Currently children are in danger from road traffic when walking to school in Lindley.

The School Crossing Patrols are an integral part of the council’s Road Safety Policy. We want to create an environment which gives parents the confidence to allow their children to use alternatives to the car for their journey to and from school. Without the School Crossing Patrols it is likely that many parents would not allow their children to walk to school.

Road safety is an issue to which great importance is attached by both central and local government. The Government, through local councils, is also seeking to promote a series of measures which are designed to reduce car journeys and encourage alternative means of transport. Examples include School Travel Plans and School Safety Zones.

Lets get Kirklees Council to establish a School Crossing Patrol Service on George Street in Lindley. This will ensure that children and adults can travel easily and safely whilst on their journeys to and from school.

SIGN THE PETITION HERE: www.SignMe.org.uk/692

I am delighted to tell you that Kirklees Council have now decided not to introduce the proposed parking charges for the permit scheme. This is down to your fantastic response to the letters and petitions we have sent out about this.

I have campaigned long and hard on this issue and kept up the pressure on Kirklees Council to reverse their decision.

If I can be of any help with this or any other matter, do not hesitate to contact me. Together we can make real changes in your area.

Lib Dem councillors had a ‘sound’ researched plan to put forward which rejected the proposal for development (Greenbelt and POL) in the Grimescar Valley on the grounds that it is of particular environmental value to many residents in Huddersfield and because that part of the town has already had significant numbers of new homes with several hundred more in the pipeline. We listened carefully to local residents and acted.

Labour and the Conservatives did not have a plan to prevent all development on Grimescar Valley!

Out of the three Lindley ward councillors, two attended the meeting Cllr Christine Stanfield and Cllr Cahal Burke who also spoke against development on Grimescar Valley.

The conservative plan was weak and was intended to make headlines and nothing else. Led by a disillusioned Colne Valley M.P. who tried to fool everyone about empty homes, this myth was quashed. The same M.P. had previously stated we didn’t need a plan! He also did not turn up to the meeting but found the time when there was a photo opportunity at the weekend! Nothing new there…

After 13 hours we voted for a plan which included the possibility to remove the provisional open land because the other proposals would not have given the opportunity to do this. The conservatives did not vote to save the provisional open land despite stating that they were against development on Grimescar Valley. As a result of the deal that was done, 4 groups will be sorting out the next and crucial stage of which sites should be developed. The Tories will not be part of that.

Cllr Cahal Burke, Lib Dem Member for Lindley Ward, has completed the Resolution 15k Run at Cheshire’s Tatton Park on Sunday 20 November.

Cllr Cahal Burke said:

“The fact that every year, over 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), that’s one person every five minutes, is astonishing.

I feel that by taking part in this event it has given me the opportunity to be part of a very worthy cause which is very important to me. The benefits have been two-fold, firstly and most importantly to raise money for the Stroke Association and also on a personal level to improve my general health and fitness.”

A stroke doesn’t discriminate. It can happen to anyone at any time in their life. Strokes are sudden and their consequences can be devastating. The Stroke Association is the only UK charity solely concerned with helping everyone affected by stroke. The Stroke Association are working for a world where there are fewer strokes and all those touched by stroke get the help they need. Below are some a few facts about Stroke.

• An estimated 150,000 people have a stroke in the UK each year
• Stroke accounts for around 53,000 deaths each year in the UK
• Stroke is the third most common cause of death in England and Wales, after heart disease and cancer
• Stroke accounts for 9 per cent of all deaths in men and 13 per cent of deaths in women in the UK
• Stroke has a greater disability impact than any other chronic disease. Over 300,000 people are living with moderate to severe disabilities as a result of stroke
• Three times more women die from stroke than breast cancer
• 10,000 people under the age of 30 will have a stroke each year
• For every £1 spent on cancer research in the UK , around 6p is spent on stroke research

You can support the Stroke Association: http://www.stroke.org.uk/donate/index.html

Liberal Democrats have submitted their plans for the Local Development Framework. This is a strategic plan to determine the amount of land needed over the next 17 years for new homes and new businesses.
Housing: The Lib Dems plan 2 distinct phases for housing. The first phase is for 15,436 houses. The vast majority of these houses are on sites that already have planning permission but which have yet to be developed because of the recession. The second phase of 7,000 homes would NOT be included in the plan unless the housing in phase 1 was in the process of being developed.

