Ossett News Posted January 29, 2022 Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 Week ending Saturday 29th January 2022 Well, the end of the week went out with a very strong wind, which appears to be creating problems across the north of England. The ‘Tree Planters’ were out and about on Saturday morning, in the strong winds, more on this later in the blog. Monday started with my regular visit to the Christ Church lunch club. Whilst there I popped into see Marie and the team at our amazing local Food Bank. The Food Bank team have been supporting people throughout the pandemic and their work continues. Each week they support around 45 families, living in and around Ossett and Horbury. Without their hard and dedicated work, many of these families would not get the help they need and deserve. Monday afternoon was concluded with a meeting of the Westgate Heritage Action Zone group. This is where the Heritage England and Wakefield Council funding is reviewed and agreed. I chair this group and you will see regular updates and picture opportunities featured in the Wakefield Express. Tuesday was taken up with meetings in my role as a Cabinet Member of Wakefield Council. On Tuesday evening I joined a ZOOM meeting with other volunteers to discuss the progress and our plans for the development of Baptist Lane Cemetery. The meeting reviewed our recent work which has included the clearing of a great deal of undergrowth and vegetation. The recording of stones is the next part of the project. Working with the Baptist Church and local historians it is the intention to create a space that reflects and honours those who are buried here. As these plans develop, I will keep you updated. Wednesday morning after spending time walking around Horbury and South Ossett, looking into drains, road surfaces and litter, I called into the Methodist Church in Horbury. There a hot cup of strong coffee awaited me. The Community Ambassadors had had the same idea, they too needed to warm up and have a break. If you are in Horbury on a Wednesday morning and you fancy a coffee and a game of indoor bowls, give the Methodist Church a try. I arrived too late for a game this week, but I have been known to give bowls a try. On Wednesday afternoon, I helped to create two videos for the Councils website. The first video was to bring to residents’ attention the Council’s Big Green Heating scheme. Wakefield Council have secured this funding to make households in our district warmer and heathier. We know that energy inefficient homes are expensive to run and leave some people struggling to pay their energy bills so this innovative scheme will go a long way to help reduce the risk of fuel poverty. It will also help to reduce domestic carbon emissions in our fight against climate change. All the work will be free of charge and arranged by the Council through its approved contractor Better Homes Yorkshire. To qualify for the Big Green Heating Scheme, residents must meet ALL the following criteria: • Be an owner-occupied household living in the Wakefield district • Have an annual gross household income below £30,000 (including benefits) • Live in a property that is Energy Performance Certificate Band E, F or G • Be off the gas network and currently using electric or coal as the main heating fuel Applications are being taken now but this is a time limited offer, so residents are urged to apply now. If you or someone you know would like more information please contact the Housing Support Energy Team on 01924 305887 or email energyteam@wakefield.gov.uk. The second video was to encourage eligible businesses to apply for the current round of COVID support grants for the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sectors. Full details can be found at – www.wakefieldfirst.com/covid-19/. Please check out this information as you and your business may qualify for this vital Government support. I have been asked to repeat the information I gave a couple of weeks ago about what you can put in your wheelie bins. So here it is! Know your wheelie bins. In the green colour bin, with your general waste you can put food stuff. This is removed at the waste depot and used in a bio-digester. This in turn goes to make methane gas, which is then used in the gas network. If you fill your brown recycling bin and have more recyclable items for collection, you can place these in a container or bag and place outside with your brown bin and it will be collected on your usual day. This only applies to recyclables and not general waste. Extra general waste will not be collected. Full details of what can go in your two brown bins and your general waste bin can be found at - https://www.wakefield.gov.uk/site/where-i-live and enter your postcode and house number. You can also download a copy of your Bin Collection Calendar. Did you know that in some neighbouring Council areas you have to pay an additional fee for the garden bin – in Huddersfield it costs an additional £38.50 and £42 in Bradford per year. In Leeds they do not recycle glass jars & bottles; you must take them to the nearest bottle bank! On Thursday evening I met with a group of residents to explore what could be done to reduce the amount of speeding traffic immediately outside of their homes. I was also approached by another resident about the speed at which HGVs are travelling along Teall Street in South Ossett. It is important to understand that any issue in relation to a moving vehicle is the responsibility of the Police. Councils have some responsibility for parked vehicles, but this is often a grey area. I will be raising both issues with the police, yet again and with Wakefield Council’s Highways Team. These issues are not easy to resolve and can take many, many months if no years to find a solution. But I am on it. A group of 8 volunteers braved the extremely windy weather and descended upon Horbury Lagoons on Saturday morning. With winds forecast at between 40 to 50 mph, the planting of trees was, shall we say, bracing. In around 90 minutes the of 8 of us managed to plant around 400, whips or baby trees. This along with the 500 plus we planted two years ago, will make a significant difference to the natural landscape in years to come. This week, you may have noticed some maintenance that has been carried out in Carr Lodge Park. The children’s bike area has been swept and cleared of vegetation and rubbish, the path that runs from the Horbury Pebbles towards the old house, has been temporarily repaired. This will be resurfaced later. I have also asked that some suitable surfaces be placed underneath the tyre swing. I am hopeful this will be done before spring. Finally, the work on the tree sculpture has started. This work has been commissioned by the Friends of the Parks group with funding obtained by me. Hopefully over the next few weeks this will be completed. Can you see what it is yet? Please keep safe and take care. If you need assistance or would like to me, be involved in a new local project, please feel free to drop me a line. I wills see what I can do to help. Darren View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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