BRADFORD SOUTH AREA CO-ORDINATOR’S OFFICE
Room 401, 4th Floor, City Hall, Bradford, BD1 1HY
Queensbury Ward Partnership
On Tuesday 8thJuly2014 at 7.00pm at
HolyTrinityChurch, West End, Queensbury, BD13 2AD
Statements attributed to individuals in these notes are not to be read as the views or opinions of Bradford MDC but solely as the views of the person making them
- Welcome and Introductions
Marie opened the meeting, introduced herself, briefly explained her role as Ward Officer and welcomed everyone present.
Those present were Marie Copley (Ward Officer); Councillor Paul Cromie; Councillor Lynda Cromie; Councillor Michael Walls; Helga Broadbent; Joan Milner; Geoff Milner; Pat Sayers; Betty Denton; Hilary Webster; Liz Holmes; Martin Clayton; Kath Clayton; Beryl Robinson; Jo Mitchell; Janet Simmons-Powell; Carol Bower; Karen Tordoff; Richard Houseago; Sue Dickerson; Norah McWilliam; Joan Shepherd and Matt Bibby (Note Taker).
- Apologies
There were apologies from Margaret Denison; David Mitchell; Rev. Sue Shrine; Karol Whettlock.
- Minutes of last meeting
Page 1 – Darren Badrock has moved on and is no longer Highways Manager he has been replaced by Andrew Smith,Simon Moscrop is the first point of contact for Queensbury.
Page 4 – Regarding the damaged wall, contact details are needed for the church, Cllr Lynda Cromie to follow up.
Page 4 – Warden Phil has now left the service, there are 2 temporary wardens, Karen and Gemma.
Page 5 – Marie got an update from Mick but there is nothing more to report
Page 5 – Chapel Street signs have been changed today from 30minutes to 1 hour waiting.
There was also an amendment to the last set of minutes as it was Margaret Denison and not Betty who had spoken to Dave Elcock regarding planting at cemetery.
The minutes were then accepted as being correct. The proposal was from Sue Dickerson. Joan Shepherd seconded.
- Matters arising
There has been an increased litter build up on Hillcrest in last couple of weeks. Marie explained that the sweepers have been busy tackling the issues surrounding grass cutting initially and then last week were pulled from the rotas to work on areas hosting the Grand Depart. It is hoped that things will catch up and return to normal in the next 2 weeks or so now that the Tour has finished in the region.
Marie also mentioned that the Police, Wardens, Councillors and Incommunities will be at Hillcrest as part of antisocial behaviour week on 16th July so will ask if the Clean team can attend also.
Action: Marie to arrange clean team visit Hillcrest on 16th July
Marie has spoken with PCSO Steph Pogson to look at the graffiti issue at Sowerheads. Steph was aware of the problem and may have names of some people responsible for graffiti in the area.
Marie suggested that she could invite officers from the Conservation Team up to another meeting, it was suggested that the conservation representative be invited to the QCHAP (Queensbury Community Heritage and Action Partnership) meeting at some future date rather than the QWP (Queensbury Ward Partnership) meeting.
Action: Marie to arrange conservation people to conduct walkabout and then invite to a future QCHAP meeting.
- Community Group Update
Queensbury Performing Arts are meeting on 13th July at 4pm at AKA. They have got a committee and now some publicity is needed and some fund-raising required. Joan Milner is co-ordinating the fund raising side of things and can be contacted on 07739 112426.
The next social night is to be held at St Theresa’s at 7.30pm on 26th July. This will be the last night where people can show interest by getting names down to get involved. Auditions for main parts are to be held on Sunday 14th September.
History Society have held a recent exhibition which had great feedback, fantastic, positive comments and also had £533 in donations. Close on 1000 people are thought to have attended and it again highlights why there is such a need for the exhibitions to have a permanent location within the Black Dyke Mill if possible.
Contact was made with a significant local individual who use to own Upper Shibden Hall and still owns the Lodge House. Approval has been given for Upper Shibden Hall to be restored.
The Barn Dance will be on Saturday 19th July.
Queensbury Community Programme will be holding their opening day on 2nd September. The Lord Mayor will be attending and there will be food and drink. The times of the event will go on the website.
Jo gave an update concerning the guides / brownies Scarecrow Walk. There have been around 60 scarecrows entered and Jo will be finalising the route on Wednesday / Thursday. The base will be the village Co-op between 10am-4pm on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July handing out the information for the scarecrow walk.
Saturday 12th also sees the Russell Hall Park Fete and HolyTrinityChurch will be open that day too for tower visits. It is also the Rugby Memorial Event at Queensbury playing fields.
Local resident Beryl Robinson is holding a yard sale at Briggs Villas the same weekend.
Councillor Lynda Cromie will be writing to businesses about the war memorial lighting. She will approach the smaller businesses too.
There were some historical issues then brought to the table regarding the ‘smelly wagons’. Marie suggested that if there is still a lot of strong feeling about the issue then perhaps a future specific forum could try and be arranged.