This achieves the Liberal Democrat aim of “forcing” housing developers onto brownfield sites first. At the same time it safeguards Greenfield sites as these would only be developed once the land supply of brownfield land has dried up.

This approach also ensures that there will be enough homes in the area but that these will only built in line with known demand.

Land for business: There are currently £2.6 million people who are unemployed. In Kirklees the unemployment rate is 5% and nearly 30% of young people are without a job. These figures demand a positive response from the Council. That is why we are determined to create the necessary environment in which businesses are attracted into Kirklees to create new jobs that are high skill and high value.

Liberal Democrats want to give Dewsbury and Batley the chance to regenerate from within with a once in a lifetime injection of £400,000,000 of private sector investment. This will provide new homes and new jobs in Dewsbury and the regeneration of the Bradford Road corridor. An investment of this scale will bring much needed new businesses to the town centres and the potential for major additional investment in roads and other services.

For Huddersfield, the creation of a Business Park at Cooper Bridge will bring a significant number of new jobs for Huddersfield. Liberal Democrats want the Council to work with the University to encourage “spin-off” businesses from university research.

The Liberal Democrat Group have rejected the proposal for development (Greenbelt and POL) in the Grimescar Valley on the grounds that it is of particular environmental value to many residents in Huddersfield and because that part of the town has already had significant numbers of new homes with several hundred more in the pipeline.

We have listened very carefully to representations from local people. We have balanced the known need for more houses – there are 17,000 families on the Housing Register for instance – with a determination to safeguard as much of our green land as possible.

We have also borne in mind the fact that it is a Government appointed Planning Inspector who will have the final say on the Council’s plan. The Inspector has the power to instruct the Council to increase the amount of land for housing and business if he considers the council plan to be inadequate. We want elected councillors to be in control of the plan for Kirklees not an unelected and unaccountable inspector who doesn’t live here. That is why having a credible plan that is in the words of the Government guidance “sound” is vital.

Council officers will present their draft proposals on a planning blueprint for the next 15 years to the council’s Cabinet at their meeting on November 8.

View webcast on November 8 here: http://www.kirklees.public-i.tv/core/

This Local Plan sets out how many jobs and homes will be needed in Kirklees by 2028, and outlines proposals on where and how much land could be made available across the district.

Local Development Framework (LDF) core strategy draft proposals for submission to the Secretary of State:
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/Secure/meetings/pdfs/1111/CABINET08111143987D.pdf

The Plan is to be considered by Cabinet Members at their meeting on 8 November. Officers will invite Cabinet Members to refer the Plan to the meeting of full council on 23rd November when all 69 councillors will make a decision, subject to any alternative proposals or amendments proposed by the political groups.

Information for Lindley ward:
http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/ldf/SHLAA-reports/lindley.pdf

I was in favour of having the special meeting open to residents to attend and speak and thankfully the format will now allow members of the public to be involved in the council meeting when the Local Development Framework will be discussed.

The specially arranged meeting – to be held on Wednesday November 23 – will begin at 10am, when councilors will hear from members of the public and interested groups.

This session will close at 2pm, and the meeting will resume at 3pm with a presentation by officers on national planning framework guidelines, localism and the need for housing and employment land, before the leaders of each of the three main groups put forward their proposals. All councilors will then hold a debate until a decision is made. Anyone wishing to speak at the meetings should contact the council’s governance section on 01484 221712.

Following the decision by full council, the proposal will then go to the Secretary of State for further examination with a further opportunity for members of the public to make representations. Any representations in the six week period will be passed to the Secretary of State and considered at the examination stage as a key opportunity to influence the plan proposals.

I have a number of issues with the proposals being put forward to develop the Grimescar Valley and I am campaigning against this and also want this land to be kept out of the Local Development Framework (LDF). The Northern Gateway plan includes 841 houses; 355,000sq ft of office space; 10,000sq ft of shops and a 60-bed hotel. The Lindley ward area is now well-developed, with many new homes being built in the last five years and the local area would struggle to accommodate such a level of growth in terms of demand on local services such as schools and GP surgeries, as well as increase in traffic and air pollution.

Again I would like to reiterate that I will be fighting against the proposals for the development of the Grimescar Valley and will keep residents up to date on www.cahalburke.co.uk and twitter: @CahalBurke on matters as they arise.

