Dear resident,
With the new year – and I hope it has started well for you – comes a decision on our next budget.
The council’s budget-setting process is a rigorous one, involving much committee, council and staff time. We have now agreed the budget for 2020/21, which shows an increase in expenditure in comparison to the past year but only a very modest rise in the precept.
I hope you will feel, as I do, that the council represents excellent value for money.
I am delighted to welcome Lee Matthews to our staff team as our first Environmental Warden. He has already attended the January Green and Clean Forum and will be starting in earnest on Monday 3 February. Following his induction and initial training, you will see him out and about across the parish, and we hope you’ll make him feel at home.
And … the market’s back! For this third year in operation, we are now running eleven monthly events. Look out for our first one on Saturday 1 February.
Kind regards,
Helen Owen
Chair, Bingley Town Council
Budget and precept for 2020-2021
Following consideration of a number of drafts at both committee and full council level, the council set its budget for the 2020/21 financial year at the full council meeting on 21 January. The monthly meeting was held earlier than usual in order to meet Bradford Council’s budget reporting deadline.
Anticipated expenditure in the year is £259,150, and the precept for the year for a Band D property will be £20.13. This is an increase of 0.6% on last year’s equivalent figure of £20.00.
Appointment of Environmental Warden
Lee Matthews starts his new role as part-time Environmental Warden on 3 February. Lee will be working 20 hours a week on a variety of environmental tasks, supporting and supplementing the work of Bradford Council’s Parks and Street Cleansing staff and ensuring that Bingley is kept clean and tidy. His actually weekly hours are likely to vary over the year to accommodate seasonal changes, e.g. the need for snicket clearance in the summer.
An initial induction period will see Lee getting an introduction to the various wards of the parish and any particular areas of concern and also undergoing training, some of which will be provided by Bradford Council. Lee will be working closely with Bradford Council’s wardens and with community groups looking after our parks and managing planting projects.
Climate Emergency Working Group
The Council’s Climate Emergency Working Group has begun its work by aligning its focus with that of Bradford Council, and initial strands of work have included a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable transport.
It is also writing to MP Philip Davies requesting action in a number of specific areas – onshore wind energy projects, a ban on peat in garden compost and increased tree planting – and asking for details of the government climate emergency strategy.
A review of the Council’s grant scheme for community groups is underway with a view to allocating or prioritising funds for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or develop resilience to climate change.
The Council has agreed in principle to run a Climate Conversation project that will aim to find out how Bingley residents would like to address the climate emergency and what actions should be prioritised. It will be shaped around a questionnaire, involve group meetings and culminate in a public event in the early autumn. The initial focus will be on transport and housing.
Public toilets and office project
The revised tenders for the conversion of the toilet block in Jubilee Gardens have now been fully reviewed and compared by the Town Council’s project managers, Bowman Riley and the council’s project steering group.
At the full council meeting on 21 January, the Council agreed in principle to appoint Building Projects Group to undertake the project. Some final adjustments to the specification are still needed, after which the contract with the successful tenderer will be put before the full council for approval and signing.
The Town Council is still waiting for a response from Bradford Council as to whether they are prepared to undertake the necessary electrical work at the pool to enable the installation of a Changing Places facility. The Council has allocated £12,000 for this piece of work.
Tourism
Councillors have been working with both Bradford Council tourism staff and the Canal and River Trust to promote tourism in Bingley. Specific measures include pavement markers between Bingley railway station and the canal being designed and paid for by the C&RT.
It has been noted that the brown tourism signs pointing to the 5-Rise locks and a non-existent water bus are cluttering and often misleading. Councillors have requested that these be taken down, but Bradford Council does not have a record of where all the brown signs are. The Town Council has agreed to survey the brown signs and identify some to be removed.
Grit bins
The council have installed ten new grit bins at new locations around the Parish. Locations are assessed and agreed in consultation with Bradford Council and their usage is monitored. Please contact
enquiries@bingleytowncouncil.gov.uk if you identify an area which you think needs a bin for next year. Let’s hope that we don’t need them too much this winter.
