Five takeaways from council leader in hot seat

Mike Ross answered questions from the public

The leader of Hull City Council has been in the Hot Seat at BBC Radio Humberside answering questions from listeners.

Mike Ross became leader in 2022 when the Liberal Democrats took control from Labour.

He was asked on Tuesday about a range of subjects, including housing asylum seekers in the city, delays to major infrastructure projects and the future of the city centre.

Here are five takeaways from what he had to say.

Losing the recent mayoral election

Ross stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Hull and East Yorkshire first mayoral election in May

He came second to Reform UK's Luke Campbell by about 11,000 votes.

Asked how he got on with the former boxer and Olympic gold medallist he said he had "a lot of time for the guy".

"This is a really, really massive role that Luke has taken on," Ross said

"The really important thing for me is the region doesn't miss out.

"So I'll be playing my part as a member of the combined authority, but the mayor has to do their part as well."

Delays to Queens Gardens reopening

Work on revamping Queens Gardens has been delayed until 2026 and the cost has risen from an initial £12m in 2021 when the project was announced to to £21m.

Ross said that it had been inherited from the previous Labour council and said the scheme had changed and was now "different to what was envisaged".

"It is a prime part of the city centre," he said

"I think there is a lot to be said for making sure that it's a place that looks its best. It hasn't really had any investment in it really in the 60 years since it came about."

He added: "It will be a tremendous event space,

"It will be one that will be incredibly welcoming and one that does show the city off in its best light."

Housing asylum seekers in the city

One year ago Hull saw riots break out following an anti-immigration demonstration in the city centre.

Shops were looted, fires were started, cars were damaged and police officers were attacked and injured.

One target was the Royal Station Hotel which is housing asylum seekers.

Ross said he had recently written to Home Office to ask that the hotel stop being used.

"I think that has had a tremendous impact on the city and actually isn't fair on the city or the people who are using it," he said.

"Hull is a City of Sanctuary and Hull has played its part and we should be a welcome place in that sense.

"But there's also another point around actually the country needs to play its full part and Hull shouldn't be disproportionately used in a way that often feels to be the case."

Delays to the A63 upgrade

A major road scheme on A63 Castle Street has been delayed by a year due to "extremely challenging ground conditions".

Work was set to finish in spring this year but will now be completed in 2026 National Highways said.

The work has caused traffic delays as the main route in and out of the city has been closed with diversions in place.

Ross said although the project was not under the council's control he shared people's frustrations.

"I know the delays on this scheme are causing real concerns for residents across the city, businesses across the city," he said.

"I would be very concerned if we saw a delay on this scheme beyond the new date.

"The problems it's caused have been considerable and I think that needs to be recognised by National Highways.

Promoting the city

Ross said he moved to the city 25 years ago as a student and was first elected to the council in 2002.

He said work was underway on developing a vision for the city centre given the decline in the number of shops.

Despite the "challenges" facing Hull he said it was a "fantastic place".

"One of the things I think that we have here is that we need to do better as a region about just shouting about how good it is," he said.

"There's often a sort of, well we just get on with it kind of attitude, and actually this is a great place and we need to tell the world how good it is."

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