www.holmevalleyparishcouncil.gov.uk Design & production by Cllr Rhona Bratt Printed by Walker Design and Print

Ward Name Telephone Address

Brockholes L. Bailey 01484 662398 4 Oakes Lane, Brockholes, HD9 7AR

Fulstone D. M. Firth 01484 683735 34 Penistone Road, New Mill, HD9 7JP

Fulstone D. Hall 01484 686488 45 Sude Hill, New Mill, HD9 7BL

Hepworth T. Dixon 01484 685928 Wood Nook, South View, Jackson Bridge, HD9 7HT

Holmfirth Central G. Christofi 01484 682721 10 Oak Tree Avenue, Scholes, HD9 1SD

Holmfirth Central P.S. Hirst 01484 689622 1 Greenhill Bank Road, Holmfirth, HD9 1LU

Honley Central & East M. Bower 01484 661354 17 Woodroyd Avenue, Honley, HD9 6LG

Honley Central & East P.D. Searby 01484 661980 10 Townhead, Honley, HD9 6BW

Honley Central & East B. Smith 01484 689961 Southfield, Holmfirth Road, New Mill, HD9 7LX

Honley South C.M. Kaye 01484 666424 Springfield House, 7 Field End , Honley, HD9 6NE

Honley West R Oldfield Resigned March 2009

Honley West P. Robinson 07769 905957 6 Lea Rise, Honley, HD9 6EZ

Netherthong T. Dearnley 01484 686034 Ashgrove Barn, Broad Lane, Upperthong, HD9 3JS

Netherthong J. Roberts 01484 684930 30 Wolfstones Road, Netherthong, HD9 3UU

Scholes R. P. Dixon 01484 685928 Wood Nook, South View, Jackson Bridge, HD9 7HT

Scholes M. Walker 01484 684927 43 Scholes Moor Road, Scholes, HD9 1SJ

Upper Holme Valley T. Bellamy 01484 683147 146 Woodhead Road, Hinchliffe Mill, HD9 2NL

Upper Holme Valley J. M. Osborn 01484 685068 Greengates Farm, Greengates Road, Austonly, HD9 3RG

Upperthong G. Cropper 07703 314313 Midgley Farm, Wickens Lane , Upperthong HD9 3RE

Upperthong A. R. Otterburn 01484 685437 1 Holme View Park, Upperthong, HD9 3HS

Wooldale R. Bratt 01484 689122 5 Millfold, Holmbridge, HD9 2TQ

Wooldale J. Greenwood 01484 222462 32 Bourn View Road, Netherton, HD4 7JZ

Wooldale B.A. Smith 01484 689961 Southfield, Holmfirth Road, New Mill, HD9 7LX

Councillor contacts — 2008/2009

Holme Valley Parish Council

ANNUAL REPORT 2008/2009

A look at the past year in the Holme Valley

Page 1

The Chairman’s report—Cllr Trevor Bellamy

The end of the civic year – one of the

Chairman’s last official duties is to prepare

this report to be presented to our electorate

with further details of Parish Council

activities.

Your council of 23 Councillors,

representing 12 wards, means each

Councillor representing on average 870

electors. We have a committee structure to

work on the many and diverse areas of

responsibility within our localities. Reports

from each of these Committees are in this

Annual Report and provide detailed

information regarding areas of

responsibility and actions taken.

We have continued to look at how we

work and have made such changes

regarding the duration of meetings and the

frequency of some of

our meetings. In

addition to this, public

surgeries are held at

regular intervals and at

various locations within

our area. Councillors

also attend as

representatives on outside bodies. Well

above twenty such bodies exist with one

or more Councillors attending on our

behalf. The councillors undertake the

work of councillors freely and willingly

and do not receive payment for their time

and efforts.

The Council is governed by Standing

Orders relating to all areas of our work.

On occasion changes do have to be

made to these Orders in response to

local, regional and national

requirements or guidelines. Recently

we have updated the list of

information available from Holme Valley

Parish Council under the Model

Publication Scheme 2009, which can be

viewed on our website or obtained as a

hard copy on request.

An area of pride to us all is the fact that

Some 84 persons attended the Charity Civic Lunch, the final civic event of my year

as Chairman of Holme Valley Parish Council. Entertainment was provided by a

young local cornet player Tom Brown. On guitar and vocals another local entertainer Ian Evans. We also had a visit from the Holme Valley Beagles. Many thanks to all the above for making the afternoon a success and thanks to staff at the Huntsman Hotel for professional and welcoming service. Thanks to the generosity of local individuals and businesses who made donations of money and items, for an auction and a raffle, we were able to raise a good amount on the day for my chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, and a cheque for £1,105 has been presented to this charity. In addition, nominated local charities and organisations will receive donations from my charitable fund. Community groups which specialise in working with the young people of the Valley will receive monies from this fund.

