Greens Volunteer Bus Service celebrates 30 year Anniversary

Cllrs Andrew Cooper, Sue Lee-Richards &  Karen Allison 

A bus service started by the Green Party in Huddersfield over the festive period in 1992 is marking its 30th Anniversary in service.

 The Green Party in the Newsome Ward commenced the service as a response to bus service cuts in the 1990s and used to cover Boxing Day and New Years Day before Boxing Day Services were restored a few years ago. The New Year’s Day service has run on every New Year’s Day for 30 years with the exception of 2020 due to Covid restrictions.

 Councillor Andrew Cooper who is one of the drivers on the service said,

 “I remember the first one we ran in 1992 which started  as a protest against the removal of services over the holiday period. Since then some services have been resumed in some areas in recent years on Boxing Day. In recent years the minibus has been donated by Kirklees Council for which we are very grateful”

 The Bus service links Berry Brow, Newsome, the Town Centre and goes up to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and is used by people visiting relatives in hospital.

Newsome Green Party Councillor Sue Lee-Richards who is also a volunteer on the bus service said

 “I really enjoy doing the bus service each year and it is now very much part of our Christmas holiday routine. At this time of year when there are limited public transport services taxi journeys can be expensive so people who use the minibus really do value it. We put timetables on bus stops, in local shops and on newsletters that go to thousands of homes, so people are aware of our schedule. The service is free to use but donations towards fuel costs are always welcome. A copy of our timetable is below.”

Cllr Andrew Cooper's Speech on Kirklees Climate Change Action Plan - Kirklees Full Council 7/12/22

 Just to be clear and to avoid accusations by Cllr Simpson, that I am making up my own facts, I'll only quote from the report that is in front of us today.

When is a Climate Change Action Plan NOT a Climate Change Action Plan? I guess the answer to this question is when it says it isn’t. The report on the Climate Change Action Plan says,

“The CCAP is not a list of firm commitments, investment proposals or instructions at this point in the process. But it does set out detailed actions that can be taken by the Council, key partners, and members of the wider community to help deliver the district's net zero and climate ready target.”

Now I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound anything like an action plan to me.

And  what consequences flow from “the plan”. For instance costs, risks, legal implications. The report says 

2.15. As this version of the CCAP is not a list of commitments and instructions at this stage in the process, there are no costs associated with its approval. 

Furthermore it says,

2.23. There are minimal risks associated with the publication of this plan, due to the non-committal nature of the CCAP”.

And on legal implications

5.2. As the CCAP shown in Appendix 1 of this report is not a list of commitments and instructions, there are no broader legal implications in the approval of this plan. 

I am disappointed that there are no implications from this report. I want the report to be consequential, important and substantial.

I do the report a slight misservice as there is a risk identified. It says:

 2.24. The core risks with this CCAP comes primarily from potential communication and publication of the documentation. Specifically associated with the positive and negative response expected from the public, partner organisations such as the Kirklees Climate Commission. 

When you are expecting a possible poor response from your principal partner the Kirklees Climate Commission you’ve got to be asking yourself some serious questions as to why we are in this space.

It further goes on to say

5.14. A core focus of this criticism is expected around the non-committal nature of this CCAP at this stage in the process. To combat this, we are striving to clearly communicate how the next steps in our action plan process will result in firm commitments, once we have developed and identified – through extensive resident and stakeholder engagement, a refined number of high-priority actions by place, which will be accompanied by a business case providing indicative costs and carbon figures. 

So in a strange way I am reassured by this report. Reassured because I have heard certain Cabinet Members saying how we are one of the best Councils in the country on addressing climate change. I tell you now, we are not and recognising that is the first step towards improving so I commend officers for their candour in this report and all the good work they are doing but I’d like a clear understanding from Cabinet Members of when we will have a real Climate Change Action Plan given that we are nearly 4 years since the Council declared a Climate Emergency.

I was a bit bemused by this statement in the report

3.11., Kirklees Council have and will continue to deliver a Young Persons Climate Festival helping educate, inform, and give young people a chance to get involved with the various environmental initiatives taking place across Kirklees.

If there’s something I’m really clear about, it is that young people, ( with one or two exceptions), get climate change almost instinctively, as the future that we are just beginning to see is getting worse and the consequences of our actions are ones that they will experience acutely. Many are well informed, and educate themselves, you do that, when it is a threat to your future and your very survival.

I think we need another “Festival'' to inform and educate Councillors, Directors, Heads of Service. Why not ensure we all go through a Carbon Literacy course so they properly understand the implications of  decisions on future generations. 