SIGN OUR PETITION: http://signme.org.uk/683

Lib Dem Councillors Christine Stanfield and Cahal Burke are battling to save the one bit of Greenbelt left in Lindley Ward.

Grimescar Valley is a beautiful island in green on the edge of Lindley Ward. The Thornhill Estates, who own the land, have just unveiled plans to develop the valley from end to end!

Ainley Top and Birchencliffe would be reserved for employment and the rest of the valley for residential housing, 800 homes in total..

Cllr Christine Stanfield said: “We are totally opposed to any further erosion of the greenbelt in Lindley. We have just lost a huge acreage to buildings for employment and 300 houses and enough is enough! We will do everything we can to keep this valley out of the LDF.”

Cllr Cahal Burke said: “There are many other areas of Kirklees which are more suitable for development. Lindley is now well developed with many new homes being built in the last 5 years and the area really can’t take any more. Local residents have expressed to me their anger about Lindley Moor and then to have this come up for development just adds insult to injury. With local Labour councillors keen to develop areas of Kirklees and Conservatives nationally making it easier for builders to get permission to build, protecting places like Grimescar is going got be increasing difficult but we will be fighting this every inch of the way.”

HOSPITAL staff and patients can report crimes in a new police room.

The contact point was opened in the accident and emergency department of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Sgt Simon Short, of Huddersfield North Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Officers are regular visitors to the hospital so the idea of having a police room made perfect sense.

“The room will enable us to have more immediate contact with people visiting the hospital who may want to report crimes to the police.”

Lindley Lib Dem Clr Cahal Burke welcomed the contact point.

He said: “I have been supporting this project for a long time and I am pleased we have eventually secured the funding.

“This base will benefit all the users of the hospital and will be a key contact point for the residents of the Lindley area.”

West Yorkshire Police

We have now reached the point that over 25% of House burglaries within the Kirklees Division have been committed by the offenders snapping the Europrofile Locking Barrels on UPVC Doors.

In view of this Dave Whitteron (Burglary Reduction Officer) will be attending an event at the Lindley Library at 6pm on Thursday 6th October, to explain the problem to you and provide you with solutions.

PCSO Tariq will also be attending and we will have Sash (Security) Jammers on sale at the event at a cost of £3 each.

Everybody welcome.

Lindley Ward Neighbourhood Policing:
http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/npt/area.asp?id=122

I am delighted to inform you that much needed highway improvements will be taking place on Acre Street/Lidget Street in Lindley on September 26 and road users and visitors to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary are being advised of changes to bus services and access.

The hospital has been consulted about the temporary evening closures of the road from 6.30pm to 11pm between its junctions with Temple Street and New Hey Road until October 14.

Access for accident and emergency and other visitors will be signed via Occupation Road but pedestrian access will be maintained along Acre Street.

The hospital has also agreed to allow temporary parking at the Acre Mills temporary hospital car park for residents of Acre Street who will temporarily lose their on-street parking during the work.

Local businesses have been written to about the work but will be open as usual during the closure period and local people have been informed. The road will be closed Monday to Friday from 6.30pm to 11pm between September 26 and Oct 14.

Bus route changes

There will be no bus services along Lidget Street/Acre Street between September 28 and 30 and October 6, October 7 and October 13. Buses for the hospital will be stopping on Thornhill Road and New Hey Road on these dates.

Bus diversion routes are as follows during weekday evenings from 6.30pm to 11pm between September 26 and October 14.

Service 370 from Huddersfield will operate normally as far as Lidget Street, then via Occupation Road and Thornhill Road and resume its normal route at Westbourne Road. Service 371 will follow this diversion in the opposite direction.

Services 372 and 501 will operate normally as far as Westbourne Road, then via Thornhill Road and Occupation Road, resuming its normal route at Lidget Street.

When Lidget Street and Acre Street are closed together:
Service 370 will operate as normal to West Street/Lidget Street junction then via East Street, New Hey Road and Thornhill Road and resume its normal route at Westbourne Road. Service 371 will follow this diversion in reverse.

Service 372 will terminate at Marsh Bay Horse.
Service 501 will operate via Edgerton Road and East Street and will then resume its normal route at West Street.

K Line services 319 343 360 366 and 368 and Stotts service 388 will be unaffected by these works as they do not operate in the evenings.