The Chairman’s Charities

we have the status of a Quality Parish

Council. Not easily gained, not easily

retained; we are due to apply for re-

accreditation in the near future. Much

work has gone into this; we approach the

process with confidence.

We are

committed to

working hard

in support of

our local

communities

and to giving

quality and a good value for money

service. We are very proud of our local

Holme Valley minibus service, one of the

many strengths in our Parish. Our

committees have continued their work on

children’s play areas, services for

teenagers, community projects such as bus

shelters, clocks and war memorials all of

which are detailed in the committee

reports.

We work with other local authorities, such

as Kirklees Council, on wider issues and

this year have been consulted on Localities

Working, Community Governance Review

and the Local Development Framework –

all key areas of work in progress.

Some local issues affect us all - there have

been changes to bus services and possibly

more to come. Public meetings were

organised to allow individuals and

organisations to put forward their views and

to collect evidence on why local post offices

should not be closed.

Large planning developments, such as a

proposed supermarket, continue to create a

wealth of strong feeling, passion and debate

and the Parish Council, as always, seeks a

wide range of views on these developments.

On behalf of the Parish Council I would like

to give many thanks to the organisations and

individuals who have shown us such good

support over the past year. My own special

thanks go to Chairs of Committee and

fellow Councillors for expertise,

commitment and loyalty over a busy period.

For working hard as always – many thanks

to our Clerk, Mrs. Marjory Bewick, and our

Administrative Support Officer, Mrs. Sally

Barber.

Finally a look at next year with its

challenges and opportunities, I would like to

wish our new Chairman, Cllr. Judith

Roberts, best wishes for her year in office.

Cllr. Trevor Bellamy

Chairman, 2008 /2009

Chairman Strategy & Policy Committee

Chairman Cllr

Trevor Bellamy,

Mrs Kath Bellamy

and guests from

Kirklees, and from

other Parish and

Town Councils at

the Charity Civic

Lunch.

Photography —

Peter Webb

2008/2009 has been a year of change for the

Officers, with Sally Barber taking on the new

role of Administrative Support Officer (ASO)

and supporting the Clerk, Marjory Bewick with

the HVPC workload. Given the additional load

caused by the Community Governance Review,

the Post Office Closures and the new Land

Charity Committee, Marjory and Sally have

had a busy year, with Sally also taking on

training to achieve the ‘Working With Your

Council’ qualification, and also learning from

Marjory with her experience.

Staff Development Reviews were completed

satisfactorily, supported by the Councillors,

with a further CILCA qualification planned for

Sally next year. As part of the changed roles in

the Council, job grading reviews were

completed for the Assistant Clerk and ASO

roles, with the Clerk and Deputy Clerk gradings

to be completed next year. Revised job

specifications and profiles have also been

completed.

Together with the revised Job Structure for the

Council, the Committee is reviewing contracted

hours for the next 2 to 3 years to manage the

additional workload created by the Land

Charity.

Report from the Chairman of the Planning Committee - Cllr Judith Roberts

Vice Chairman - Cllr Di Hall

Once again the Parish planning team has had a

very busy year, with over 400 plans to consider

and make comment on to Kirklees Council.

I am also pleased to report that some long

awaited developments for the centre of

Holmfirth have now been completed,

improving the appearance of the town centre.

Although we have had several plans dealing

with environmental issues, Members have to

balance site with performance. Some

applications have worked well with

surrounding areas; others need adjustments.

As yet, our lack of developments which will

allow affordable housing within the Valley is of

concern, and with the downturn of the economy

it is crucial that we look into this.

Consultations on the new Local Development

Framework provide an opportunity for the

Council to highlight these concerns. It is vital

that the Planning Committee makes this point

in the early stages of developing this new Plan

as it will determine land use for the next decade

and more.

This forthcoming year may bring many changes

to the Holme Valley; a planning application for

a new supermarket is expected and further

discussions on the Kirklees Local Development

Framework will have an impact in future years.

Such issues will feature in next year’s planning

discussions.

Report from the Chairman of the Staffing Committee - Cllr Charles Kaye

Page 2

The accounts

are subject to

audit. Fuller

details of the

accounts are

available on

the parish

council

website and

will be

updated after

the accounts

are returned

from the

auditor.

The website

also has

financial

information

from previous

years.

