Ossett News Posted March 24 Report Share Posted March 24 Week ending Sunday 24th March 2024 Sunshine, rain and wind are the best 3 words to describe the weather this week. We know we are still in March and it is still Spring, but by ‘eck that wind has been cold. We three have been out ‘n’ about throughout the Ward this week and we have been warm, got wet and blown away! Monday was a relatively quiet day for Darren, Deb and Gwen. We spent time in our respective home offices and caught up on emails. Later that evening, Darren attended a Safeguarding training session, organised by Horbury Churches Together. The purpose of the training was to give volunteers the tools to be able to spot issues that could be affecting our service users. Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone and we should not be afraid to speak out if we see something that does not look quite right. Tuesday morning was the first of this Spring’s Community Litter Picks. The day started with a torrential downpour at about 8.30am. It cleared as quick as it appeared and by 10am, it was much warmer and dry. We met in Peel Street car park and a group of 6 pickers went off with their pickers and white bags. We spent an hour out on the streets and collected 9 bags of assorted detritus. It is amazing what you can remove from our streets, gutters and verges in such a short period of time. The usual plastic bottles, drink cans, glass bottles, fag ends and drug packets are regular finds on our streets. Our next Community Litter Pick will be on Tuesday 2nd April, location still to be agreed, but we have a couple of suggestions in mind. Watch this space. If you would like to join us, we start at 10am and the pick lasts just 1 hour. Everyone is welcome and pickers and bags are provided. On Tuesday evening, Darren addressed a group of 20 people at the Methodist Church and gave a talk on A Day in the Life of a Local Councillor and his role as Deputy Mayor. The talk was light-hearted and reflected the work that Deb, Gwen and Darren do on a daily basis. It may surprise you to know that most of our days are taken up with conversation or emails about potholes, wheelie bins, blocked drains, poor parking and dog dirt! On the subject of poor parking, can we respectfully ask drivers not to park within 10 metres (32 feet) of a road junction, block pavements or on crossing points, either zig-zag lines or dropped kerbs. All of these are covered by regulations as detailed in the Highway Code. Information can be found at - www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/waiting-and-parking-238-to-252 Wednesday was a very busy days. It started for Gwen with a visit to Broad Royd House coffee morning in South Ossett, to visit a member and help celebrate her 96th birthday. This was one of the wonderful things we have been able to attend this year, so far. Following on from this Deb and Gwen popped into the Methodist Church and had another coffee in another well attended community group. At the same time, Darren met with Graham from the Civic Society and Officers from the Council in Carr Lodge Park. The Civic Society, in a joint venture with the Friends of Horbury’s Parks and Horbury Village Partnership, have been successful in a major grant for work on the Old Rockery in the park. The work will include adding 29 tonnes of gravel to refurbish the footpaths, new planting and pruning of the existing mature plants, 3 new benches and fingers crossed a new fence at the back of the rockery area. This work is being supported by the Council’s Streetscene Team and we are grateful for their help and support. Following on from the Carr Lodge Park meeting, we regrouped at Stan Barstow Gardens to discuss the installation of the new Horbury sign. This artwork is in the style of the Hollywood sign, with the letters spelling out HORBURY in the same font and colour. The letters are about 1 metre tall and will create a great focal point for Queen Street in the centre of Horbury Town Centre. Installation is due over the next month or so, weather permitting. A meeting of Wakefield Council was held on Wednesday afternoon, in County Hall. These meetings are held in public and residents are more than welcome to attend. If you are tech-savvy, you can watch the whole meeting via the Council’s website and ‘enjoy’ the full meeting experience from the comfort of your own armchair – www.wakefield.gov.uk and search ‘watch our meetings’ On Wednesday evening, Deb and Darren attended the regular planning meeting for this year’s Horbury Craft & Street Fayre. The event will be held on the 15th and 16th June in Horbury Town Centre. Darren is the chair of the organising group and we all hope that this will be the best event in the 30+ year history of the Street Fayre. Visit their Facebook page for regular updates. On Thursday morning, Gwen attended the regular coffee morning at Christ Church in South Ossett. This is one of the many events we attend, which gives those present the ability to raise issues with us that are directly affecting them. We will always try to help. On Thursday evening, Darren and Deb attended the Friends of Horbury’s Parks first meeting of 2024. We feedback about our rockery meeting and other plans for the rest of this year. Later, you’ll find some diary dates for events in Horbury & South Ossett for the next few weeks and well into the Summer months. On Saturday, Deb and Darren joined the Illingworth Park Friends Group for their morning park tidy up. However, the weather got the better of us, and we had to call it quits as the rain and wind came out in force. A massive thank you to those who braved the elements and continued the tidy up. This work was done in preparation of next Saturday’s Great Easter Egg Hunt. Organised by the friends group, this annual and getting bigger event is free to enter and sponsored by your local Labour Councillors. Please visit their Facebook page for more information about the event, especially if the weather is bad next Saturday. Following our brief park appearance, Darren and Deb paid a call at St Peter’s Church coffee morning and then popped into the Methodist Church for our final cup of coffee of the morning! Well, that is not strictly true as we finished with lunch at a local café, which included a coffee for Darren and a mug of hot chocolate for Deb. Saturday evening, Darren attended the Featherstone Male Voice Choir’s concert in the Methodist Church. The event was attended by an audience of around 100+ people, who were completely amazed by the vocal skills of this local and well-established choir. If you missed the concert, but it is the sort of thing you’d enjoy, you can find out more about them on their website – www.fmvc.co.uk This week finished with Darren attending Wakefield Hospice’s 10km road run. Over 2,000 people entered the race with around 100 people entering the children’s 1km race. Darren’s role this morning was to present the winners of both races with their prizes and all finishers of the children’s race with a winner’s medal. This was a great honour to be able to support our local hospice on their biggest annual fundraiser. Thank you so much to the runners and event organisers for making this morning so special for those who took part and for those people who will benefit from the care the hospice will be offering in the future. One day, unfortunately, it could be you or one of us. Dates for your diary – see social media for regular updates • Illingworth Park’s Great Egg Hunt – Saturday 30th March • Whit Walk – Sunday 19th May from Horbury Bridge to St Peter’s • Illingworth Park Annual Gala – Sunday 2nd June • Horbury Craft & Street Fayre – weekend of 15 & 16th June • Horbury Show – Sunday 30th June • Picnic in Carr Lodge Park – Sunday 4th August View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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