I would like to present my annual report for the year 2014-2015. This has been my eleventh year as a Councillor for this ward. I wish to thank the residents of Batley East Ward for their continuous support in keeping the ward a Labour only ward by returning my colleague Cllr Amanda Stubley to serve another four years as your representative. We will all continue with our main objective of working with you and on your behalf for the betterment of our community.
Along with my two Labour colleagues Cllr Stubley and Cllr Akhtar, Batley East ward work has been very busy and at times extremely challenging over the past 12 months. This has mainly due to impact of the enforced cutbacks in Government funding to Kirklees Council (Current estimates of the annual reduction on Kirklees budget from central government are now around well over the £150million mark) which will undoubtedly have a major impact on the services provided and the provision of facilities that people are accustomed to and are in genuine need thus making the role of councillors more difficult. The three of us really do try our best in dealing with many issues that arose during the year. Whilst we may not always been successful in getting the results we want, we always do our level best in representing the community’s concerns and strive to obtain the best possible outcomes.
Over the next twelve months there are going to be many challenges and extremely difficult decisions that we as councillors will have to make to balance the council’s book resulting in inevitable cutbacks of many services. It is therefore imperative that we ‘Protect and Prioritise’ services to those who are most vulnerable in our community, the elderly, the disabled, the children and those living in abject poverty.
One of the major issues of concern in our ward have been the overdevelopment in our ward whereby even more of the green space has been taken over by the bulldozers for another housing site. The picturesque Soothill Cricket Club where I have spent many happy years playing cricket is now housing development land and yet there are more housing developments in the pipeline in the same Soothill area for over 400 more houses, which is going to have a massive impact on the infrastructure and other amenities. It will also affect the green landscape of Soothill.
Due to my other two ward colleagues being on the Heavy Woollen Planning Committee panel I have kept extremely active with planning issues not only regards major developments, but also many individual planning applications where there have been issues of concern in representing the ward members.
Pot holes has been other major problem in the Batley East Ward and as per every spring time we all three councillors visit every road in the ward to identify remedial work needed. This helps us ensure our roads are well maintained. Luckily through our ward budget we have been able to maintain our roads but I fear this will become more difficult to do as the severe Government cut backs kick in and available money becomes even more tighter.
Participation in Meetings
I have attended the Full Council Meetings, as I have endeavoured to attend the Labour Group meetings on fortnightly intervals. And as a member of Town and Valleys District Committee (Batley, Birstall and Birkenshaw), I have continued to maintain good working relationship with various local organisations to ensure they receive support in order for them to provide valuable community input. I also attend countless meetings that are held within the community.
One of the key changes this year has been the development of devolution proposals from Kirklees Council. This has divided Kirklees into four districts and our own area will consist of Batley East and West, Birstall and Birkinshaw, Cleckheaton, SpenValley and Heckmondwike and Gomersall. The devolution proposals are still at an early stage but I remain optimistic that having such district committees will be of benefit to our area and hopefully will have meaningful local decision making powers. I truly hope that we councillors of the district committee will work in harmony and in partnership to formulate and execute policies that are fair and equal to our own local communities.
Ward Work
Sadly, the return to power nationally of the cuts led Conservative central government will make for another more challenging year. The biggest issue and challenges this year and the forthcoming year will be around the issues of planning and large scale development. I feel very strongly that my ward has been left open to over development from housing on green space land and oversize planning applications.
For me, my ward work is the most important thing that I do as a Councillor, and it is something I enjoy doing. I continue to be kept busy in dealing with the many problems which residents pass on to me and my ward colleagues. As the cuts starts to bite, I have seen my ward work increase over the year and expect the trend to continue as many services will cease to exist or function at a minimal level. A large part of my ward work is performed via telephone calls and emails, however, there have been many occasions where residents came knocking on my door.
We continue to have an excellent working relationship with the Officers from Streetscene (Highways) to ensure that our roads are safer and in good condition from the budgets allocated for this purpose. Similarly, we continue to work closely with our policing team in Batley to tackle crime in the hot spot areas. We have continued to provide improved play facilities for the young children and supported local sport clubs by allocating grants through the area committee. All three Councillors work closely with the Council staff to carry out regular inspections to identify action needed to tackle litter, fly tipping, overgrown trees and shrubbery etc.
In Batley East Ward we three councillors work as a team and have very good understanding and mutual respect for each other and in what each of us do, as the saying goes “ we work/sing from the same hymn sheet”. So Together and in association with my ward colleagues we have attended a wide range of local meetings, liaised with several local community and action groups and partner agencies providing advice and assistance where necessary.
Other related Ward issues are:
- Education
- Refuse collection
- Fly tipping/Vandalism
- Immigration matters
- Welfare Benefits/ Aids and Adaptations
- Roads (potholes) - Pavements - Streetlights
- Overgrown trees/shrubbery/vegetation
- Ward members concerns regarding potential closure of such important services like libraries/museum/grass cutting/street cleaning etc
Development:
As a Ward councillor, training and development is an on-going process. Whenever a new situation arises, it has to be dealt with and this can often result in some form of training requirement to assist me in dealing with the task. I will continue to seek out training courses and seminars which I feel are relevant and appropriate and which will enable me to carry out my Ward duties, as well as Council duties, more effectively and efficiently. My main source of developmental need continues to be work related and in-house training.
