I have continued in my role as:
- Chair of the Neighbourhood Management Group
- Chair of the Careers Service
- Deputy Chair of Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing
- Member of the Huddersfield Planning Committee
- Member of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Panel
- Member of the Joint Scrutiny Panel into Reconfiguration of hospitals.
Although I have been ill with shingles since February and still suffering with them, residents are not always aware you are ill and still get in touch with their problems – thankfully however I have managed to deal with these from home. In the past year I have dealt or been involved with the following issues, many of which may seem quite mundane but they are important to the individual residents who raise them:
- Rubbish dumping is always with us and for which I receive numerous complaints.
- Planning applications where I can only advise.
- Enforcement Action against those who have abused the planning system
- A Health and Safety issue where an unsafe gate to a local cemetery resulted in a resident being admitted to hospital with a badly damaged finger
- Dealing with numerous applications to the new Extra Care Home on Blackmoorfoot Rd.
- Requests for help from many residents with rent arrears and Council Tax arrears
- Changes to the route of the Free Town Centre Bus
- Problems with elderly tenants who were suffering from clashes of lifestyle with younger residents
- Requests for trees and bushes to be trimmed back
- Loss of a local bus service for which I had received a petition – this is still ongoing
- Loss of Blue Badges for some residents due to changes – thankfully this has been sorted to residents benefit
- Dangerous dogs causing fear to local school children and to neighbours
- Bin collections which had been missed
Together these number in total 231 issues raised by individual residents, most of which have been resolved, with only 5 outstanding.
So a busy year - these and others which come in daily will be recorded in our Councillors Annual Report at the end of this year which is delivered to over 7000 households. This will also include the work of our new colleague Erin Hill. Because she was only elected in May Erin cannot submit a full year’s report here, but will have plenty to report next year as she is extremely hard working – she has been a joy to work with and an amazing help to myself and Cllr Sarwar.
