food waste. The price per KG might sometimes be higher than a supermarket, but I’m not finding some unused veg from a big “cheap” pack in my fridge and so I’m probably spending less overall. And you’d need to go to a larger Tesco than the one we have in Garforth to get such a great selection of meat as you get in Firth’s!

But, from next week, I’ll be in an office staring at spreadsheets while the Main Street shops are open, and by the time I’m home around 6 in the evening, they’ll be closed. It’s a pity we have never adopted a similar approach to opening times as you find in Spain. We may laugh at the idea of the siesta, but closing between 2 and 5 allows independent shopkeepers to open in the evenings when there are more people around. Garforth has become more of a commuter settlement for Leeds – you only have to look at the bulging car parks at our two stations in the morning to realise this. One of our most recent new additions – The Station House Café – opens at 6a.m to cater to their caffeine needs in the mornings, but, for the return journey, it’s left to the multiples – and Nisa – to cater to any needs of commuters. Maybe every night might be too much, but it would be interesting to see a mid-week “late night shopping” event on Main Street to try and stimulate interest and more trade for our excellent shops. Most of those commuters would be back by 6, so an extension of opening hours to around 6.30 would probably do the trick. I appreciate the effort required, and tight margins, in running an independent shop, but great retailers react to changes in their shopper’s behaviour.

Until that happens though, I will force myself to find time around operating my “Dad’s Taxi” service for my children to get to the butchers, bakers and greengrocers to stock up for my working week. I don’t want to lose the reduction in food waste, so I will need to top-up mid-week and for that, our convenience stores will be there.
The last couple of months have reaffirmed my belief that as shoppers we should try and spread our spending across all the retailers in our town so my Saturdays will now see me visiting the butchers, bakers and greengrocers and stocking up for my work week as much as possible. Our convenience stores will help me top-up during the week, so that way I’m spreading my local spending across chains and independents.

Those who follow my Twitter feed will know I’m a fervent believer in a mix of chains and independents. Independents are vital in creating a unique experience in any shopping area, but they can’t offer everything a community needs. Some products would be wildly affordable without the bulk buying of multiple grocers – it’s why even independent grocers need to attach themselves to national buying organisations like Nisa to survive. But there’s also the good multiples do for social mobility and helping people get a career in retail. While a local independent shop owner will generally spend more of their takings in the local economy than a national chain, their employees will very rarely have an opportunity – like I got with Tesco – to move up the business into better paid and more challenging roles.

And again, I seem to return to the theme of my first guest blog for The Main Deal. Shopping locally is vital – it’s a matter of success or failure to the independents, while being a guarantee of continued investment in people by the multiples.

Cherish YOUR Main Street, Use YOUR Main Street and Enjoy YOUR Main Street.

Sean's Twitter handle is  https://twitter.com/BeansJust


​
 
THINK, HELP, DO SOMETHING GOOD

Until next week.................
 

Random poets day;

There is a woman from Garforth
Who tries to help people shop local,
She shares a few things, types many things
And is believed to be extremely vocal
Ta’dah

What did everyone think of the Podcast last week?  Do you prefer to listen or read?  Please leave your comments and then I can gauge how these things work better for you
 
Lots of good vibes in Garforth at the minute with people sharing lots of information, nights out, days out and good things to come Garforth, we’re heading in the right direction. 
 
Well, mostly good vibes, however the new ‘Sixty Two Vape Lounge’, isn’t going down a storm.  Not sure it’s something that sits well in Garforth, not sure fully what their intensions are as the doors are not open yet, but on sign inspection the rumour from an E Cig shop is now looking like a lounge!  A fair few people are not happy.
 
I also see this week Your Move from the corner at the bottom end of Main Street has also been stripped out and emptied, nothing back from a tweet I sent out trying to find out what’s happening.  It can’t be a refit as they did that not that long ago, so it looks like they have disappeared. If I hear anything, I will keep you posted.
 
I met with the lovely ladies from Buttercrumble last night http://www.buttercrumble.com/
They are twin sisters who run a lovely illustration and design company and they live and work here in Garforth, they moved here only a few months ago and are already feeling the warmth of Garforth community,    I love their strap line.

We are a super-synced and harmonious twin-team that can work twice as efficiently to achieve your vision.

They have a real lovely ethos about design, how it should look and how it should make you feel, this is a great little unique business who could offer so much.  Have a little peak into their portfolio for all their quirky and wonderful illustrations 
 
 

I had also had a great meeting on Monday with the other volunteer team and Dave Evans from Garforth Arts Festival to talk about 2017, It will be back, but with what exactly is something that will later be released – keep listening and watching the blog for further information in the not too distant future
 
 

#WOTS

Have you seen this, nearby.  Kippax Sports Centre are holding a skate park session! 

'11-15 year olds may be delighted to hear that there is now an indoor skate park at #Kippax Leisure Centre, 7-8pm on Fridays!’

​NEXT FRIDAY with Rowland Burkitt Chartered Surveyors  in Cielo Coffee shop  www.rowlandburkitt.co.uk 

​
Garforth Hour 

​Some great things come from Garforth Hour on Tuesday evenings. If you’re a business owner it’s good to join in the networking, we have created so much cross marketing in these hours.  You, yourself can come and watch, have a nosey, you too will get to see what local businesses are about and you might learn a lot in this one small hour.  I usually give an hour and a 10 minute notice period so you have time to grab a brew or glass of something stronger and sit and watch the Re-tweets go mad – all good fun. 

Our next Garforth Hour live night for local businesses will be realised next week.
 

A great suggestions board is up in Dumouchel, tell them what you like and also what you don’t - I have suggsted working with Wuirky Ales and coming up with a Beer Bread.... imagine that dipped into a hot stew or chilli or, as one of my followers suggested, dried cured meats
 
There's nothing obvious going on this weekend in Garforth, no activities on at the Welfare Hall that I know of, but the Bonfire night date has been released, so one for your diaries
Garforth

Many of you would have seen the Garforth Film idea being bandied about, make sure you follow them on Twitter and have your say as they are hoping to have their first one fairly soon..... 

If you would like to be involved in the discussions and show your support for a community project, contact them below

https://twitter.com/garforthfilm or by
​Email Garforthfilm@gmail.com

The way this year is going, we will be at Garforth Christmas Lights before we know it, the Garforth Christmas Committee have been organising all year and they have released information about a great 12 days of Christmas Treasure hunt.    Here's a little sneak peak 

Follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with what's going on in the lead up to this years great Christmas Weekend in Garforth

Here's a little sneak peak - you will be able to collect answer sheets in shops where the pictures are, and I believe they're not all on Main Street!

https://www.facebook.com/Garforthchristmas/?fref=ts
​https://twitter.com/garforthxmas

PLANNING

15 objections in thus far regarding Dominoes planning application on Main Street, some great reading too, and nice to hear that most objection comments are that people want to keep more of an independent high street  - thank you
15 is great, but we NEED MORE -Application closes on the 21st October so please do get in your comments

https://publicaccess.leeds.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=OD68S2JBGPA00


Shopping local isn't just about where you buy your weekly groceries..................

Until next week.....