General:
Ward Work:
This has been an
extremely unusual year as I have been the Kirklees Mayor all of this
period. Obviously this has meant I have
been all over Kirklees in a great variety of tasks at all times of day and night
and almost every day. While I have tried to also attend as many ward meetings
as well, sometimes I have missed some, largely due to date changes causing a
clash of appointments. The mayoral role has not, however, prevented me in
dealing with issues raised by constituents either individually or in groups.
When I have had the chance I have been able to act as Mayor within the ward, at
various functions and events.
This year has also
seen the extended serious illness of my ward colleague and close friend Cllr
Cath Harris. Unfortunately she has been forced to miss many tasks and announce
her intention to stand down from her role as councillor until her health
improves. She will be sorely missed while she is off her representative duties.
Participation
at Council Meetings:
I have
chaired all meetings of the Council and meetings of the Huddersfield District
Committee. I Chair the Ashbrow Neighbourhood Management Group (which considers
crime and anti social behaviour in the area) and meets every month.
Voluntary Groups:
Voluntary Groups:
I am a
board member of the Deighton & Brackenhall Initiative & attend the
Deighton & Brackenhall Initiative & DBI Steering Committee. The DBI has
reached its 18th birthday this year and celebrated its success on
two occasions as it is about to wind up.
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’.
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 have tried 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 up to 20 residents attending each meeting which was at The Chestnut Centre
and has recently moved to The Top Club, being bought during this year by the
DBI – far more members of the public
than attend the official ‘District Committee’ in the Town Hall.
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 even slower than last year and much slower than we had 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. The new build
programme is now complete, with only the site of the old church – now in the
hands of the DBI – yet to be developed..
We
continue 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.
The
day to day management of these community buildings and of Fartown Village Hall
is from ‘Fresh Horizons’, another social enterprise we set up years ago. This
body is also refurbishing neglected and derelict residential properties in the
area to put them back into use and encouraging new business setups with the
units behind the Chestnut Centre.
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 spent
nearly all of our delegated budget on the much-needed replacement of Redwood
Drive, Bradley.
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 keep
pressing even though it is a bit of ‘head against a brick wall’ job at times.
Advice
Surgeries:
With
my ole as Mayor this year and the substantial illness of Cllr Cath Harris, our
main mass contact has been through newsletters and our routine meetings in the
ward. 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.
Training:
I’ve
had a variety of training this year, including on duties of the civic office, new
legislation, planning, and benefits changes.