Green and Clean
The year’s first Green and Clean Forum was held on 18 January, when topics under discussion included a new air quality (anti idling) campaign involving the district’s schools. The success of the initial year of the Incredible Edible Bingley project was noted, and the organisers – Bingley WI’s ‘Bingley Bloomers’, Action Stations and Gilstead Village Society – were keen to extend the scheme to various unloved patches of land about the town. The meeting also divided into groups to discuss suitable areas for tree planting.
The area of wildflower planting on the junction of Ferncliffe Road and the slip road to the relief road will be maintained and enhanced this year, and Carlton Nurseries will again be providing summer flowers for all the council’s baskets and tubs.
Dates for litter picks in 2020 are 8 February, 14 March, 20 June, 8 August, 10 October, 10 November.
Street furniture
For two years, the Town Council has been working to enhance the town centre with a project looking to paint the street furniture black, as a replacement to the current tired-looking blue colour. This was seen as one of the top twelve priorities by those of you who took part in the consultation exercise in September last year.
Residents will have noted that the new street furniture resulting from the Lidl development is already black. Negotiations with Bradford Council are being concluded and a decision is expected shortly.
Annual Town Meeting and Town Council AGM
The following dates were agreed at the full council meeting on 21st January:
- Annual Town Meeting – 6 pm, Monday 18 May 2020
This is not a council meeting but your opportunity to have a say about matters in Bingley and to meet representatives of local community groups.
- Annual Meeting of the Council – 6 pm, Tuesday 26 May 2020, prior to the regular full council meeting.
This meeting will elect the Council’s Chair, Vice Chair, committee members and representatives on outside bodies for the coming year.
Please note also that the June full council meeting will be on Tuesday 23 June, not, as it usually is, on the fourth Tuesday of the month.
Monthly markets
Markets have been a consistent priority for residents even before the council came into existence. The monthly markets that the Town Council has been providing for the past two years restart on Saturday 1 February. This year, the Council will be running markets every month except January and the opening hours have been changed to 10 am to 2 pm.
There will be the usual mixture of stalls providing hot and cold food, artisan crafts and entertainment by local musicians and artists – some old favourites and some new faces. We hope you’ll come and support your local market!
Play in the Park summer 2020
Following the success of the free Play in the Park sessions for primary school-aged children in the past two years – four in 2018 and six in 2019 – the Council has now confirmed it will fund a further six events in the 2020 school summer holidays:
Friday 24 July – Eldwick Rec
Friday 31 July – Cottingley Rec
Saturday 1 August – Myrtle Park
Friday 7 August – Gilstead Rec
Friday 14 August – Crossflatts Rec
Friday 21 August – Myrtle Park
Bradford Council organises and runs these events with their own staff and using their own insurance. The Town Council is also providing toilets, including a mobile Changing Places facility at one of the sessions.
Dates for your diary
Saturday 1 February – monthly market, 10 am to 2 pm, Bingley Market Square
Saturday 8 February – community litter pick, 10 am to 12 pm. Meet at the bandstand in Myrtle Park.
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The next ordinary meeting of the Town Council is at 6.30 pm on:
Tuesday 25 February, St Wilfrid’s Church Hall, Gilstead Lane, Gilstead, BD16 3NL
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You can see all our meeting dates in the calendar of the Events section of our website, and a full listing is available as a separate document, updated weekly, in the Documents section of the site.
Finally….if you’ve made it this far, please do share this newsletter with friends and family and encourage them to subscribe too.
I was, i suspect one of the biggest cynics when Bingley Town Council was proposed. I saw it as another layer of bureaucracy. I eat humble pie as Bingley Town Council has become the most positive and active
functioning organisations I have encountered . Thank You All for the marvellous work you all carry out helping restore the appearance and sense of community long lost when Bradford Council took over from Bingley’s own local council .
Hello David,
Thanks very much for your positive comments. Bingley Town Council is both proud and pleased to be making a positive and noticeable difference to the local area.
Kind regards
Ruth Batterley
Town Clerk
Very much enjoyed the wildflower display on Ferncliffe.
Please to hear it is being enhanced and repeated.
Every little action helps make Bingley better for all of us.