Cllr Burke campaigning for better road safety

We are working with the Neighbourhood Policing Team, Highways and Enforcement to take action against speeding and parking issues in our area.

We believe that 20mph zones make sense in residential areas and near our schools.

They save lives
Reduce congestion
Reduce emissions
Encourage cycling and walking

We want a community where people are free to travel in ways that are safe, sustainable, healthy and fair. Unfortunately, in many places inappropriate speed limits where people live, work and play make movement dangerous, particularly for cyclists and pedestrians, including children and the elderly.

We have made some improvements and will continue to work with residents and relevant partners.

We will get the information required related to volumes and speeds of traffic from the Speed Indicator Devices and take action.

Road Safety is important to us and we know there is so much more to do.

I was delighted to attend the Induction Service of Revd. Adrian Ward with Cllr Richard Eastwood at Oakes Baptist Church, Oakes Road, Huddersfield.

Find out more about all the good work taking place at www.oakesbaptist.org.uk

Mount Community Group will be based at Mount Methodist Church on Moorlands Road

I was delighted to attended the Mount Community Group Open Day at Mount Methodist Church.

Mount Community Group will be based at Mount Methodist Church on Moorlands Road. The group have been given funding for a year and their constitution was recently approved by Kirklees Council.

The new community group will aim to support and deliver local opportunities, activities and projects which will build on the consultation undertaken by the group, following a written survey which was sent to residents in the area.

Mount Community Group will work closely with Mount Forum, a community group who meet every two months to identify and tackle issues and problems affecting local residents, through collaboration with local councillors, residents and local agencies.

Cllr Burke said:

“I’m delighted that Mount Community Group is now up and running. The consultation undertaken by the group was really positive with a lot of responses, and the feedback will help to shape the initiatives and activities that the group will seek to support and deliver.

The group is continuing to consult with local people to ensure that local needs are reflected in the aims and objectives of the group. I hope that the community group can have a role in improving local services for the community it represents, strengthen local decision-making and work with local groups and agencies to support improvements in the community.”

Vincent Dorrington, Mount Community Group’s Acting Chair, said:

“Mount Community Group’s aim is to do what is on the tin. We want to bring local people together in order to meet their needs and interests. Our hope is to make the community more active and make people aware that their skills and contributions will benefit everyone.

In helping to establish Mount Community Group and for offering assistance, a special thank you has to be given to Mount Methodist Church, Kirklees Council, Moorlands Primary School, Huddersfield Local History Library, Cllr Cahal Burke and Alan Jones from Mount Forum.”

Further details about Mount Community Group can be found on their Facebook webpage at:
https://www.facebook.com/mountcommunitygroup/

Cllr Burke supporting the Huddersfield St. Patricks Day parade

Once again I was delighted to attend the annual St Patricks Day Parade in Huddersfield, the parade and other events have become one of the leading attractions of the Huddersfield cultural calendar bringing Irish music, dance and drama to the streets and entertainment venues of Huddersfield.

Featuring dancers, musicians, floats and performers the parade travelled through the heart of Huddersfield.

Congratulations and well done to everyone who helped make it such a success.

Cllr Cahal Burke and Cllr Richard Eastwood organising great Lindley spring clean

Lindley Lib Dem councillors Cahal Burke & Cllr Richard Eastwood will be getting stuck in as the Great British Spring Clean comes to the area in March.

The national litter-picking event, launched recently by Keep Britain Tidy, will take place over the weekend of the 3rd to the 5th March 2017.

The campaign will aim to build on the success of a national clean-up this year, which saw over 250,000 people helping to clean up their communities, helping to collect over 300,000 bags of rubbish.

The organisers now hope to get 500,000 involved over the weekend in March next year.

The national clean-up weekend is being backed by a number of charities, including the RSPCA and Marine Conservation Society, as well as businesses like McDonald’s, Greggs and Costa.

The campaign is also being supported by litter charities across the country, with thousands of school children, community groups and local authorities likely to get involved in the action.

The organisers, Keep Britain Tidy, were formed nearly 60 years ago in response to the rise of a ‘throwaway culture’ in the UK. In more recent decades, they have organised a number of high-profile campaigns, often promoted by a host of celebrities, including Morecambe and Wise and the Bees Gees.

Kirklees councillors have been invited to take part over the weekend, and Cllr Cahal Burke and Cllr Richard Eastwood (Lib Dems, Lindley), have already signed up.

