Chairman’s Report 2022
As I write this report, I hope the worst of the Covid 19 pandemic has passed us by. I know many residents have fallen victim to the virus, the majority recovering but some having long covid and sadly a few no longer with us. My condolences and sympathies to all who have suffered. I, as I am sure we all do, look forward to returning to the new normality of post Covid and getting back to doing the things we previously enjoyed pre Covid.
Residents have often raised concerns regarding traffic in the village, be it stationary or fast-moving vehicles. When the Neighbourhood Plan was written one of the proposed projects listed was a traffic management plan for the village. During the past year your council received communications form many residents about traffic issues and a public meeting was called so residents could voice their concerns. A traffic working group has been formed to look at all aspects of traffic management in the village. Please remember this is a voluntary group of people undertaking the work and it will not be a quick fix project completed in six months but could easily taken a couple of years to finalise. I know some residents have objected to cars parked in certain areas and asked if they could be moved and yellow lines installed, sadly all this does is move the problem elsewhere and the calls start from a new group of residents for action. I know our village was not built for the motor cars that are here today so please could I ask all residents to be considerate in where they park their cars so not to block others driveways or block sight lines at junctions of roads. Resident are able to give input into the plan and on the final plan itself. If you have any suggestions or comments, please email them to the clerk or speak to one of your councillors.
A number of projects are already in the pipeline the first being the purchase of four fixed speed indicator devices to be fixed to lamp posts around the village. These will record traffic details and speeds so providing information needed to press for action form Leeds City Council and the police. Secondly Wetherby Ward Councillor Linda Richards has been working with LCC highways on a scheme around the entrance to Bramham primary school which is in Clifford Parish. This involves new line markings, a new entrance to the school and footpath improvements in the hope to improve the safety of children walking to school. This work is scheduled to be undertaken during the school’s summer holidays. Sadly, there appears to be very little able to be done to improve the footpath from Victoria cottages down to the school. It receives ‘regular’ maintenance from highways involving digging back the verge creep and sweeping of the path. This does not mean the council or LCC will not look at any suggestions put forward to try and address the problem but options appear very limited. Thirdly your parish council has been asked to contribute towards some footpath improvements outside Boston Spa Academy. This will involve widening the footpath between the school entrance and the Clifford parish boundary of Winnow Lane and the introduction of a crossing near to the bus stops in that area. Not only will this help with the safety of children walking to and from the school but also make it safer for walkers crossing the road at this junction.
In July last year travellers decided to make Northway’s playing field their home for a short time. Whilst your parish council does not object to the way these people wish to live, they do object to the damage and mess which they created. Fences were cut down to gain entrance onto the field from the car park, damage was caused to the football pitch by quad bikes and vehicles being driven over it, benches were cut up and used for firewood, a large amount of rubbish left strewn across the area including gas cylinders, T. V’s, clothing, general household rubbish and tree pruning’s, not to mention the used toilet paper and wet wipes when the woodland was used as their toilet. My thanks go to our clerk Nancy for dealing with the bailiffs at all hours of the day and to the volunteers who bravely turned up and cleaned up after the travellers, certainly not an enviable task to do. The whole episode cost your parish council at least £2000 which was not budgeted for in the annual budget. When the parish council were made aware of the same travellers in the area again in recent weeks the parish council took preventative action of hiring in concrete blocks to prevent access onto Northway’s car park and playing field. This is a temporary measure but your parish council has a responsibility to protect its assets. In the long term the parish council has applied for planning permission in erect an overhead barrier to reduce the risk of something similar happening again in the future.
2022 marks the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. An achievement none of us has ever witnessed and one I doubt anyone living today will witness again. To mark the occasion the village beacon will be lite on the evening of Thursday 2nd June at 9.45pm at Northway’s playing field as part of the national chain of beacons to celebrate this remarkable achievement. Your parish council is also offering a gift of a souvenir mug to all children in the parish aged sixteen and under on the 2nd June 2022. To apply for this gift please visit the parish council website and register your request. The mug will be delivered to your home around the time of the jubilee weekend. A request was made to residents interested in helping organise additional events to mark the occasion but only one resident came forward to volunteer. Organising events of such scale needs more volunteers to make it happen so sadly there will be only the one public event in the village.
Your parish council continues to work with and be represented on many outside bodies including the Police and Community Together (PACT), Diggle’s First Fruits, Yorkshire Local Council Association, National Allotment Society, Outer North East Leeds Town & Parish Council Forum, Charity of Richard Dawson, Clifford Football Club, and Village Hall Management committee to name a few. I thank all individuals and councillors for their time in undertaking these roles.
I would like to thank Clifford Local History group for their tremendous amount of work in updating the village interpretation board located at the war memorial. It is a fascinating read to anyone visiting or new to our village and shows how well an independent group in the village can work with the parish council in delivering projects for the benefit of the community. Improvements continue at Northway’s playing field with the addition of cycle racks to encourage people to cycle to the playing field instead of taking their car. At St. Edward’s field new benches have been installed and quotes are being sort for installation of suitable play equipment.
During the last few months two of your parish councillors have resigned from the council due to personal circumstances. I would like to thank Eram Watson who joined the council three years ago as a new resident of Shires Grove. Eram brought with her a valuable knowledge on the legal side of planning which was a great benefit to the work of the council. Eram has moved from the village and I wish her and her family all the very best in their new home. Secondly Owen Milligan has stood down from the council after just short of twenty-four years on the council. Owen has been chairman of the planning working group for as long as I can recall. His knowledge from his professional career has been so valuable when dealing with planning issues. Owen put in a tremendous amount of work when the Nunnery Way and Shires Grove developments were proposed and I dare to say he visited every site of a planning application in the village when they were received. He spoke to many applicants and neighbours and I know from personal conversations with residents how grateful they were to Owen for his assistance with planning applications. Owen is going to be a very hard act to follow and I personally thank him for all his support to me whilst we have both served on your parish council.
I thank also my fellow parish councillors for all the work they undertake throughout the year. Your council and community would certainly not run or deliver projects if it was not for all the tremendous work they do. Nancy Fairbairn, Clerk to the parish council also deserves to be thanked. Not only does Nancy keep your councillors on the right tracks but deals with emails and telephone calls from residents raising concerns. I thank Nancy for all the work she undertakes.
2023 will be election year for Clifford Parish Council and I would encourage anyone who has or is thinking about possibly standing for council to speak to either one of your councillors or contact the clerk to find out more of what the role involves. Contact details can be found on the parish council website. It can be very frustrating at times, rather mundane some of the time but very rewarding on other occasions.
Once again, I will end this report by thanking all the residents of Clifford for your support throughout the year and for all what you do to make Clifford a place, we call home.
Councillor Nicholas P.P.Fawcett
Chairman of Clifford Parish Council 2021/2022