The cheque is in the post?

If only that was the case.

Funding public projects can be a long drawn out process, the pot of money under the mattress doesn't exist any more so even when an idea of great merit comes along it can take many months to get the funding package in place. We have sent off two applications today both looking to fund great projects which will benefit many and provide facilities for those people that really deserve it. They total well into six figures and now they are in the lap of the powers that be.
Lets hope they attract the attention and others view them to be equally as exciting as we do.
I'll keep you posted.

Sweets, Car Parking & Packing the Bag.

Hebden Royd has two great twin towns, St Pol in France and Warstein in Germany. Next week we are lucky enough to be travelling to the 'Karnival' in Warstein and once again meet our friends from there.
So the car park at the airport has been booked today in preparation and the suitcase taken down from the loft but this year it won't just be that extra jumper that I'll be throwing in, this year its a 2.5 kilo bag of Walkers Old English Toffee.
'Karnival' this year means getting involved, we'll be on a float, made in Warstein, depicting the dark mills of Calderdale. Tradition dictates sweets are thrown to the crowd. All should go well providing some Councillors don't carry out their threat to throw the sweets less than gently.
Unfortunately a trip to Warstein for me means no trip to Castleford, those who know me know why. I'll be looking more closely at the fixture list in the future.

The end of the cheque.

Reading the paper last night a article heralded the end of the cheque guarantee card in July 2011. It asked just how many people used this service, and in fact how many younger people actually knew it was there. 88 million transactions a year are guaranteed by the scheme, but they estimate that 15% of those are actually invalid as the cheque must be physically handed over and in those cases aren't. Hebden Royd Town Council doesn't have a cheque guarantee card, just the cheques but will have to make arrangements before 2019 when cheques are planned to be withdrawn. It's not because Hebden Royd Town Council doesn't want to move with the times that we only have a cheque book it's because of the law and the financial regulations which we work within. Tonight, the Strategy & Review Committee will be looking at altering those regulations to allow us to make payments by card and also to ensure staff salaries are paid efficiently and authorised appropriately to protect all while keeping the process transparent.

When is a search not a search?

It's often one of the challenges of the job to remember who said what, when and where. How it relates to this and that and of course the other.
Well the search facility on the new website has suddenly made that a lot easier. Finding the proposer of a planning refusal used to involve a long trawl through papers and on the computer screen but now enter a street name and the minutes come up with all the details.
It's certainly going to help me and I hope that others take advantage of it and see how HRTC decides on the behalf of it's residents.

Our first fan.

It's good to hear that the local jouno's are on the case. Sometimes in sleepy Hebden Royd that's not the case but a local hack has found our website to be most helpful. Lets hope they continue to use it, it's there for everyone to use and long may that continue.

SMTP, POP3, MAIL.......there all the same to me.

Today the new website goes live. Sounds like an uplifting time to me but it is in fact one blocked by invisible walls controlled by the evil Lord Cyberspace. The sites live but not email! I've done what I was told and it still does not work so hopefully the evil Lord's henchman will be with us soon to clear up these issues and put HRTC back in contact with the rest of the world.

Nudity, stick cricket and the long lost honours board.

Varied, thats a word I'd use to describe this job. I often find it difficult to believe the things I get involved with but it is what makes this job great.
I used to play stick cricket a lot when growing up, even though I grew up in Kippax there were not many bats about (Kippax for those in the dark are a famous bat manufacturer) so it was great to hear that others remember and still play the game. The Honours Board discovered behind the the road signs yesterday are revealing the Gentlemen of the parish who used to sit on the council up to 1936 and will hopefully soon be seen in the new entrance to the Town Hall, I hope the Mayor when he gets round to posting will tell you more.
And finally.....reports suggest naked women, up to 6, can be seen on the tops round here, a lost delivery driver came across them last week and apparently frightened the living daylights out of them, but what about him?

Change, it's not just us that don't like it.

Modern life ain't something new. The concerns of people are often replicated time and time again and unfortunately sometimes we cannot change things for the better.

I wonder when this recently unearthed sign from the attic of the town hall was erected? It was a concern then and is of course now.

Polishing.

Just cleaning up the minutes from last nights meeting. One big decision in there.....to apply for the transfer of the Picture House into 'our' hands. Exciting times ahead, preceded by lots of hard work and discussion. The chamber enjoyed last night, not often does it get bell ringing and a full Town Cry in the same evening - boy that chap from Halifax can make some noise. I wonder if he'll be making noise on Hebden Royd's behalf in the near future.

Seconds out....

Ding Ding

A Town Crier in town

Full Council tonight, not all stuffiness as a Town Crier will be there to tell us how he can promote the Township and the surrounding area. News on the Asset Transfers too... lots of opportunities here for those ready to act for their community.

The reason for the name...

Our adjoining parish Erringden, one of the smallest parishes in the land, are lucky enough to share our office and facilities. If you meet their Clerk you'll understand why I have called this blog a Town Clerks Mumblings, you'll often find a heated discussion taking place when we are 'sharing'.

Starting Up.

Kicking and screaming, all be it a few years late here we are. The mysteries of local government are to be unravelled and explained to all who care to look and take an interest.

Hebden Royd Town Council aims to push the boundaries of local government and get the best deal possible for all who live, work and visit Hebden Royd. Its my job to manage the decisions of the council and it's exciting times ahead. The transfer of real assets from our principal council, Calderdale MBC offer us so many opportunities which we intend to take.

Visit again and I'll explain more.......

Welcome to the Town Clerk's blog

Watch this space for exciting and interesting news from Hebden Royd