The councillors, who will be helping to clean up parts of Lindley on Saturday 4th March 2017, will also be looking for people to join them from the Lindley ward area. This includes individuals and groups living in: Mount, Salendine Nook, Birchencliffe, Oakes, Lindley, Quarmby, Marsh and Birkby.

Cllr Burke said:

“We welcome this new initiative. We have participated in a number of regular clean-up days in Lindley over the years, but being nationally co-ordinated, this campaign will encourage people in Lindley and elsewhere to feel part of something bigger.

The campaign is all about people taking pride in where they live, making neighbourhoods cleaner and supporting positive community action. It will also get people together and is a real social thing to do.

We will be helping to co-ordinate litter picks in Lindley over the weekend and would encourage people to contact us in order to take part or to find out more.”

For further information, Cllr Burke can be contacted at:
Cahal.Burke@kirklees.gov.uk
and
Cllr Eastwood at: Richard.Eastwood@kirklees.gov.uk

Councillor Cahal Burke (left) and Councillor Richard Eastwood (right) at Goldington Recreation Ground steps

A busy set of steps at Goldington Recreation Ground in Salendine Nook are due to be refurbished soon.

The steps, which are accessed from New Hey Road, allow pedestrians to access a path through Goldington Recreation Ground, which joins Goldington Avenue on the other side.

There are 60 concrete steps and 10 tarmac platforms, and the refurbishment works will involve repointing and rebuilding the steps and also resurfacing the platforms.

The footpath across Goldington Recreation Ground was re-tarmacked in late 2014, but Kirklees Council has received a number of requests for the steps to be refurbished.

The £7.5k scheme was approved by Huddersfield District Committee last month, with the works due to commence during half term, next month. It is anticipated that the refurbishment scheme will take a week to complete, and the steps will be temporarily closed while the works are taking place.

During the temporary closure, there will be a diversionary route available to users via New Hey Road and Hill Top Drive.

Councillor Cahal Burke (Lib Dem, Lindley) was consulted on the scheme and liaised with Public Rights of Way officers at Kirklees Council. He also worked with Cllr Richard Eastwood (Lib Dem, Lindley) and consulted with local residents and users on the improvement works.

“I fully support the scheme. The refurbishment works will protect the steps from water damage and remove the risk of movement, which will ensure that they are safe to use.

The public footpath is very well used by local residents and students from Huddersfield New College and Salendine Nook High School, so this will benefit users and improve the level of access.”

2017 Lindley Calendar

A new 2017 Lindley Calendar is now on sale, with funds raised helping Lindley Library to run events for next year.

The calendar was produced by Lindley Library Community Group , a community organisation set up last year to ensure the Library stays open in the face of council budget cuts, as well as helping to enhance and widen the use of the Library.

The calendar contains photos from 1904 to 1967 of various parts of Lindley and the surrounding area, including an early photo of Salendine Nook, near Sainsbury’s, a photo of a tank on Lindley Moor, a photo of a tram crash at the bottom of Holly Bank Road and a photo of Lindley Clock Tower before the advent of a number of housing developments.

The photos for the calendar were provided by Lindley History Research Group.

Sean McCabe, Chair of Lindley Library Community Group, said:

“The pictures illustrate how the area served by Lindley Library has changed over the last 100 years or so. The money raised from the sales of the calendar will enable us to run events in the Library for young and old over the next 12 months.”

Cllr Cahal Burke, who supports and helped to set up Lindley Library Community Group, said: “Lindley has changed enormously over the years and is constantly changing with the new housing developments, so this calendar provides a fascinating glimpse into Lindley’s past.

The calendar will also help to promote Lindley Library and ensure that events continue to benefit the whole community.”

Merry Christmas from your local councillors Burke & Eastwood

Cllr Cahal Burke and Cllr Richard Eastwood wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy & peaceful 2017.

In an effort to better represent the needs and interests of all residents, we hold a residents advice surgery with on the second Saturday of each month. No appointment necessary, just come along.

