Hello All,
The Annual Town Meeting was held in Cottingley Town Hall on 19th April, and a number of very varied and interesting presentations were given by groups who had received grants from the Town Council over the last year.
All showed how community groups can achieve a lot, and how even small sums can make a big difference. Thanks to all groups involved for the effort and commitment shown to improving to our community :- Friends of Myrtle Park, Friends of Prince of Wales Park, Bingley Music Town, Bingley Remembrance Group, Bingley Arts Centre/Community Cinema, 5-Rise Frocks (Women’s Institute), Cottingley Community Association and Eldwick and Gilstead Horticultural Society. Â
As we’ve just entered a new fiscal year our grant funds are replenished so I would like to encourage community groups to apply where you have a project we can assist with.
As detailed below, all Councillors have all been elected unopposed. The new Council will formally come into being at the meeting on Tuesday 16th May, where the Chair, Vice-Chair and Committee members for this coming year will be chosen. Â
The Coronation weekend has been and gone, full of pomp and ceremony. I hope those of you that were celebrating were blessed with good weather for your events and a good time was had by all.
Kind regards
Councillor Philippa Gibbons
Uncontested elections
The local elections, for Bradford Council and the Town Council, were held on 4th May: all nominated candidates for the Town Council were already deemed elected as the seats were uncontested therefore no elections needed to take place.
There are now two vacancies on the Town Council – further information to follow on how to stand for these seats.
Many thanks are expressed to Councillors Barton and Kirdale, who have chosen not to stand again, for all their hard work and commitment to the Town Council. Â
The first meeting of the new Town Council will be held on Tuesday 16th May, at Bingley Baptist Church at 6.30pm, and this will be the Annual Meeting of the Council 2023.
Completion/approval of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return for 2022-23
The Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) and all related documents for the 2022-23 financial year have been completed and approved by the Town Council and sent to the external auditors.
There will be a period for the exercise of public rights, where members of the public are invited to inspect the documents, from 5th June to 14th July 2023.
All AGAR documentation has been placed on the Town Council’s website.
Bandstand concerts starting this Friday
Nine bands in all have now been booked to play at the bandstand in Myrtle Park on various Sundays in the summer, from 2pm-4pm, six of which will be paid for by the Town Council, and Bradford Council and the Friends of Myrtle Park are also involved in the organisation of these concerts.
The next performance will be Herr Jens’s Band on Sunday 14th May.
The first of these took place on Sunday 30th April – many thanks to Pop Up Brass for joining us and the audience for braving the weather.
Grants
The first Town Council grants of the new financial year have been awarded, to Bradford and Bingley Cricket Club for £2000, and to Yorkshire Wellbeing Skills Group for £2000, for local projects.
Bradford and Bingley Cricket Club’s scheme involves adapting the current outside area of the pavilion to provide a patio area that will allow them to provide additional seating for people of the town to enjoy whilst watching quality cricket, and for their renowned cricket teas/BBQs. The extra capacity will help them to generate additional income that will not only contribute to operating costs (and therefore keep membership fees at an affordable level for all) but will hopefully allow them to keep investing in upgrading their facilities. The pavilion is the only location they can invest to generate additional income, as it has been thankfully unaffected by the floods (unlike all other areas of the club).
Yorkshire Wellbeing Skills Group’s project aims to provide engagement activities for socially excluded men and women to increase social interaction and build stronger community bonds, and will work with communities in the Cottingley area. The social engagement activity is designed for resident to develop a network around them to overcome everyday challenges of poverty, mental health, domestic violence, and rising cost of living. Light touch community activities like card making, crocheting and knitting will create an environment where everyday issues can be discussed and a place where friendships and network can blossom to support each other easing stress, anxiety and worries. The grant will support a 7-week project offering service users 28 hours of social engagement and interaction opportunities.
Green and Clean
The most recent litter pick was held on Saturday 22nd April, with 16 volunteers collecting 21 bags of rubbish at Crossflatts, and a further four bags were collected at Dowley Gap by two volunteers who also collected there at the last litter pick.
Many thanks to all the litter picking volunteers, and to the community of Crossflatts who did such a worthy job!
The next Green and Clean Forum has been arranged for a speaker from Bradford Council’s Clean Air Zone on Saturday 27th May, Cardigan House, 10am-12pm (attendance by invitation only, due to limited space but you can read all about it on the website after).
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