Bingley Town Council mailing no. 15

This mailing brings your news of a number of important initiatives being led by the Council. Please do come to our drop-in consultation event at Cardigan House on Saturday 2^nd December and let us know your thoughts on proposals to deal with the imminent closure of the town’s public toilets.

We report on a successful meeting about revitalising Bingley Market, the future of the Priestthorpe Annex and work being done by Action Stations at both Bingley and Crossflatts stations.

And we hope you enjoy the Christmas Fayre and Lights Switch-On, this Saturday, 25^th November!

Best wishes,

Ros Dawson

Chair, Bingley Town Council

Public toilets

As many of you will know, Bradford Council will be closing Bingley’s public toilets, in Jubilee Gardens, in March 2018. Since receiving this news, the Town Council has been exploring options for alternative provision.

The Council has been working with a firm of architects and other experts to explore the possibility of developing the current toilet site into a single-storey building that would provide a central office space for the Council and retain public toilets for Bingley.

A public consultation event is being held on Saturday 2 December 2017 at Cardigan House, Ferncliffe Road, Bingley, BD16 2TA. Residents are invited to drop in at any time between 10am and 3pm to see plans of the scheme, and full information about the financial implications, which would include a precept increase of around 60p per Band D property in 2018-19, will be available at the meeting. Town Councillors will be there to listen to feedback.

Following the event on 2nd December, all information will be posted on the Bingley Town Council website and the consultation will remain open until 31st December.

Bingley Market

A meeting was held at 8am on Saturday 18^th November to take some practical steps towards a revitalised Bingley Market, and was attended by a group of residents keen to become volunteer Marketmakers.

This followed the feedback from a survey earlier this year of residents and local traders asking for views about the future of the market, guided by NABMA, the National Association of British Market Authorities.

The plan being put forward was for a series of six monthly markets in the warmer months of next year, offering quality fresh food, and other goods, international hot cuisine, a courtyard area to eat and enjoy produce bought on the market or in the town’s cafes and shops as well as musical and other entertainment.

Following discussions at the meeting, it was agreed to include arts and crafts traders alongside the food offer. Further work is to be done on rebranding the market and involving local schools in plans for entertainment, and Bradford Council is to be asked to consider free parking on market days. Attendees also plan to visit other markets locally to get additional ideas and to feed back at the next meeting of the group which will take place in January (date tba).

Priestthorpe Annex

Around 30 residents and local business owners attended a meeting organised by the Town Council on 6th November to hear the latest information about the Priestthorpe Annex, also known as the former Technical School, on Mornington Road, Bingley.

The Priestthorpe Annex was built in the late 19th century to provide education and training to Bingley’s factory and mill workers.  In the mid-1970s it became the property of Bradford Council and was used for various purposes including as a youth club and school dinner kitchens.  It was shut and vacated in 2002 and has been unused ever since.

Since its creation in 2016, the Town Council has been pressing Bradford Council, the owner of the Annex, to take action on the run-down site. Bradford Council is currently inviting expressions of interest in the building, which must be lodged with CBMDC by the end of January.

Residents expressed mixed reactions to Bradford Council’s assessment that the building has degenerated so much that it is now beyond economical repair, is a danger to anyone who enters it and should be demolished as soon as possible.

At the meeting, residents voiced concern that Bradford Council had made no investment in the building, allowing the roof to be removed and sold in 2009.  Residents felt that Bradford Council had a duty to obtain as much as possible from any sale of the building and that the funds should be entrusted to Bingley Town Council to be put to educational use in the local area.

The Town Council is collating the views and ideas raised by residents at the meeting and will discuss them at its next full meeting on Tuesday 28th November at Crossflatts Community Centre.

 Action Stations

Volunteers who have adopted Bingley and Crossflatts railway stations have now run two tidy-up sessions to kick-start their programme of activities to make both stations more welcoming to both visitors and residents.

The group, called Action Stations, emerged from the Council’s Green and Clean Forum, and is one of many groups forming part of Northern Rail’s formal station adoption programme. On 7^th October, volunteers worked to clear the bottom part of the grounds below the station-master’s house and trim some shrubbery on the Leeds platform, while others collected litter at the back of the station and in surrounding streets and car parks.

A month later, on 9th November, the group returned to continue clearance work and to plant some bulbs, and is currently discussing longer-term plans for the site. Daffodils and crocuses have also been planted at Crossflatts station.

A small group of apprentices working with Northern Rail and Community Rail Lancashire will also be joining forces with Action Stations to undertake some discreet projects. The apprentices have put together a survey for residents to have their say about Bingley station, which is at the link below. Please help them, and Action Stations, by taking a few minutes to complete it:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WZ6JBV7

Action Stations is open to anyone with an interest in brightening up these key facilities in our neighbourhoods, and it is hoped soon to plan a regular schedule of activities.
 

Community Speedwatch

The Council is often contacted by residents concerned about speeding on our local roads and is in regular contact with Shipley Area Police about this and other traffic-related issues. Several Town Councillors have recently helped the police with Community Speedwatch events in their ward. Police resources permitting, more speedwatches should be taking place with your local councillors over the coming months.


Some dates for your diaries
 
Christmas Fayre and Christmas Lights Switch-on
Saturday 25th November, 10 am (Fayre opens), 4pm (lights switch-on)

Consultation drop-in event on public toilets
Saturday 2nd December, 10 am – 3 pm, Cardigan House, Ferncliffe Road

Litter pick
Saturday 2nd December, 10 am – 11.30 am, Britannia Bridge (Britannia Street end)

Green and Clean forum
Saturday 13th January, 10 am - 12 pm, Cardigan House, Ferncliffe Road
 

Next Town Council meeting
 
The next meeting of the Town Council is at 6.30pm on Tuesday 28th November at Crossflatts Community Assocation, St Aidan's Square. The meeting will be preceded by an informal surgery with Councillors.

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.