Queensbury Community Heritage and Action Partnership
The Partnership is now a properly formed group, with a constitution. Robert Goodwill MP visited Queensbury on June 23rd, to look at the tunnel. Reports of the visit made the local papers and the feedback from him was very positive and encouraging. The Highways agency will be doing an engineering survey on the tunnel shortly.
Station Road is currently a barrier due to the uneven surface, it is a privately owned road and the group have been in touch with the owners.
The plan is also to establish a Heritage Centre in the mills, this is underway and the group have been awarded £200 from Community Chest. This will be helped by the £100 that Councillor Paul Cromie and Councillor Lynda Cromie are donating. Some of the money will be invested to aid future fund raising events.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday 16th July at AKA.
Norah said the group wished to express its thanks to Bradford Council for all their hard work around the recent Tour De France stages.
Following from the success of the ‘Tour’, Norah would like to see the area hold a Triathlon in 2018. 2018 will be the 140th anniversary of the tunnel and gives the group a realistic timescale to aim towards. This might also help the group get funding under different umbrellas such as ‘health and wellbeing’, ‘tourism’ and ‘sports’.
There are some ideas to suggest regarding the High Street but those will be unveiled at the meeting on 16th July.
Thanks were then exchanged between Norah and Marie for the work done by the group and for the support given by all parties to date.
- Youth Service Update
Emma Jones who has been working part time in the post will go to full time from September. Unfortunately Jonathan Whittaker has left the area; he has been offered a different post over in Keighley and has accepted the opportunity. There will be 2 part time youth workers, working over 4 evenings a week. The Wednesday and Thursday evening youth provision will continue as will outreach work on a Friday evening. The Monday evening work is currently being reviewed. The Youth Service has now also moved under the umbrella of Neighbourhood Services, this will enable more direct working between colleagues as part of the same team
- Police Update
There were no issues from the police other than the graffiti. Police say it has been fairly quiet in the area in the past few weeks. It was mentioned that there was an attempted break in down Moorclose Lane at 2.30am very recently.
- Forward Plan
At a previous meeting Marie has spoken to the group about how to take things forward, following the success of the Sesquicentennial activities. Ideas for the future include possible development of a Horticultural Society as well as the setting up of a ‘friends of’ group. Marie has already been approached by a local woman who is interested in setting up a ‘Friends of Queensbury Cemetery’.
Holy Trinity have their cemetery tended to by a local man to whom thanks were paid for his hard work and help.
Regarding looking ahead to a horticultural society, there are other similar places in Clayton and Baildon it was suggested someone could be invited to attend a future meeting to talk more about the topic. Queensbury does have some allotments already, situated off Highfield Terrace and New House Lane.
The next Ward Forum is also currently being planned for September / October.
- Any Other Business
Q – Who pays for the street furniture, such as the benches outside the Co-op?
A – Ward Councillors funded some previous furniture. Bradford Council do install street furniture but funding would have to be identified.
There will be a 1940’s community fun day on 27th September. An application has been submitted to close some of Chapel Street off for the event. There will be live music, stalls, and representatives from St John’s ambulance service as well as plenty of different activities. The event will be at the Conservative Club. George 3rd Pub will be involved too and drinks / food will be available from their premises. There is another meeting to continue plans at George 3rd at 7.00pm on 17th July.
Antisocial Behaviour Week commences 14th July.
Activities in Queensbury include
Monday 14th, 6-8pm at FoxhillPark, targeting dog fouling and promoting the Green Dog Walking Scheme
Tuesday 15th, Police speed checks onDeanstones Lane
Wednesday 16th 9.30am-12.30pm Day of Action at Hillcrest
Friday 18th July, Youth Service will be doing outreach work at RussellHallPark.
Residents asked for speed checks to also be done at West End
In terms of dog fouling it was raised that in Wakefield and other areas, they have stencils on the pavement to try and detract owners from causing dog fouling. This is thought to be a cheaper, more successful approach as unlike signs, which cost a lot, and can not be taken down or damaged.
Action: Marie to discuss the idea of pavement stencils to combat dog fouling issues.
The Councillors and Marie confirmed that there will be Ward Budget money of £10,000 available for groups to bid for, for the 2014/2015 financial year. The groups will have to bid under the same criteria as in previous years and at the end of the process the Councillors will agree where the money will be allocated. There was £600 carried over from 2013/2014 year. The total figure of £10,600 has to be spent by 31/03/2015.
It is important that groups wishing to apply specify the projects clearly and reply within the next 4 or 5 weeks.
Action: Marie to email out expressions of interest forms initially before then emailing more detailed forms as necessary.
It was brought to the attention of the group that the ‘Gatehouse’ front is very messy and needs tackling due to it being an eyesore.
- Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be a combined ‘Friends of Queensbury Cemetery’ and Queensbury Ward Partnership meeting and will be held on Tuesday 9thSeptember at 7.00pm at HolyTrinityChurch.
There were no further issues raised, therefore Marie thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 8.45pm
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