Ossett News Posted March 5, 2022 Report Share Posted March 5, 2022 There was no blog last week, as I took a few days off and travelled to see friends in Bournemouth. I have two things to say, firstly, Bournemouth is a long drive from Wakefield and secondly, Wakefield city centre is much better, bigger and has a better range of shops than Bournemouth. Monday morning started with my usual visit to Christ Church in South Ossett and their seniors’ lunch club. I have said before what a great place this is to meet new and old friends, have a great two-course meal and generally just get out of the house. If you know someone who would benefit from this great club, give me a call and I will get them the details of times and costs etc. Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is starting to build momentum. Along with my trade union UNITE we will be planting 6 flowering pink cherry trees across the ward. Current locations include – Junction Lane, off South Parade, Illingworth Park, Reid Park, The Methodist Church in Horbury and Carr Lodge Park. The trees will be planted over the next few weeks and will be dedicated and have a sign installed in late May or early June. Thank you to everyone involved in this great project and to the volunteers who will be digging the holes! These 6 trees, plus the 420 or so we planted in January this year, plus the 420 we planted in January 2020 and the odd one or two we have planted in between, mean we have planted around 900+ trees across the Ward, with more to come. Back to the Jubilee, if you are planning an event, please let me know and I will advertise via my Facebook page. There is also a small grant available from the Council. If you would like details, drop me a line and I will send you the application form. April this year will see the 40th anniversary of the start of the Falklands war. To commemorate this event, I along with my colleagues in our local Royal British Legion, will also be planting a cherry tree in Memorial Park. There will also be a Service of Remembrance for the fallen of the Falklands war; watch out for more details over the coming weeks. Last Monday evening there was a meeting between the residents of Horbury Bridge and Yorkshire Water, which I helped to chair. More than 40 residents were in attendance and a frank, passionate and sometime angry exchange of questions and comments were made. There was a very good report of what happened on the Wakefield Express website – full details can be found here –www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/politics/council/angry-residents-in-flood-hit-area-call-for-yorkshire-water-action-on-drainage-3592792 These flooding incidents have shown how complex the subject of flooding can be. Different parts of the overall system are managed by different organisations, who, it appears, are not working together effectively! Rivers and canals are the responsibility of either the Environment Agency or the Canal & River Trust, waste water is down to Yorkshire Water with surface drainage e.g. roads etc, being the responsibility of the Council. Becks or small streams can be the responsibly of either of the above and the landowner, including homeowners. On Tuesday evening it a pleasure to attend the Pride in Horbury Bridge group meeting. I have attended the majority of these monthly meetings since being elected back in 2016. This is a great opportunity to meet with residents and listen to their issues and offer help and advice. Sometimes I can and do make a difference. Wednesday morning, I was well and truly coffee’d out, after visiting 2 local community coffee mornings. The first one being the Senior Citizens’ Support Group. It was a miserable morning with heavy rain showers, but the atmosphere at this group was wonderful. Around 100 people met at the Horbury WMC and had a good old natter over a hot drink with close and not so close friends. At 11:30 am I moved on to the Methodist Church and had another coffee! Here I met up with the Council’s Community Ambassadors. They were offering advice to those present as well as having a warming cup of coffee. I nearly had a game of indoor bowls, but I arrived to late to be part of a team – either way my team would have lost. On Wednesday afternoon, I attended Wakefield Council’s annual budget meeting. This is probably the most important Council meeting of the year. We agreed to set a Council tax for next year, which will be an increase of 1.99%, plus an additional 2% to fund social care. Which the government is failing to fund correctly, placing the burden on our residents. These two increases will still mean that Wakefield Council’s Council Tax remains the lowest within West Yorkshire. When the other Councils publish their new levels, I will publish them for your information. One very interesting proposal made by the Conservative Councillors was to turn off all our street lights between midnight and 5 am each and every day. In my opinion this is a crazy and badly thought through idea, and I am pleased to say the idea was not approved. Even some Conservatives voted against their own proposal. On Wednesday evening I attended a meeting of the Horbury Craft & Street Fayre organising group, which I chair. Plans are well underway for this year’s event. We believe this will be the 30th event, returning hopefully bigger and better after the COVID pandemic. You can find out more information from our Facebook page. If you or one of your friends or groups would like to book a market stall, the costs are £70 for the two days or £40 for one day. Please email - streetfayrehorbury@aol.co.uk a.s.a.p. as they are booking up fast. On Thursday afternoon I met the new regional director for Wakefield District Housing (WDH), who now covers the Horbury & Ossett areas. To confuse matters further, he too is called Darren. It was good to meet Darren as it gives me a direct line into WDH when reporting issues on behalf of local residents. You may have had a leaflet through your door if you live in South Ossett. This leaflet from me, introduces to you my friend and colleague Deb Nicholls. Deb is the Labour Party’s candidate in this year’s local elections in May. Deb has been a great supporter of me over the last 6 years and will make an amazing addition to the team. Finally this week, I held my first monthly advice surgery at the Baptist Church in South Ossett, the second one is at Horbury Library on the 3rd Saturday of the month. These sessions give residents the opportunity to discuss their issues directly with me. If you want to come and talk to me, I am here from 10:15 until 11:30am on the 1st Saturday of each month. Please keep safe and take care. If you need assistance or would like me to be involved in a new local project, please feel free to drop me a line. I will 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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