Participation at Council Meetings:
I have attended all meetings of the Council and meetings of the Huddersfield North Area Committee; the Standards Committee; Kirklees Safer Communities Partnership Board; the Appeals Panel, Huddersfield Planning (Development Control) Committee and the Planning and Highways Committee. I Chair the Ashbrow Neighbourhood Management Group (which considers crime and anti social behaviour in the area) and meets every month.
Voluntary Groups:
I am a board member of the Deighton & Brackenhall Initiative & attend the Deighton & Brackenhall Initiative & DBI Steering Committee.
I am a Committee member of the Huddersfield Deanery Project which gives services to older people in Huddersfield and has its office in Bradley.
I am a trustee of ‘S2R’, formerly called ‘Support to Recovery’, a charity which helps people with mental health problems across Kirklees.
I am a trustee of ‘The Wakefield and District health Contributory Trust’ which is a charity which, despite its name, seeks to aid (normally through grants) other health-related charities in all of West Yorkshire and directly provides a children’s’ day nursery and some ‘alternative therapy’.
Participation on ‘Outside Bodies’:
I was a member of West Yorkshire Police Authority, which met in Wakefield and attended that and several of its sub committees, working groups and training until its abolition in November 2012. I was that Authority’s spokesperson for Kirklees matters. I normally attended as observer the regular assessment review meeting of Kirklees police division, run by the Assistant Chief Constable. Since the abolition of that Authority I have been a member of the Police and Crime Panel for West Yorkshire, which has a responsibility to support and monitor the post of Police and Crime Commissioner. The Panel also meets in Wakefield and was in ‘shadow’ form from June 2012 before coming into force in November. I have attended all meetings, both in ‘shadow’ and in full role. I have been the Kirklees member to answer questions about the Panel and have regularly met with the relevant scrutiny Chair and the Chair of the Community Safety Partnership.
Ward Work:
I and colleagues work across the boundaries of the Ward and see people as individuals and in groups in all areas from Leeds Road to the East, Calderdale to the North, including all Fixby to the West and to Flint Street at the Southern boundary.
There are eleven Tenants and Residents Associations in the Ward and I try to attend as many of their meetings as possible, though it must be said that these groups are not currently as active as they were (this seems to be largely because of the very major improvements we have been able to make in the Council stock under a programme from the last Government). I actively pursue their desires through several agencies within and outside the Council network.
There are also several Neighbourhood Watch groups in the area, and we try to attend when they invite us. I do receive all police information which goes to every Neighbourhood Watch in the Ward and often give those statistics to other community groups.
Additionally, the ‘Bradley Forum’ has well attended meetings monthly where residents discuss a large range of issues and encourage us to sort out problems.
We have also continued our own ‘Ward Committee’ bi-monthly and find both meetings a very useful way of giving a voice to residents and testing our ideas on projects before putting them in Council procedures, sometimes to obtain Council funding either from the main Council budgets or from a small amount delegated to Area Committees. Though the ‘Ward Committee’ is an informal meeting it is well attended with around 20 residents attending each meeting at The Chestnut Centre – far more members of the public than attend the official ‘Area Committee’ in the Town Hall.
I have tried to keep numbers of the individuals I have helped in my normal constituency work but found the task too time consuming, taking time from them, so stopped the attempt. Suffice to say I have a constant flow of this type of work - typical, I suspect, of the casework in an urban area with large pockets of serious deprivation.
We have set up regular liaison meetings with the housing association Sadeh Lok which has the estate off Red Doles Road. This has led to work as partners to improve this estate and obtain better ‘engagement’ of the tenants with the association and others.
We all make frequent referrals to Council departments for such things as street and pavement repairs, litter problems etc. but I have seen over this year that response is slower than we have been used to as the Council reduces its staff and services. I am afraid that this pattern will worsen as the Council has to manage with even less government funding in the coming year.
Perhaps the most worrying aspects of the Councils reducing budget this coming year is our infrastructure in general – we seem to need road and pavement repairs more than most areas, perhaps because we are such a built-up area and up to now we have been struggling to keep up to an acceptable standard. I worry that our basic needs will not be met, leading to a visibly worse area to live and work in.
Achievements During the Year:
Brackenhall redevelopment continues to be a major success of the area. Buying has picked up to be a strong local market, building recommenced, sales are very strong and the new build programme is now complete.
We have had the successful running of ‘Northfield Hall’ a new Community Centre in Brackenhall built from the funds created by the newly built houses. The same monies has paid for a major ‘facelift’ for the area around Sheepridge shops and an environmental – including roads and walls – refurbishment of Belle View Crescent, Well Grove and Tenters Grove, Sheepridge and Glenfield Avenue and Whitacre Close, Deighton.
