Annual Report 2017-2018: Cllr Hilary Richards

2017-18 has been another busy year for me as many people have contacted me about their concerns which I always try to answer fully and honestly.

This year I am delighted to introduce my new ward colleague, Cllr Richard Murgatroyd. 

I am hopeful our diverse backgrounds, interests and skills will result in us offering the people living in the Golcar ward a wealth of possible outcomes to their concerns.  

I am delighted that the Friends of Golcar Library Group continues to flourish, electing me Chair for the current year.  The group are maintaining their level of backing with over 20 people trained and supporting the single paid member of staff during opening hours. 

This last year, after a few hiccups, the Friends of Golcar Library offered a free term of learning to play the Ukulele with the teacher being supplied by Musica Kirklees.   This year the group’s Events Organiser has been expanding on non-lending activities and the Ukulele restarts the first week in September 2018.

If you are interested, get a form from the library to sign up for the autumn term.

We organised a lovely teddy bear’s sleepover last October.

Teddy bears were delivered by their owners and collected the following morning,  however the resulting photos caught them climbing all over the library and its equipment and doing very little sleeping!

During the year I have also

• Supported, local groups Cowlersley, Golcar, Longwood and Golcar as well as the Colne Valley Business Network, and the Hands Off HRI demonstrations
• Tenants and Residents associations in these areas,
• The Golcar Lily Day committee and their Environment Group
• I am delighted the Colne Valley Museum now opens each weekend after its Heritage Lottery funded renovations.  Unfortunately I was on holiday when the Lord Lieutenant formal re-opening the revitalised building!
• I am glad residents are pleased with the new fencing at Bridgecroft.
• I am delighted Milnsbridge’s Market Street parking was extended to allow vehicles park for up to 3 hours at a time and have had confirmation of a small amount of disabled parking being installed when the next Traffic Order is applied for.

One of the biggest challenges I am facing, along with most other councillors, is working within reduced budgets and with reductions in the levels of service the authority can provide due to these budget cuts.  This has led to cutting back on services and the need for common sense in making spending decisions rather than the pursuit of projects based on need not day dreams.

Kirklees Council: what I am involved in

I regularly attend Council Meetings and I am actively involved in:
Corporate and Governance Committee (Chair)

I am a member of the Corporate Scrutiny Panel
School Appeals Committee
Colne Valley Area Forum of Kirklees Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations and various Golcar Ward Tenants and Residents Association meetings – all of which are likely to be affected by budget cuts.
I also attend Labour Group meetings and annual training updating and other training.

Participation on Outside Bodies
I am an active member of:
C & K Careers Ltd
Kirklees School of Music, now called Musica

West Yorkshire Pension Fund Advisory Group 

Other interests:
Colne Valley Museum
Golcar Together
Golcar Lily Day
MEG (Milnsbridge Enhancement Group)
School governor St John's School in Golcar and Crow Lane School, Milnsbridge.

I have also made several visits to Royds Hall High School which now caters for children of 5-16 years old. I was very impressed when I was taken round the new school a short while ago to see the school in action.

I not hold regular surgeries as, throughout the whole of the time I did hold them, I had only one person come to see me. However I regularly attend coffee mornings, and can be contacted by telephone, email or Facebook and can arrange to meet you at suitable times.

How to contact me:
Telephone: 01484 652922
Email: hilary.richards@kirklees.gov.uk 
Twitter: @Hilary_Richards
Facebook: Cllr Hilary Richards