9:30am – 10:30am
(Lindley Library)

and

11am – 12pm
(Salendine Nook Shopping Centre with the Neighbourhood Policing Team)

If you are unable to attend please contact me using the details below.

www.cahalburke.co.uk

www.facebook.com/CahalBurke

www.twitter.com/CahalBurke

Cllr Burke and Eastwood campaigning the overdevelopment in our area

SITE NO. H790 – LAND EAST OF FERN LEA ROAD, LINDLEY

SITE NO. H292 – LAND ADJACENT TO HOLLYFIELD AVENUE, QUARMBY

SITE NO. H789 – LAND WEST OF TANYARD ROAD, SALENDINE NOOK

As your ward councillors Cllr Cahal Burke and Cllr Richard Eastwood we are concerned about the sites being identified for potential development in the Local Plan. While we recognise the need for additional housing across Kirklees, we believe that a significant number of housing developments have already taken place in Lindley in recent years.

We also believe that the sites are inappropriate for housing development because of a lack of access, as well as the negative impact that the additional vehicles will have on the local roads. In addition to the impact that additional housing will have on the local infrastructure, we are concerned that the proposals would also result in a loss of green space. For all these reasons, we believe that the sites should be excluded from the Local Plan.

If you wish to comment on the proposals, you must respond directly to the Council by Monday 19th December 2016.

In November 2015, Kirklees Council consulted residents on a draft Local Plan, and over 17,000 responded to his consultation. Following this, the Local Plan has been revised, with new sites identified and some sites removed. The Council is now consulting on the revised Local Plan. The consultation deadline to this revised plan is the 19th December 2016.

Once the consultation has finished, the Council will submit the finalised Local Plan to the Planning Inspectorate, together with all the comments it has received from the consultation. This is likely to be some time in Spring 2017. The Planning Inspectorate will then set a date for public examination of the Local Plan. Although this date is not currently known, it is expected to be later in 2017.

Further information about the Local Plan, including details about this site, can be found on the Kirklees Council website at: https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/planning-policy/pdf/local-plan-consultation-summary-leaflet.pdf

You can comment online at: http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/…/planning-policy/local-plan.aspx (click on the ‘Read and comment online on the Local Plan’ link which is in the ‘Get Involved’ section).

Alternatively, you can download, print and post a comments form, which is also available on the Council website at the same website address as above (click on the ‘Guidance notes and comments form’ link in the ‘Get Involved’ section). The post address is provided at the top of the form. It is also possible to scan the form and send electronically to the email address: local.development@kirklees.gov.uk

Conservatives to cut school budgets

The government’s long-awaited national funding formula, due to the introduced in April 2018, was set up to distribute funds more evenly across the country, ensuring that the funding allocated to schools matches its need.

However, the proposed changes will mean that the funding each pupil attracts to the school will be determined nationally, and there are concerns that there will be no new money available and that many schools will be worse off.

A new interactive map has now been created by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), which predicts how schools across the country will be affected in real terms, with an estimated 92% of schools potentially losing out over the next 4 years.

The NUT and ATL argue that unless additional school funding is allocated, there will be widespread cuts to school budgets, alongside cuts to funding per pupil and cost increases.

The real-term school cuts may also be needed to cover rises in pension, pay and national insurance contributions.

In schools across Kirklees, the estimated reduction in real terms by 2020 is minus £30,433,511. The average amount that would be lost for every pupil in Kirklees, as a result of the reduced budget, is estimated at minus £518 per pupil and the estimated equivalent number of teachers that would be lost is 817.

Potentially, schools in Lindley will be hit by the funding changes, and in real terms, this will mean that schools will lose huge amounts of money. Lindley Junior School and Salendine Nook High School Academy could both experience 5% budget cuts, with 8% cuts to Moorlands Primary School, 11% cuts to Reinwood Infant & Nursery School and 12% cuts to Lindley CE Infants School.

By 2020, Lindley CE Infants School may see an annual budget change of minus £149,062, with minus £414 potentially lost for every pupil as a result of the reduced budget and the equivalent of 4 teaching posts lost.

Lindley Lib Dem Councillor Cahal Burke, said:

“I’m really concerned that schools across Lindley ward and across Kirklees will be forced to make massive funding cuts by the Conservative government. It could mean schools are forced to increase their class sizes and cut resources and staff.

Many schools will be under enormous pressure, and it could disproportionately affect smaller, rural and village schools, which we have in Lindley.

We need to acknowledge that this is a real issue that could affect all of us. We also need to know that the council is doing everything it can to support our local schools and to ensure that investment continues.

I strongly endorse the campaign by the NUT and ATL and other teachers’ unions to push for additional school funding. Through support and investment, we can ensure that young people continue to get all the opportunities they need and deserve.”