New Lights and Santa.

We hope this year we have been able to add that often commented upon lack of colour to the years festive lights. The 'twinklies' add to the overall look and we would really like to know if the scheme looks better.

We'd like to thanks Santa for helping us last night and for escorting Christine back to the office with the much sort after candy canes.

Time to go.....

After many years of loyal service Christine Jackson will be retiring later today. She has served the people of Hebden Royd for over 23 years. She provides a welcome smile to all who visit us here at the Town Council with her knowledge of the area and the goings on unsurpassable. I for one will miss her and wish her well in her retirement. The Parish will be losing a loyal and valuable asset.

Christine with some of the councillors she currently serves.

Picture House Newsletter

Picture House News Update October 2011

 

It’s been a while….

And we can only apologise but we have been very busy behind the scenes collecting and analysing information and making decisions to secure the future of the Picture House. There is much to tell.

Following the agreement in principal to transfer the Picture House by Calderdale MBC the partners (Hebden Royd Town Council, Hebden Bridge Community Association, the Hill Top Parish Councils and the organisations that use the Picture House) continued to discuss the best way to manage and develop the Picture House. Following the local elections in May and with the endorsement of the Partners Hebden Royd Town Council is now applying to solely take on responsibility for the Picture House.

The mandate from the public meeting for an elected body to take on the Picture House formed part of the reason but in addition the Quality Parish Status of the Council, its ability to fund raise and deliver projects (New Skate Park and various play areas are only a few examples), its relationship with the community, the way it supports its community and its reputation all added to its appeal.

Good Governance....

Hebden Royd Town Council wants to ensure that all those interested in the Picture House have a say in how it is run not just those who live in Hebden Royd. The management committee at present includes six town councillors, a representative from the Hill Top Parishes, two staff reps, an industry expert and we hope to soon welcome two elected members of the Friends of the Picture House. You’ll soon be invited to a meeting to adopt a constitution for the Friends and plan an election to get those reps onto the committee.

The building….

A concern of many and was highlighted in the last newsletter. Since then mechanical, electrical and structural surveys have taken place and advice has been taken. We have been pleased to find that while there are small issues it is generally in a very good state of repair. The large figures mentioned in the building compliance report produced by Calderdale, and mentioned at the public meeting look to bring the building up to a ‘new build’ standard, something very costly to achieve. A generous allocation, in excess of previous years has been made in the Repairs, Alteration & Maintenance section of the proposed budget.

We are also please to have found out that the Picture House is in the top five for energy efficiency in all of Calderdale MBC’s public buildings with a rating of 32.

The staff….

Meetings have been held and the last few months have been spent getting to know them and listening to them. TUPE regulations will be adhered to where the transfer takes place and as in the original principal their employment will be a major concern of ours.

Digitalisation….

The reason we are here. Research continues with site surveys imminent, costs vary between £40k and £75K depending on the ‘add ons’. 3D and the ability to stream live events to the Picture House are also affecting these costings. We haven’t forgotten 35mm however and we plan to retain this facility beyond digitalisation. The industry estimates that out of the 3600 screens in the UK only 100 will retain this facility when digitalisation will be fully rolled out.

Money Matters….

The Town Council has committed to fund the digitalisation of the Picture House and detailed budget discussions start soon. We aspire to install the digital system as soon as possible following transfer as more cinemas convert to digital less 35mm film prints are being produce by the distributors. Funding opportunities are at present infrequent but we continue to search for opportunities.

Tell us more…

We’re sure many will have seen and completed the Community Consultation we have been circulating in Hebden Royd, the Upper Valley, across Calderdale and further afield. If you have yet to see it take a look online at:

www.surveymonkey.com/s/7JXDXX3

Don’t forget the deadline of the 30^th October.

Drop in….

We hope that this has gone some way towards answering many of the questions you no doubt have but if you’d like to ask more drop in at any time between 6pm and 8pm to the Town Hall Council Chamber on Wednesday 26^th October we’ll be there to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks for taking an interest in the Picture House, we are sure our aspiration to make the Hebden Bridge Picture House the best single screen cinema in the country is one you will support us in.

Hebden Bridge Picture House

 
You may be aware that Hebden Royd Town Council is currently applying to Calderdale Council to take over the Hebden Bridge Picture House. 
 