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS TO 31 MARCH 2009

2007-2008 2008-2009

£ £

Opening Balances 76,780.61 113,116.93

Receipts

Precept 165,000.00 148,500.00

Income 11,885.25 15,132.01

Total Receipts 176,885.25 163,632.01

Refund of VAT 2,447.00 2,412.07

TOTALS: 256,112.86 279,161.01

Payments

Charities 2,264.98 1,271.25

Civic Governance 16,630.82 9,160.06

Consultation and Communications 5,708.38 7,245.10

Corporate Governance 74,812.12 67,350.07

Environment, Highways and Transport 32,706.21 35,109.19

Arts and Recreation 8,490.99 35,466.52

Planning and Economic Development 54.80 88.60

Total payments 140,668.30 155,690.79

VAT during year 2,327.63 2,458.25

Closing Balances 113,116.93 121,011.97

TOTALS: 256,112.86 279,161.01

Holme Valley Parish Council Annual Report 2008/2009

www.holmevalleyparishcouncil.gov.uk Design & production by Cllr Rhona Bratt Printed by Walker Design and Print

Report from the Chairman of the General Purposes Committee - Cllr Joan Osborn

Vice Chairman - Cllr Donald Firth

As Chairman of Holme Valley Parish Council

General Purposes Committee, I am reporting on

the support that this Committee has given to

various projects in the last civic year. Firstly,

the minibus has been running for many years

with our support, and I hope, with the help of

people using this service frequently, it will

continue serving the Valley for many years to

come.

The Parish Council is also supporting the

Holme Valley Patient Transport Scheme which

helps patients who cannot easily use public

transport, reach their Doctors for appointments.

Bus shelters and seats are maintained and

cleaned at regular

intervals and replaced

when necessary.

Christmas trees are

provided each year at

various sites throughout

the Holme Valley,

together with one

provided by Kirklees

Council in Holmfirth.

War Memorials are also well looked after and

refurbished. The new War Memorial

Lychgates at St. John’s Church, Upperthong

were completed in time for last year’s

Remembrance Service. There is more

refurbishment planned

for our other War

Memorials.

Over the years the Parish

Council has been

instrumental in providing,

in partnership with Kirklees

Council, many of the play

areas in the Valley; the

latest project being the

refurbishment of the play

area at Booth House.

The Committee also works with Kirklees

Council to support the Tidy Trader

competition, providing a special trophy each

year. It is hoped to extend the scheme to

Honley in future years.

Last, but not least, dog waste bags can be

obtained free of charge from the Council

offices, Tourist Information Centre or any

Councillor will be happy to supply them.

It is with great pleasure that I give you my second report as Chairman of the Finance &

Management Committee in this term of office. We have been able, as planned, to reduce

the precept in 2009/10 by 10%, moving towards our target to reduce by 25% in the three

years, 2007-2010. We are keen to attract funding for projects which will benefit the

residents of the Holme Valley. This year we received funding for work on the War

memorials after a successful grant bid organised through the General Purposes Committee

and funding for our publications organised through the Publications and Communications

Committee. Both committees are to be congratulated on achieving these additional

financial benefits for the parish.

Last year I reported that the

Parish Council had concluded

the process of land registration

of the awarded quarries held in

trust by the Parish Council.

This year I am pleased to report

that the Charity Commission

has agreed to a charitable

scheme for the disposal and use

of these assets. The work of dealing with the quarries now passes from the Finance and

Management Committee to the newly established Land Charity.

During the year, grants have been awarded to community and voluntary organisations:

Yorkshire Schools Exploring Society Support for volunteer work in Mongolia

Agbrigg Girl Guiding Support for attendance at Guide Event

Brockholes Methodist Church Provision of handrail

Holmfirth Festival of Folk Children’s Street Theatre

Hepworth Brass Band Promoting 'Championship Brass in the

Holme Valley'.

Holme Valley Brass Band Contest Prizes and general donation

Holme Valley Parish Council Telephone & Fax: 01484 222462

Council Offices, 49/51 Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth, HD9 3JP

Clerk: Marjory Bewick Admin Support Officer: Sally Barber

E-mail admin@holmevalleyparishcouncil.gov.uk

Website www.holmevalleyparishcouncil.gov.uk

How quickly time goes, it seems not long ago

when I was asked to write my first annual

report as Chairman for the Publications and

Communications Committee. Since then a lot

has happened, and our team have had the

pleasure in writing the quarterly newsletter.

I must stress that the publication team has

again worked hard throughout the year in

making the newsletter available to all

residents within the parish, and we will

continue to do so as we believe that informing

our parish of events and developments which

are of concern, is important.

An increase in the number of visitors to the

Parish website provides a strong indication

that people in our area are active in keeping

involved with developments within the Parish.

Use of online Polls have helped us gauge

opinion on issues such as funding of the

Holmfirth Christmas lights.

In between the quarterly newsletters, please

do visit the Parish website and get involved.

Report from the Chairman of the Publications and Communications Committee - Cllr James Greenwood; Vice Chairman - Cllr Tom Dixon

Report from the Chairman of the Finance & Management Committee - Cllr Paul Dixon

Vice Chairman - Cllr Beryl Smith

Financial Report from the Responsible Financial Officer - Marjory Bewick