Northowram & Shelf Ward Forum Notes of meeting held on 18 March 2014 at Northowram Community Sport and Activity Club, Westercroft Lane, Northowram HX3 7EN Present: Cllr. S Baines (Chair); Cllr. R Taylor; Cllr. P Caffrey, PC Andy Bingham & PCSO Brian Russell (West Yorkshire Police) Liz Broadley & Heather Stout (Halifax North and East Ward Forum Team) 20 residents 1 Welcome and introductions 1.1 Councillor Baines welcomed everyone to the meeting. He introduced the new PC for area, Andrew Bingham. Councillor Baines also explained that Liz Broadley, who had been instrumental in originally setting up these ward forum meetings, was leaving her position. He wished her well and wanted to express his thanks, and that of the other N & S councillors and residents, for all her hard work 2 Action Updates from last meeting 2.1 20mph consultation still not concluded 3 Police Update 3.1 PC Bingham introduced himself and gave a brief outline of his experience within West Yorkshire Police. He also explained the changes by WYP and how it will affect Northowram and Shelf. He explained that he and PCSO Brian Russell would now be working out of Brighouse Police Station under Insp. Dave Shaw. He added that he was looking forward to new challenges and experiences of working in the area. 3.2 Crime figures burglaries are down but stone thefts are up. PC Bingham explained that vehicles could be coming in from the Bradford borders and any vehicle could be stealing the stone, not necessarily a van and not necessarily at night. He urged residents to ring 101 if they have any suspicions at all. He added that the police in Boothtown are piloting a new scheme to combat stone thefts and he is watching them closely to monitor the outcomes. 3.3 Speeding Brian and PC Bingham have both been looking out for speeding motorists. PC Bingham is trained up to use the new speed gun. Brian was pleased to inform the group that 8 out of 10 motorists are not actually speeding. PC Bingham added that perceptions are sometimes different from reality and he is keen to take residents to roads where they believe speeding is happening so they can see for themselves if this is correct. 3.4 PC Bingham informed the meeting about a new mini bus that was stolen from Salterlee Primary School in the past few weeks. Residents were asked to report to the police if they see it. There was also an attempted Hanoi burglary at Upper Hall View. Super cocooning has since been taking place in the area. He added that they have had no reports of any more catalytic convertor thefts. 3.5 PC Bingham requested that the police set the new priorities for the area for the next 6 weeks. These are to be:
Stone thefts Speeding 3.6 Cllr Baines said that N & S has always been well represented by the police and he is sure PC Bingham will do the same as previous officers. 4 Local updates and forthcoming events 4.1 Shelf and District Community Group including Coley and Stone Chair Eileen Hoare, Chair Eileen introduced herself to the meeting and gave a bit of background information on the group and its purpose. She explained that a committee, constitution and a bank account were in place and they were now looking to source funding for agreed projects. She informed the meeting about the next public meeting on 25 March, 6.30pm at Shelf Village Hall. Anyone over the age of 16 is welcome to attend. A new Neighbourhood Plan for the area will be explored with the view for it to be taken to a Neighbourhood Forum consisting of at least 21 members. Names will be taken at the meeting. Also present will be the Calderdale Strategy and Planning Manager. She added that the group had achieved a great deal in a short space of time and wanted to continue to do so. Discussions were then held on where the group could access funding. Councillors asked the group to contact them with proposals for projects before the next meeting to see where they can help. Councillor Baines added that help is free for work on the Neighbourhood Plan. Liz added that Halifax North and East would continue to support the group in paying for community venues for meetings and will continue to do so while they can. She appreciates that projects come out of meetings. 4.2 Northowram Village Society Mike Beecham Mike said that the Northowram Village Society is more than happy to pass on its experience to The Shelf and District Community Group whilst it is needed. He added that the next committing meeting of the group is on the 19 March. Unfortunately, due to the retirement of its Chair, the group have not been having as many meetings. In the meantime, there will be an open meeting for residents on the 3 April. All details are on the Northowram.org website Mike informed the meeting that the application for the turbine at Lumbrook had been withdrawn and was now back up for consultation. Details for objections will be put on the website. Councillor Baines confirmed that the application would now go to the planning committee. Discussions were then held on questions around the cost of refurbishing wind turbines. The Northowram Historical Society is asking for subscriptions of 20 to help with the printing costs of a new book about the Township of Northowram. Subscribers will have their names printed in the book. The cost of the book in shops will retail at 25. The Society has so far raised approx. 7000 but another 5000 is needed to produce the book, which will hopefully be 400+ pages long Page 2
