Winter maintenance is an important role for our Highways and Transportation Service. Kirklees Council carry out winter maintenance to allow all road users to move about as safely as possible and to help minimise delays caused by adverse weather conditions.The winter maintenance service operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is in place whenever the weather demands.

For updates on Roads in Kirklees: http://www2.kirklees.gov.uk/winterUpdates/default.aspx

Other useful links:

• Travel: West Yorkshire Metro – Bus and rail information

TENANTS and councillors are urging the council to rethink its policy of housing troublesome young people with older people.Older people living in social housing in the Lindley ward have been suffering anti-social behaviour caused by young people, who have been housed in neighbouring flats.

Now they and Lindley councillors Tony Woodhead and Cahal Burke have launched a petition to encourage Kirklees Council to reconsider their policy.The councillors and residents believe Kirklees Council should exercise greater sensitivity, common sense and flexibility when deciding where to house people of different ages.Clrs Woodhead and Burke, who are in discussion with Kirklees about the problems, will hand the petition to the council in the New Year.

Clr Burke said: “The people in charge of lettings need to be given the flexibility to work within the council policies to ensure that the tenants they are putting into flats or homes are suited to the communities they are joining.”

The Liberal Democrats did not win the general election and so are not able to carry out all of the pledges made in their manifesto. 

I wonder how many students who are protesting study politics. Those who study politics will realise that the Liberal Democrats did not win the general election, they did not come second, they came third. If people had wanted the Liberal Democrat manifesto they would have voted for it in greater numbers than they did. We, therefore, have a coalition government in which compromise is a necessity particularly given the financial mess bequeathed by the Labour party (who incidentally reneged on their “promises” to students following the 1997 election). 

Everyone should remember that a majority Conservative government would have introduced a far more punitive package for students, particularly those from poorer backgrounds. Following the advice of the independent funding review, set up by the last Labour Government, the upper limit on tuition fees is being raised to £9,000. Students will pay nothing up front, and will only start paying the money back once they’ve left university and are earning over £21,000 a year.

A lot of myths have been circulated about the plans.

Lidget Street, Lindley becomes a no car zone offering visitors late night shopping at its independent shops, lots of great food on offer and fun for the family.

This year the regular event will be on Tuesday December 7 from 6pm – 8:30pm and will include a firework display, entertainment, Christmas refreshments and rides for children.

I am letting you know about a proposed housing development at Thomas Street / Brian Street / Thorncliffe Street in Lindley on the East Lawns site. This land currently houses a Kirklees Council building where the Independent Living Team operates from. A public consultation event which will be held on 6^th December 2010, 3-7pm at Lindley Working Men’s Club on Brian Street, Lindley. This will be an opportunity for you to meet with Council officers and the design team and ask questions or discuss any issues you may have about the proposed development. 

The proposed development will be made up of 12 environmentally friendly three bedroom family homes with resident and visitor parking.  You may be aware that there is a shortage of affordable housing throughout Kirklees.  To help meet this shortage Kirklees Council has secured funding to support this development. 

If you have questions or comments about the project you can talk to the team by phoning  01484 225040, by e-mailing  housing.regeneration@kirklees.gov.uk  or by writing to the Regeneration & Development Team, 4^th Floor South, Civic Centre 1, Huddersfield, HD1 2NF. 

You can obviously also attend the aforementioned public consultation event on 6^th December 2010, 3-7pm at Lindley Working Men’s Club on Brian Street, Lindley.

Friday 26th

Two night patrols monitored 

Saturday 27th

05.00am – Full grit of priority routes

18.00pm – Full grit of priority routes

Sunday 28th

18.00pm – Full grit of priority routes 

Monday 29th

05.00am – Full grit of priority routes

08.00am – Full grit of priority routes 

When the priority routes are finished we are moving into the secondary routes.  All secondary routes to begin as per plan.  A further decision will be made at 09.30am. 

Road Closures

No road closures as yet.  All routes passable with care.

Town Centres

Hand gangs working in Huddersfield, Holmfirth, Dewsbury, Batley and Birstall town centres.

Liberal Democrats believe that a quality education is the biggest opportunity to improve people’s lives. The coalition government published its white paper on schools – “The Importance of Teaching”. It sets out a reform programme to raise standards for all children while narrowing the gap between rich and poor.It shows how the Government is delivering the fair start for every child that we promised in the Liberal Democrat manifesto.

The White Paper announced four key reforms –

·         Delivering a Pupil Premium, on top of the budgets that schools already have, to go to every deprived child wherever they live, to allow schools to put extra resources into narrowing the gap in attainment between the richest and the poorest.

 ·         Giving all schools more freedom to make the right choices for their pupils – slimming down the national curriculum, removing bureaucracy and red tape and reducing testing and league tables.

 ·         Recognising that it is the quality of teaching that really makes a difference in the classroom – expanding graduate teacher programmes like Teach First, developing networks of “teaching schools” and supporting continuing professional development. 

 ·         Something important to Liberal Democrats, matching school freedoms with a strong strategic role for local authorities in ensuring fairness – in admissions policies, for children with special educational needs, and in championing educational excellence in all schools, including Free Schools and Academies.  

Your Neighbourhood Your Voice!

The next meeting (Huddersfield North) 16th November, Mount Methodist Church, 7pm. This will be followed by Mount Forum.

The PACT process gives you the chance to influence what happens in your neighbourhood. Through PACT, the community is able to influence and shape services in their area, identify and communicate their priorities with partners and help create community spirit and take ownership for an area. Come along to the next meeting and tell us what matters in your neighbourhood.

07th December 2010 Birchencliffe Community Centre
11th January 2011 Mount Methodist Church
01st February 2011 Birchencliffe Community Centre
15th March 2011 Mount Methodist Church
05th April 2011 Birchencliffe Community Centre
17th May 2011 Mount Methodist Church
07th June 2011 Birchencliffe Community Centre
12th July 2011 Mount Methodist Church

All meetings start at 7pm

Much needed work is nearing completion on Baker Street, Lindley.  

The works should be completed by next week, weather permitting from its junction with Acre Street to its junction with Gibson Street, the existing unmade street will be resurfaced with bitumen macadam and traffic calming measures will be put in place.  Baker Street will also benefit from improved drainage.

I am very pleased that Kirklees Council  has managed to secure this money to carry out the much needed repair works.  I  used to live on Baker Street myself and  I envisage that those travelling along Baker Street will hopefully see massive benefits.

The works have been deemed necessary by Kirklees Council on a priority basis and the scheme costing approximately £30,000 has been funded out of the Highways budget.

Most roads are maintained by the Council at the public’s expense.  However there are some streets called private streets (also known as unadopted roads) that are not the responsibility of the council even though the public may well have a right to use.