The largest part of my time in terms of council meetings has been spent on three Health, committees which involves scrutinising the changes proposed by Calderdale and Hudds Trust, plus further changes proposed by the CCGs for Care Closer to Home, the intention of which is to keep people out of hospital by treating them in their own home or in a community setting. In addition I am involved in reviewing the Ambulance Service which is facing immense pressure.
I am also Deputy Chair of Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing where I have been a Director and Deputy Chair since its inception. We are currently involved with the appointment of a new Chief Executive due to the retirement of Simon Rogers who had also been with the company since its inception.
I am also a member of the Huddersfield Planning Committee on which I have served for 24 years. It is one of the busiest Planning Authorities in the country.
I am also on the the Neighbourhood Management Group and the District Committee.
In terms of working locally with residents in my ward, I am extremely busy and currently dealing with concerns raised by 57 individual residents. Some such problems are solved quite quickly whilst others can take a few weeks, Changes to the bin collection rounds have been an issue but staff have almost caught up with the backlog. Kirklees empties 44.000 bins every week and this figure is rising when new houses are built, so a mammoth task. Other issues are planning enquiries, benefit queries, overgrown shrubbery and trees, help for those with a disability, dog fouling, -you name it and local Councillors are usually dealing with it.
I am involved with our Community Shop which I helped set up as a millennium project and is still going strong after 15 years. I am secretary and we have 12 volunteers and our small profits are distributed in the form of grants to local groups. In the last few weeks we have given the IT Learning Centre , Friends of Beaumont Park, and Crosland Moor Bowling Club £1000 each, and have helped with costs for local scouts to attend the world Jamboree in Japan.
Our IT Learning Centre, of which zi am Company Secretary and helped set up attracts new learners who are seeking new skills, updating their skills or who are absolute beginners. We run Drop-in sessions each week which are well attended , plus a weekly Job Club which has been very successful in getting dozens of locals into full time work. We are also about to do outreach training sessions at Beaumont Park.
Along with my colleague Erin Hill we are in the process of setting up a Community Hub which will bring together Church, Chapel, Mosque, Tenants Groups, Environment Groups, local schools, Sportsand Community groups. We are hoping to have an official launch in the next few weeks.
A local issue raised by the Civic Society was the Clock Tower at Mount Pleasant school which is about to be demolished and rebuilt. The design has been chosen by the government , not the council, and they will not agree to incorporate the tower in the new school and the Conversation team say it has no architectural value which prevents it being listed so other avenues are now being explored by the Civic Society.
I am also Deputy Chair of Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing where I have been a Director and Deputy Chair since its inception. We are currently involved with the appointment of a new Chief Executive due to the retirement of Simon Rogers who had also been with the company since its inception.
I am also a member of the Huddersfield Planning Committee on which I have served for 24 years. It is one of the busiest Planning Authorities in the country.
I am also on the the Neighbourhood Management Group and the District Committee.
In terms of working locally with residents in my ward, I am extremely busy and currently dealing with concerns raised by 57 individual residents. Some such problems are solved quite quickly whilst others can take a few weeks, Changes to the bin collection rounds have been an issue but staff have almost caught up with the backlog. Kirklees empties 44.000 bins every week and this figure is rising when new houses are built, so a mammoth task. Other issues are planning enquiries, benefit queries, overgrown shrubbery and trees, help for those with a disability, dog fouling, -you name it and local Councillors are usually dealing with it.
I am involved with our Community Shop which I helped set up as a millennium project and is still going strong after 15 years. I am secretary and we have 12 volunteers and our small profits are distributed in the form of grants to local groups. In the last few weeks we have given the IT Learning Centre , Friends of Beaumont Park, and Crosland Moor Bowling Club £1000 each, and have helped with costs for local scouts to attend the world Jamboree in Japan.
Our IT Learning Centre, of which zi am Company Secretary and helped set up attracts new learners who are seeking new skills, updating their skills or who are absolute beginners. We run Drop-in sessions each week which are well attended , plus a weekly Job Club which has been very successful in getting dozens of locals into full time work. We are also about to do outreach training sessions at Beaumont Park.
Along with my colleague Erin Hill we are in the process of setting up a Community Hub which will bring together Church, Chapel, Mosque, Tenants Groups, Environment Groups, local schools, Sportsand Community groups. We are hoping to have an official launch in the next few weeks.
A local issue raised by the Civic Society was the Clock Tower at Mount Pleasant school which is about to be demolished and rebuilt. The design has been chosen by the government , not the council, and they will not agree to incorporate the tower in the new school and the Conversation team say it has no architectural value which prevents it being listed so other avenues are now being explored by the Civic Society.