The current financial climate is likely to limit the ability of Calderdale MBC to invest in the future of the Picture House. A lack of investment in the Picture House could mean that its future becomes less assured.

The aim of Hebden Royd Town Council is to ensure that this much loved resource is able to continue to provide the best possible experience for many years to come and we aspire to develop the Picture House into the best single screen cinema in the country.

The following survey will help Hebden Royd Town Council to achieve these aims.

Picture House Survey

Hebden Bridge has a new bridge.

Not the temporary one while the Packhorse Bridge is being repaired but in Warstein our twin town in Germany.
Members of the Hebden Bridge & District International Group and Hebden Royd Town Councillors travelled to Warstein to unveil the newly named 'Hebden Bridge' Bridge on the outskirts of the town on Saturday.

Dog Control Orders

Your chance to have a say on dog control, nuisance dogs and the biggie, dog mess. Click on the Hyperlink and give Calderdale MBC your opinion.

Dog Control

Success in the sun....and the dark.

The recent unseasonal weather has seen huge numbers of skaters using the new facility at Calder Holmes. As part of our agreement with the funders we continue to monitor numbers and they are well beyong what we had hoped for.
We started counting after dark last week and were surprised to find 22 skaters using the park at 8.30 pm on a Thursday evening.

I am chuffed to see that the skate park is working, and used by more and more of our young people but even happier to not be facing the winter just yet.

Rising Fast

As we look out of the window, in fact I am sure many can see from their windows, the new part of the Town Hall is starting to take shape.

The Town Hall is starting to become a popular location for meetings and some of the meeting rooms are rarely free, all bodes well for the future of the Town Councils home.

The mumblings appear to have dried up of late, I can only apologise. I'll try to keep you posted on the happenings now with more regularity - a post summer holiday resolution.
While I have been away I was approached by a fellow tourist about Hebden Bridges aim to become the greenest in the land, it appeared Transition Towns had been heard of as far south as Shrewsbury.
After a conversation about the activities in Hebden Bridge the gentleman commended the Towns efforts and wished us well. Lets hope he tells more about our town and gets other places to join us. Well done to all who strive to achieve this goal and hopefully as HRTC looks to adopt a way of reducing our carbon emissions we'll be able to do our little bit.

Its been some time since the last post. Along with a few holidays we have been busy working with Calderdale MBC on the Picture House. In the next few weeks we should have the relaunch of the Friends of the Picture House as well as confirming the general good health of the building. Its then onto looking at how we can improve the facilities with our budgets, most importantly of all the digitalisation of the cinema.

The Handmade Parade

Shock!.......Giant Chicken loose in Hebden Bridge!

All who view will be amazed, a fabulous event supported by Hebden Royd Town Council.

The Mayor in Germany

Cllr Trickett, the Mayor of Hebden Royd was in Warstein this weekend to celebrate the opening of the refurbished square in Belecke and to witness the twinning of Petrapaulo (Italy) and Warstein. He was also welcoming Petrapaulo to our family of twin towns.

Welcome

At the Annual Meeting of the Town Council Cllr Scott Trickett was elected to serve as Mayor for 2011/12.

Cllr Dave Young was elected to serve as Deputy Mayor.

Cllr Trickett is accompanied by his wife Amy and Cllr Young with one of his two consorts Janet Oosthuysen, the other being Cllr Susan Press.

A New Mayor.

This evening will see the appointment of a new Mayor for Hebden Royd. The foot steps to follow are big, Robin Dixon has for the last twelve months been an excellent Mayor.
I for one have enjoyed tremendously his support, guidance and friendship and I wish him well for all that he does in the future.
Good luck to our new Mayor....whoever they may be.

and now we move on.....

The annual meeting of the Town took place yesterday and it was great to see a strong turnout from the newly elected councillors. The meeting received no questions from the electors present.

Next the council decides on a new Mayor, this will be the first item of business for the meeting to consider so please be prompt is you want to see this happen. Wednesday 18th May at 7.30pm at Hope Baptist Church, Hebden Bridge.

Its your chance now......

Its your chance now, the people of Hebden Royd, to come up with what we need to start working towards as the new council sits.

The Annual Parish Meeting, open to all electors is on Wednesday 11th May, starting at 7.30pm at Mytholmroyd Community Centre.

