Welcome to Denby Dale Parish Council

Welcome to the website of Denby Dale Parish Council. The site offers information about the parish and about the work of the parish council itself. The activities of the parish council are recorded in the minutes of its meetings, all of which are placed on this site once they have been formally approved by the council.

A full list of the elected members of the council is available, together with information about their committee membership and their membership of other bodies on which they serve as representatives of the council.

We hope you find the website useful and easy to navigate and a helpful way of keeping up to date with what's happening in your area.

Hazel Chowcat
Clerk to the Council
Council Offices
Commercial Road
Skelmanthorpe
Huddersfield HD8 9DA
Tel/Fax: 01484 222963
email: denbydaleparishcouncil@kirklees.gov.uk

Local News

Denby Dale Area Committee

The next meeting of the Denby Dale Area Committee will be held on Thursday, 3 July at 7pm at St Aidan's First School, Smithy Close, Skelmanthorpe

The items on the agenda will be:

Emergency planning (how to prepare)
Update from Neighbourhood Policing Team
Update on Young People's activities
Co-opted vacancy on area committee - invite to residents with local knowledge

For further information contact Julie McDowell on 01484 221709

Denby Dale Village Centre Improvement Scheme

Do you live, work or shop in Denby Dale? Would you like to see the village improved? Do you have any improvement ideas?

Kirklees Council would like to hear your views and invite you to drop by and give your thoughts:

Denby Dale Library:
Exhibition: Saturday 21 June to Friday 27 June (Friday am only)
Manned Drop-in: Saturday 21 June from 10am to 12noon and Wednesday 25 June from 2pm to 4pm.

Library opening times: Monday and Wednesday 2pm to 7pm, Tuesday and Saturday 9am to 12pm, Thursday closed, Friday 2pm to 6pm.

Denby Dale Centre, Springfield Mills:
Exhibition: Saturday 28 June to Friday 4 July (Friday am only)
Centre Opening times: Monday to Friday 10am to 4.30, Saturday 11am to 3pm.

Further information:
Contact:
Either Debbie Bates: Tel 01484 221625;
email debbie.bates@kirklees.gov.uk
or
John Lambe: Tel 01484 221626
email john.lambe@kirklees.gov.uk

Council News

New Member of the Council

At its May meeting, the Parish Council agreed to co-opt Robert Allen to represesent Skelmanthorpe Ward. The vacancy occurred when Cllr Heather Cole resigned following her decision to move to New Zealand. Cllr Allen has experience as a parish councillor, having served on the Parish Council from 2004-2007.

New Chair and Vice Chair

At its Annual Council Meeting on 6 May, Denby Dale Parish Council elected Cllr Edward Shaw as Chair for the forthcoming civic year. Cllr Shaw first entered politics at the age of 26 when in 1968, he became a member of the then Denby Dale Urban District Council which was the precursor to Denby Dale Parish Council. Cllr Shaw has lived in Emley for 37 years. He is a retired school teacher, having taught geography and geology in Huddersfield. He is currently in his third term as a member of the Council. His is a member of the Ramblers' Association, Chair of the Boundary Walk Committee and a steward at the Methodist Chapel in Emley.

Cllr Shaw will be supported in his role as Chair by newly elected Vice Chair, Cllr Nick Wilson. Cllr Wilson first came onto the Council in the 2007 Council elections. He is a local businessman who runs a company based in Emley. He is a keen gardener and an active supporter of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Small Grants Scheme

As in previous years, Denby Dale Parish Council has set aside a small fund out of which it offers grants of up to £500 to local organisations from within the Parish Council area. In previous years, this scheme has funded a wide range of projects, including the purchase of musical instruments for local bands, repairs to church clocks, grants for equipment for youth groups, such as the Brownies and the Scouts and to sports organisations.

The Parish Council will only make grants to bona fide organisations which are properly constituted and all applications must be accompanied by an up to date financial statement, copies of bank statements and evidence of the likely cost of the equipment or project for which grant monies are required. Grant forms are now available. Forms can be downloaded here or by contacting the Clerk and should be returned to the Parish Clerk at Denby Dale Parish Council, Council Offices, 24 Commercial Road, Skelmanthorpe, HD8 9DA by 24 October 2008. Applications received after this date will not be considered. Applications will be considered in November 2008.

Broadband Provision in the Parish

Parish Councillors living in areas served by the old High Flatts telephone exchange are becoming increasingly frustrated at the inadequate broadband service they receive from BT. The problems experienced by broadband users include not being able to log on during certain times of the day, or once logged on, finding the service simply drops out. Though they seem to affect predominantly those served by the old High Flatts exchange (High Flatts, Birdsedge, Lower and Upper Cumberworth), reports of similar problems have been reported from other areas within the parish, such as Skelmanthorpe. Attempts to elicit a satisfactory response from BT have failed and the Parish Council has decided now to take its concerns to Ofcom.

The Parish Council would be interested to hear from any members of the community who have suffered broadband connection problems and it will then undertake to ensure that these experiences are communicated to Ofcom direct.

Council Meetings

All council meetings are held in the Civic Chamber of the Council Offices, Commercial Road, Skelmanthorpe. The schedule of forthcoming meetings is as follows:

Council

The next meeting of the Parish Council is at 7pm on 1 July 2008

Plans Scrutiny Committee

The next meeting of the Plans Scrutiny Committee will be held on 29 July 2008 starting at 7.30pm.

Finance and General Purposes Committee

The next meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee will be held at 7.30pm on 18 November 2008

Click here to see the minutes of the last council meeting