Subscription forms will be distributed at the meeting on 20 March when there will be a presentation on Handloom Weavers of Sowerby & Soyland by Elaine Beach. The next Scarecrow Festival will be on the weekend of 3 May and will be advertised in the Historical Society newsletter. On 15 May there is an evening history walk in the Shibden Park area 4.3 Scarecrow Festival Cllr Caffrey informed the meeting that the event is already being advertised and residents are being asked to register their scarecrows as soon as possible. 4.4 Memorial Cllr Caffrey informed the meeting that the new war memorial would be ready in the time for the Scarecrow Festival. The stonemason and engraving services had been donated for free and Mark Brazil, from the Council s Neighbourhood Team, is arranging for the area to be cleared and cleaned up prior to install 5 Council & Service Update. 5.1 Land Allocation and Designations Calderdale Local Plan Update A meeting was held at Shelf Village Hall on 4 March to discuss possible plans. Approximately 60 residents attended. No decisions were made. All N & S councillors feel that the area is already over developed but they understand more housing is needed. They advised that residents must be realistic about future development. The area was originally designated 400 new homes but this number has been reduced. The Spatial Planning Team look at the population and land in areas before making decisions. Councillor Baines explained that Calderdale had originally been told they would have to build 8000 new homes across the Borough but this has now been changed to 10000. However, no firm decision has been made and the figure of 8000 over the 20 years has been agreed. The council is confident it has enough available land for the next 5 years, so hopefully this will not be challenged by developers. A local plan is in place, which could overrule the council plan, but residents must bear in mind the overall council plans when making decisions. Councillors answered the following question from residents: Projection numbers are allocated depending on the type of land available. N & S is a rural area and is suitable for building, whereas other areas of Calderdale are made up of hillsides and are liable to flooding. A lot of buildings in North Halifax are due for demolition, so a lot of brown land is available No application has been received for a Sainsbury s or Tesco Local on the site of The Victoria Public House 5.2 Big Spring Clean: Wednesday 19 March Liz Broadley. After the success of last year s campaign, The Big Clean will start on Monday 17 March 2014. Council teams will spend the week cleaning up areas across Calderdale to ensure the borough is looking its best. The N & S Big Clean will be on Wednesday Page 3
19 March. Meet at 9.30am at Belle Vue in Shelf at 9.30am and at Northowram Library at 12.30pm. All volunteers welcome 5.3 Have your say on Calderdale A & E Healthwatch Calderdale Residents were advised to visit the website www.healthwatchcalderdale.co.uk for details of plans and a chance to express their opinions. Cllr Baines explained that no official NHS consultation has started yet. He is happy to forward on, by email, the full documents on the proposed changes. He added that he could see no proposal to close Calderdale A & E in the documents. The main A & E Department will remain in Halifax and injuries will be assessed by paramedics. Basic injuries will continue to be sent to Halifax and cases that are more serious will be stabilised for the journey to specialist units. In even more serious cases, the Air Ambulance or a police escort will be called in. He stressed that he feels there is nothing to fear by the proposed reorganisation. He is not aware of any difficulties arising from the current system. The fact of the matter is that there are not enough specialists in both Huddersfield and Halifax separately, mainly because there are not enough specialists around. He confirmed that health services have not been cut but have increased. He stressed that when the NHS consultation does start, residents should express their thoughts and views. 6 Open forum - what matters to you. 6.1 Resident raised the issue of overhanging bushes and trees on footpaths. Can the council force residents to cut them back? Councillors explained that they have knocked on doors before now to ask residents to cut back and they have had no residents refuse. If residents do not want to knock on doors themselves, councillors are happy to do it on their behalf. There is a process at the council but it is expensive and takes time. 6.2 Lydgate Residents reported rubbish bags being dumped regularly. Councillors will look into this. A resident reported that there is still a white bag there from last year s Scarecrow Festival 6.3 Residents reported an over flowing dog bin on Hall Lane/Upper Lane. Residents were advised that they can contact the council for removal on 0845 245 7000 or contact councillors directly 6.4 A resident reported that he is only being left three black refuse bags instead of five on refuse collection day. Councillor Baines confirmed he should be being left five. Councillor Caffrey said he has spoken to SITA and they know to leave five per household. He added that they would not collect more than 5 rubbish bags though because of recycling. 6.5 Neighbourhood Watch Residents asked about setting up new groups. PC Bingham explained that because of possible rebranding it was not possible to provide signs at the moment, but meetings and new groups can still be organised. For further details please contact Heather Stout at Halifax North and East on 01422 255402 or email heather.stout@ovenden-initiative.org.uk Page 4
6.6 Traffic at Shelf J & I Primary School PCSO Russell is doing his best but the problem is the same at all schools. Councillor Baines confirmed this and added that he thinks Brian might be fighting a losing battle. Brian confirmed that his priority is the safety of the children. Head Teachers do try to encourage walking to school. Residents commented that fading yellow lines do not make it clear where and where not to park and need to be redone. PC Bingham said the police will be robust in enforcing the law but if people contest because of lack of yellow lines there is nothing the police can do. The police will also advise drivers if they are seen parking in bus lanes. Councillor Baines confirmed that the police do issue tickets but cannot be there 24 hours a day. 7. Items for next meeting. 7.1 None 8. Dates of Next Meetings. 8.1 PACT meeting; Tuesday 29 April 2014 6.30pm in the Northowram Hub (next to the library) Page 5