Come along with questions, suggestions and ideas and we'll look to include them in the plans of the Council for the next 4 years.

Welcome new councillors, farewell and thanks to those leaving.

Well the votes have been counted and the results declared.

Welcome to the ten new Hebden Royd Councillors but lets say thank you to all that have worked so hard in the last 4 years. Many have served the community for many years and I know that most will continue to do so, without them the Township would be a poorer place.

Ready, steady, skate.....

Its taken some time but following an inspection by RoSPA today the skate park will be handed over tomorrow and will be officially open for all to enjoy.
Its been a long time coming and although there is still a lot more to sort out in the background to put all the different elements of this new facility to bed I know its going to be a big success.
Personally I'd like to thank Charles Cawood who has been the site manager from day one and has been terrific. He has listened to our suggestions and come out with practical solutions all the way down the line - a great man to have on your side.
So spread the word and lets get everyone down there to enjoy this great new skatepark.

Its coming.......

Lets not forget the French.

What with the recent twinning visit to Warstein the French perhaps must feel a little left out. Well to address this they are coming on mass next week to visit Calder High. They'll be in the Council Chamber next week too to allow us to tell them all about the democratic machine that is Hebden Royd Town Council.

Where is this?

It won't be like this for long.....but where is it? A clue? well many young people will have a lot more to do in the very hear future, perhaps even one or two oldies.

A little warmer at last.

It seems to me that at last spring has arrived. This morning I was able to see some of the hard work completed by Sarah and her colleagues who look after the parks in Hebden Royd. Both the Mytholmroyd Memorial Gardens and The New Road Memorial Gardens in Hebden Bridge look wonderful, and a lot of that is down to their hard work.

Well done I say!

A lick of paint.

Thanks must go to the probation team who over the last few weeks have prepared the bridge between Riverside School and Central Street School for a lick of paint. The bridge belongs to nobody but is used by so many so lets hope this tidying up is appreciated by the many who cross over every day.

Along with the Elections comes the Polling Station.

I have never really considered the process behind the election of Councillors until recently. I have been amazed how much thought, care and attention goes into standing. This along with the anxiety of putting oneself up for public examination must mean it is not to be considered lightly. I'm hoping the effort we put in late last year and early with our New Councillor Seminars, this will mean our Councillors, when elected, will have a good idea of the expectations they will need to meet to be a successful councillor.
The elections have also triggered a review of the place that we cast our votes, the Polling Station. Initiated by central government this review asks local people for suggestions for improvements to the locations we use so if there is Polling Station not up to scratch please let us know and we will advise Electoral Services at Calderdale MBC.

The Electoral Role....its role is very important.

This very important piece of data has so many uses and were finding it really important to have an up to date version on our system. We have been checking this week the waiting list for allotments and writing to all those included on the list, half way through we updated the list via electoral Services at Calderdale MBC and found just short of 400 changes in 14 months, 8% of those listed.
With the local elections coming up and the need for all candidates and nominees to be on the list no doubt many people will be taking a look at it in the next few weeks.

Be the first to see the action....

from 'karnival'. Enjoy the Queens representative building bridges between our towns.  Belecke Karnival

Good News.....

This evening, Monday 14th March 2011, Calderdale MBC took the decision to hand control of the Hebden Bridge Picture House to Hebden Royd Town Council and the Hebden Bridge Community Association. This asset transfer will be worked up in the next nine months with a proposed date for transfer set as the 1st December 2011.

The Duchess of Slack Bottom........

Its great to be unique and by embracing each others differences we can learn so much. I've been enjoying 'karnival' this week in Warstein and have been able to see the strengths of our hosts there. The celebrations brought together the many different groups in the town and I would hope that we aspire to do the same.
Dressing in a daft costume helps to break down the barriers but I'm not sure we all need to wear a blue wig and a bowler hat every day just to get on with folk, we can surely get on without that attire.

The Picture House

The people of Hebden Royd and the users of the Picture House turned out on mass last night to hear how the Picture House is not under threat...for now. The changing face of local government means it unlikely that it will be in line for much needed investment in the future so there is a need to consider a new approach.
Options are to be explored and people are to be involved and thank goodness the meeting decided overwelmingly to not stop the process and to let it begin.

The news section allows you to look at the initial submission and you can comment or join those involved by sending your comments in via our contact page.

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