The same vehicle of ‘DBI’ was behind the new build ‘Multi Agency’ building in conjunction with our new ‘Surestart’ building, called the Chestnut Centre and to the rear of that site new ‘starter business units’ as part of our drive to lift economic activity in the area. Both of these projects are already major successes on a local, regional and national level.
We contributed to the restoration of the iconic clock in Christ Church, Woodhouse Hill.
We have had name-place signs erected at all entrances to the Bradley area.
We have repaired or replaced many street signs which were worn or lost.
We have been pleased to be able to encourage the development of a re-born Tenants and Residents Association for the Abbey Road / Hammond Street area and believe we have helped it relieve some problems which were occurring in the area.
We have had a lot of success, with police help, in (a) a reduction in the amount of crime in the Ward, now the lowest for a very long time and (b) reducing danger and annoyance to residents by the illegal use of motor bikes, both off-roaders and ‘micro’, having had some confiscated. However the problem still occurs at times, though in far less number, and we will continue to address it. The general nuisance of ‘anti social behaviour’ which has been more of a problem in some parts of the Ward than others has reduced very drastically indeed. I think our Neighbourhood Management Group is at least one of the most effective in the county.
As always, we have fully spent our meagre budget for pavement and roads.
We have made a new surface on Woodside Lane and Woodhouse Hill and had major road safety works on Riddings Road and Belle View Crescent. We have improved the road surface at the junction of Bradley Boulevard / New House Road and the eastern end of Deighton Road has been resurfaced and received safety work. Thanks go to our Highways colleagues for their efforts in designing a funding programme to allow this much appreciated work. While some Wards don’t have our infrastructure problem, every Ward is given the same budget and we already have plans to use it on our roads for the next three years. As always, we try to spread the work in a way which tackles the worst problems and benefits the most people.
We still see a need for more health services based in our Ward but at present it is pretty impossible to get any sensible discussion with any responsible body. The new Government has removed the Primary Care Trusts and now allows major health budgets to be dealt with by consortia of General Practitioners. We will see if we get any more sense or speed from such bodies and will keep pressing even though it is a bit of ‘head against a brick wall’ job at times.
Advice Surgeries:
With my Ward colleagues, these are now knocking on doors in pre-selected areas to see if anyone needs our help. We try to get round all the Ward but this is a ward which may be the second largest in Kirklees, with over 8,500 houses, so it takes much time. We normally use Saturday late mornings for this task.
Training:
I’ve had a variety of training this year, including: duties of the Civic Office, new legislation, planning, benefits changes and new Police and Crime Commissioners.
I have attended all meetings of the Council and meetings of the Huddersfield North Area Committee; the Standards Committee; Kirklees Safer Communities Partnership Board; the Appeals Panel, Huddersfield Planning (Development Control) Committee and the Planning and Highways Committee. I Chair the Ashbrow Neighbourhood Management Group (which considers crime and anti social behaviour in the area) and meets every month.
Voluntary Groups:
I am a board member of the Deighton & Brackenhall Initiative & attend the Deighton & Brackenhall Initiative & DBI Steering Committee.
I am a Committee member of the Huddersfield Deanery Project which gives services to older people in Huddersfield and has its office in Bradley.
I am a trustee of ‘S2R’, formerly called ‘Support to Recovery’, a charity which helps people with mental health problems across Kirklees.
I am a trustee of ‘The Wakefield and District health Contributory Trust’ which is a charity which, despite its name, seeks to aid (normally through grants) other health-related charities in all of West Yorkshire and directly provides a children’s’ day nursery and some ‘alternative therapy’.
Participation on ‘Outside Bodies’:
I was a member of West Yorkshire Police Authority, which met in Wakefield and attended that and several of its sub committees, working groups and training until its abolition in November 2012. I was that Authority’s spokesperson for Kirklees matters. I normally attended as observer the regular assessment review meeting of Kirklees police division, run by the Assistant Chief Constable. Since the abolition of that Authority I have been a member of the Police and Crime Panel for West Yorkshire, which has a responsibility to support and monitor the post of Police and Crime Commissioner. The Panel also meets in Wakefield and was in ‘shadow’ form from June 2012 before coming into force in November. I have attended all meetings, both in ‘shadow’ and in full role. I have been the Kirklees member to answer questions about the Panel and have regularly met with the relevant scrutiny Chair and the Chair of the Community Safety Partnership.
Ward Work:
I and colleagues work across the boundaries of the Ward and see people as individuals and in groups in all areas from Leeds Road to the East, Calderdale to the North, including all Fixby to the West and to Flint Street at the Southern boundary.
There are eleven Tenants and Residents Associations in the Ward and I try to attend as many of their meetings as possible, though it must be said that these groups are not currently as active as they were (this seems to be largely because of the very major improvements we have been able to make in the Council stock under a programme from the last Government). I actively pursue their desires through several agencies within and outside the Council network.
