Tag Archives: Menston Car Show

“Illegal“, “Insane” and “Uninsurable” were words used to describe housing developments on greenfield sites, and associated ‘traffic calming’ works, proposed by Bradford Council (BMDC) for Menston along Bingley Road, by speakers at the 8 January meeting of the Menston Community Association (MCA).
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Minutes of 8 January 2014 meeting (posted 16 Jan). Click this sentence for link on MCA intro page

Yet again there was a ‘complaint’ at the 8 Jan meeting from a Parish Councillor that he had been unable to find/access the minutes of the previous meeting. Yet again it was pointed out that the minutes were up on this site shortly after being received from the (currently ‘acting’) Secretary – in this case Christmas Eve morning, ie more than two weeks before the 8 Jan meeting. It is very frustrating when this site endeavours, and generally succeeds, to get information posted promptly that people say they are ‘unable’ to find minutes, etc.

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Traffic ‘calming’ proposals

Residents wanted to know why they were not supposed to hear about the traffic calming proposals, following complaints from the BMDC traffic planning officer after a Parish Councillor had let the cat out of the bag by circulating the proposals. Another Parish Councillor present at the meeting failed to convince the residents that they should not yet have heard about them. In fact, he was questioned on why previously agreed plans had been abandoned and asked to put this question at a forthcoming meeting with BMDC to discuss the plans. However, another speaker pointed out that the housing developments should not go ahead at all so the traffic measures were irrelevant.

Illegal

The housing developments themselves were claimed to be “illegal” under Common Law and would be opposed on this basis, another speaker said. They were also illegal under European law another resident added.

NB. Various documents relating to the above will be added to the site at a later date.

Notice boards: Cllr Sue Rix reported that, following her suggestion at the previous meeting that there was a need for more and better noticeboards in the village, work was progressing in a small working group. Various suggestions were made, among them inclusion of a village map. These will all be taken into account with the aim of having a firm, costed proposal to present to the next (February) meeting.

Car Show: following some discussion about the proposed car show on 5 May, it transpires that this is intended to be a ‘village only’ show, with vehicles from the village being displayed at sites around the village. Various other suggestions made at the meeting are therefore not relevant.

Children’s Centre: Cllr Sue Rix reported that she had been to a meeting which, in BMDC style, had not been ‘advertised’ until the last minute; she only found out about it by accident and staff had been given only 48 hours notice. She urged residents to get objections to closure in very quickly..

Neighbourhood Forum/MCA meeting: The next Neighbourhood Forum, which will also be the February MCA meeting, is on Tuesday 4 February in the main hall of the Kirklands Community Centre. In the first half of the meeting the agenda will include proposals for supporting local business, proposals for better communications within the village including the proposed MCA notice boards, an update re the Children’s Centre, proposals for the village Car Show and for 2014 Christmas lights and accompanying festivities in the village. The second half of the forum will be devoted to the proposed housing developments on Bingley Road and Derry Hill, accompanying plans for managing road traffic in the village, and of course the latest situation re fighting these proposals.

Grumpytyke asks:

Did you see the BBC1 Countryfile programme on Sunday evening? Covering extensively housing developments on greenfield land in Surrey, in some ways similar to Menston, both David Cameron and Nick Boles were shown assuring viewers that they had no intention to cover greenfields with housing! Personally I do not now believe a word which comes out of their mouths, on this or any other subject. Which presents me with a dilemma. I would like to vote of our MP, Philip Davies, who does seem to be working hard on our behalf, but how can I do that when he is a member of the political party represented by these two? Nick Boles did, however, make a valid point, saying that local councils could be more likely to get housing they wanted where they wanted, and avoid inappropriate development, by developing a ‘local plan’. Menston has not done that. Whether expecting small Parish Councils to make such a plan is realistic is a valid question, but our neighbours Burley seem to have managed it. When are the next Parish Council elections?