 

In some ways the most shocking part of the report was this statement,

“6.3. Review by portfolio holders: Cllr Simpson (Green and Clean), Cllr Davies (Environment) and Cllr Mather (Corporate) were consulted and had no comments on the options or recommendations put forward in this report.”

What nothing? Zilch? Nada? Arguably the most important document about what we are doing locally to address climate change and our Kirklees Cabinet members had nothing to say?

Utterly shocking!

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 

Parish Action on Cost of living crisis

Kirkburton Parish Council has taken action to help address the cost-of-living crisis

 The debate on the cost-of-living crisis was initiated by Green Party Parish Councillor Robert Barraclough. 

 Robert said,

 “People think of the Kirkburton Parish as a ‘well off’ area but poverty can be hidden with some people getting by on low fixed incomes particularly pensioners.We also have community organisations that have been hit hard by the pandemic which limited their opportunity to raise funds and now they face the possibility of higher fees for room hire because of the massive hike in energy bills. To tackle these problems, we have made a donation of £1500 to The Welcome Centre who are the largest food bank in our area and asked them to engage with the many villages that make up the Kirkburton Parish. We have also encouraged community organisations that have been hit with big room hire costs to apply to the Parish Council for a grant to help deal with these extra costs.”

 Councillor Andrew Cooper who is also a Kirkburton Parish Councillor said,

 “We are also asking people managing Community Buildings to apply for funding to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. Whether it is insulation or solar panels or improvements to lighting all these things can help reduce energy use in buildings. It is good for finances and the environment. Parish Councils don’t have huge budgets like Kirklees Council, but we do make good use of the funds we have even if it is in a small way.”

 Details of Kirkburton Parish Council grant schemes can be found on the Kirkburton Parish Council website  www.kbpc.co.uk

 

How do Councils respond to the Energy Bill Tsunami that is coming?

When the Government funded them, I used to manage the South and West Yorkshire Energy Savings Trust Advice Centre. We used to do a lot of easy energy saving advice measures which would have a fairly small impact on bills over an entire year. Now these advice measures, like turning your thermostat down 1 degree and only boiling as much hot water as you need etc, will save more money than they used to. The problem with this advice is that it all looks a bit piecemeal when compared with the cost of living tsunami which is hurtling towards us all. There are going to be people who can make adjustments to their heating systems timers and thermostats that will save them hundreds of pounds but these will be the people who can afford to keep their heating systems running. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people are not going to be in that fortunate position.

 Of course what is needed is a mass deep retrofit programme but that is not going to happen with an absence of political will and even we had that political will it would take years to start making an impact. The Green Party are right to push for nationalisation of the energy companies but that is not in our gift and the path to take where the Government will agree with us is not at all obvious. Locally we need advice that is practical and impactful.

 The sort of advice that makes a big difference is advice which does not require you to heat your home as much as you did before. During the pandemic we urged people to stay apart but in the cost of living crisis we need to urge people to come together.

 Warm Clubs - Shared heated space – promote the idea of neighbourly sharing of heat where people invite neighbours round 1 day a week and reciprocate in a group of 4 or 5. Works best with people who get on obviously. Advice on how to run a Warm Club – communal eating, agree to watch a movie together, board games would be needed.

 Warm Banks – these are growing as a proposition but they need a specification, almost a licence. Is there comfortable seating? Is there entertainment?  Is there food? How do you address the fact that people are different and like different things? Is there advice? Is there a Manager of a Warm Bank to deal with issues (there are always issues when people come together!) We need a network of Warm Banks close to where people live so they don’t have to pay for travel

 Warm the person more and the house less – providing Oodies – All over blanket clothing. Providing heated gilets where electric heated elements help keep people cosy. Some people will be able to afford these and change there lifestyles accordingly. Where people can’t afford these then it makes sense for the Council and other public bodies to provide them. They can be relatively cheap per unit.

 Advice and advocacy – People need somewhere to go/to ring to get trusted advice and advocacy where they have issues with their energy bills and people to speak on their behalf. This sounds like something that ought to be established at the regional level with funding from West Yorkshire Combined Authority and advisors trained to the NEA Energy Awareness City and Guilds level.

 The other important thing to remember is that this is not just fuel poverty, it is food poverty, school uniform poverty, period poverty. Actually it is just Poverty and a lot of people who never expected to be in it are going to dumbfounded, lost and acutely embarrassed to find themselves in need of help.  With the mental and physical impacts expected, the next Tsumami could well be a public health one.