We can rebuild him!

My new knee!

 During lockdown I decided to get fit. We were told we could only go out for exercise for an hour each day. So, for those of us who hardly exercised at all it seemed like a great challenge. For me and Liz it was a walk one day followed by a run the next. Despite the obvious background horror of it all it was lovely getting out in the sunshine in the clear air exploring the countryside around where we lived. Then one day my foot went down a hole I limped a fair bit after that. When my leg got better, I couldn't run without pain and a long period of limping after I tried. Steroid injections didn't seem to make much difference, nor did physiotherapy so following an X-Ray I was sent into an MRI Scanner that's like a very noisy iron lung that gives detailed picture of your insides. When I got my results. it turned out I had arthritis in my right knee. I was offered a new knee. Now my parents in their 80s have 3 new knees so the principle wasn't unfamiliar to me, but I was only 57 and was it that bad really? I could walk for miles. Sometimes my knee hurt but it got better after a few days. In the end I wondered what the state of the NHS might be in a few years and decided to take the opportunity to get it done now when I could. There is so much uncertainty at the moment and with the Perma crisis that we are living in showing no sign of abating then it seemed foolhardy not to take the op.

The operation itself seemed to go well, was very professionally done. I was asked the same questions several times by different people in the same hospital. I was fine with this; they didn't want to make a mistake. and I didn't want them to make a mistake either! I came round was given a very nice cottage pie and the following morning was released with my cocktail of painkillers. So now I have my daily knee exercises and get a bit wiped out by the strong painkillers. I've avoided the bottle of morphine they gave me though I confess I wondered what it would be like taking it. 

So, my hope is that I will end up with a less painful knee and that I will be able to start doing Park runs again. Here's the opening sequence of "The Six Million Dollar Man"

Newsome Councillors visit to Left Bank in Leeds

Newsome Cllrs at Left Bank in Leeds

Newsome Ward Councillors had a few hours away from Huddersfield this week and went to Left Bank in Leeds. Left Bank is successful conversion of a church into a community cafe, event space and music venue. We were really interested to see how it operated as we are hoping to do something similar in St John's Church in Newsome through the new Community Benefit Society, we have set up called 'The Newsome Centre'.

It has been in operation for 20 years so seeing what they do, learning from their successes and avoiding pitfalls was a good use of our time. 

A big chunk of their income comes from weddings, not the ceremonies (as former churches can't be used for that purpose), but the receptions where families come together to celebrate marriages. These are some of the most important days of many people's lives so really important that these are done right and professionally. 

Left Bank and its cafe are open 7 days a week and when we went it was full of young people, mainly students, using the Wi-Fi, having a coffee and doing coursework. Through the week a variety of different groups use the space such as Knit and Natter groups, life drawing classes, older persons art groups, pottery classes, break dancers. It is a vibrant hub for the community, and they have a rich programme of events including Beer Festivals, Arts Festivals, 70s nights, Christmas Parties and indoor 'car boot' sales.

There is a mix of seating from comfy settees, desk space and a few pews. There's a recognition of their heritage as a church with a pulpit, the old organ and a number of other features remaining in place. You can buy a house plant or two there, a birthday card and paintings from local artists. 

The look of the place is quite funky with attractive lighting installations and bright colourful murals. You would be quite happy to spend a few relaxing hours hanging out there with a coffee and a nice piece of cake.

One key bit of advice we had was "be generous" to organisations with time and space. There should be space for income generating activity but also free space to organisations which have a lot to give to the community and add to the activity and vibrancy of the place.

A big thanks to Sue Jennings from Left Bank who gave us a real insight into the sort of things we need to be looking at in The Newsome Centre's Business Plan.

A629 Edgerton Road widening axed not the trees!

 I got the news last week that the  Kirklees proposal to fell 88 trees near the Blacker Road junction to widen the road had been "paused". 

" Paused" is defined as "interrupting an action briefly" but this pause is not brief. There is no funding from West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority nor Kirklees for this part of the scheme and there is no plan to take it forward. So "shelved" or even "cancelled" seems much more accurate a description.

It has been a long campaign to save these trees along what is regarded as an iconic and beautiful tree lined route through Edgerton into Huddersfield. I am full of admiration for the determination of the campaigners. They lobbied Councillors in the rain outside Huddersfield Town Hall, put questions to the Labour Cabinet members in Full Council meetings and staged "Banners at the Junction" protests on numerous Saturday mornings. At times it seemed that success was unlikely but now it is clear that they have succeeded.

The success is not an admission of error by either WYCMA or Kirklees. The reason given is funding constraints and overprogramming. Basically, due to inflation and other factors they haven't got the budget they need to do everything they want to do. The campaigners' victory is down to them making so clear that this is such an unpopular scheme that it was top of the list to be cut. So unfortunately, no revelatory moment from the Labour Cabinet or the West Yorkshire Mayor.

The arguments against the widening and tree felling were very clear. The carbon emissions calculations were dubious, the impact on heritage ignored as was the effect on local biodiversity. These arguments were amplified by the Council's own Tree Officer, the Kirklees Climate Commission and the Woodland Trust. Their arguments against were never properly addressed by the Labour Cabinet member. Instead of addressing their arguments he decided to accuse me of making up my own facts when all I was doing was repeating their facts. Got to say I wasn't impressed.

So, what next? People's lives have been affected. Some homes and parts of gardens would have been lost along the route. Saying the scheme is "paused" does not give them the closure they need. Kirklees owes it to the householders who have been disrupted for the last few years to have the certainty they need to get on with their lives. 

As a reminder of the reasons that we needed to save these trees here's the campaign video