There are also several Neighbourhood Watch groups in the area, and we try to attend when they invite us. I do receive all police information which goes to every Neighbourhood Watch in the Ward and often give those statistics to other community groups.
Additionally, the ‘Bradley Forum’ has well attended meetings monthly where residents discuss a large range of issues and encourage us to sort out problems.
We have also continued our own ‘Ward Committee’ bi-monthly and find both meetings a very useful way of giving a voice to residents and testing our ideas on projects before putting them in Council procedures, sometimes to obtain Council funding either from the main Council budgets or from a small amount delegated to Area Committees. Though the ‘Ward Committee’ is an informal meeting it is well attended with around 20 residents attending each meeting at The Chestnut Centre – far more members of the public than attend the official ‘Area Committee’ in the Town Hall.
I have tried to keep numbers of the individuals I have helped in my normal constituency work but found the task too time consuming, taking time from them, so stopped the attempt. Suffice to say I have a constant flow of this type of work - typical, I suspect, of the casework in an urban area with large pockets of serious deprivation.
We have set up regular liaison meetings with the housing association Sadeh Lok which has the estate off Red Doles Road. This has led to work as partners to improve this estate and obtain better ‘engagement’ of the tenants with the association and others.
We all make frequent referrals to Council departments for such things as street and pavement repairs, litter problems etc. but I have seen over this year that response is slower than we have been used to as the Council reduces its staff and services. I am afraid that this pattern will worsen as the Council has to manage with even less government funding in the coming year.
Perhaps the most worrying aspects of the Councils reducing budget this coming year is our infrastructure in general – we seem to need road and pavement repairs more than most areas, perhaps because we are such a built-up area and up to now we have been struggling to keep up to an acceptable standard. I worry that our basic needs will not be met, leading to a visibly worse area to live and work in.
Achievements During the Year:
Brackenhall redevelopment continues to be a major success of the area. Buying has picked up to be a strong local market, building recommenced, sales are very strong and the new build programme is now complete.
We have had the successful running of ‘Northfield Hall’ a new Community Centre in Brackenhall built from the funds created by the newly built houses. The same monies has paid for a major ‘facelift’ for the area around Sheepridge shops and an environmental – including roads and walls – refurbishment of Belle View Crescent, Well Grove and Tenters Grove, Sheepridge and Glenfield Avenue and Whitacre Close, Deighton.
The same vehicle of ‘DBI’ was behind the new build ‘Multi Agency’ building in conjunction with our new ‘Surestart’ building, called the Chestnut Centre and to the rear of that site new ‘starter business units’ as part of our drive to lift economic activity in the area. Both of these projects are already major successes on a local, regional and national level.
We contributed to the restoration of the iconic clock in Christ Church, Woodhouse Hill.
We have had name-place signs erected at all entrances to the Bradley area.
We have repaired or replaced many street signs which were worn or lost.
We have been pleased to be able to encourage the development of a re-born Tenants and Residents Association for the Abbey Road / Hammond Street area and believe we have helped it relieve some problems which were occurring in the area.
We have had a lot of success, with police help, in (a) a reduction in the amount of crime in the Ward, now the lowest for a very long time and (b) reducing danger and annoyance to residents by the illegal use of motor bikes, both off-roaders and ‘micro’, having had some confiscated. However the problem still occurs at times, though in far less number, and we will continue to address it. The general nuisance of ‘anti social behaviour’ which has been more of a problem in some parts of the Ward than others has reduced very drastically indeed. I think our Neighbourhood Management Group is at least one of the most effective in the county.
As always, we have fully spent our meagre budget for pavement and roads.
We have made a new surface on Woodside Lane and Woodhouse Hill and had major road safety works on Riddings Road and Belle View Crescent. We have improved the road surface at the junction of Bradley Boulevard / New House Road and the eastern end of Deighton Road has been resurfaced and received safety work. Thanks go to our Highways colleagues for their efforts in designing a funding programme to allow this much appreciated work. While some Wards don’t have our infrastructure problem, every Ward is given the same budget and we already have plans to use it on our roads for the next three years. As always, we try to spread the work in a way which tackles the worst problems and benefits the most people.
We still see a need for more health services based in our Ward but at present it is pretty impossible to get any sensible discussion with any responsible body. The new Government has removed the Primary Care Trusts and now allows major health budgets to be dealt with by consortia of General Practitioners. We will see if we get any more sense or speed from such bodies and will keep pressing even though it is a bit of ‘head against a brick wall’ job at times.
Advice Surgeries:
With my Ward colleagues, these are now knocking on doors in pre-selected areas to see if anyone needs our help. We try to get round all the Ward but this is a ward which may be the second largest in Kirklees, with over 8,500 houses, so it takes much time. We normally use Saturday late mornings for this task.
Training:
I’ve had a variety of training this year, including: duties of the Civic Office, new legislation, planning, benefits changes and new Police and Crime Commissioners.
