West Craven Area Committee of Pendle Council

[Tardis]

Last night's meeting agreed to allow the traders on Albert Road to put their tables and chairs in the Town Square

This should mean that the pavements are thus decluttered of the street furniture and allow much greater access to the disabled and mobility impaired,

A win for the West Craven Disability Forum

[Whyperion]

But a full up town square ?

[PanBiker]

In the main I think that it is a very sensible idea, however they will have to have some kind of waiver in place for when the tent goes up or the 17C guys and gal's are charging about with their muskets. Black powder an scones don't really mix.

[Tardis]

Yes I think that they have to work out the niceties, but hopefully it will be done quickly

With the reductions in grants, the tent may not go up quite as often.

If the square has tables & chairs the town might actually get a cafe culture beyond 4.30 if the County can sort out the street lights

[David Whipp]

Pickles Hippings and Parrock Street paths

In various places elsewhere on the site, there's been some discussion of problems with water on Pickles Hippings and Parrock Street footpaths. Pendle's countryside access team has been looking at these issues and are reporting the following to tonight's meeting of the local area committee:

On the Pickles Hippings footpath there were two issues. Firstly there was evidence that flooding down Esp Lane had overcome the drain at the start of the footpath, and a substantial volume of water had flowed down the footpath carrying with it material which had been washed off Esp Lane. Flooding of this nature is an occasional event and it does not appear to have any long term impact on the footpath. The second problem, on the Esp Lane side near the bridge, was a continuous flow of water down the cobbles which affected a 5-10 metre length of the footpath. This would present a hazard of ice if the temperatures froze. We have therefore cleaned out a ditch at the side of the footpath and this seems to have stopped the water flowing on the footpath surface. We will carry out a further inspection in the next week or so to check that this is working properly. At the same time we will brush the path clear of any of the loose debris left from the flooding.

On the Parrock Street to the Butts footpath there does seem to be a problem with water collecting part way down the footpath and forming a large puddle. There is a lack of any surface water drainage at the bottom of Parrock Street, therefore the surface water from the street, including water from the down pipes of the last few houses will find its way directly onto the footpath. I have not yet been able to talk to the Jonathan, who designed and supervised the recent footpath improvements, about whether we could alter the levels to allow the water to flow off the path naturally. I hope be able to talk to him later today, so if there is any further information which can be passed onto the Committee about this then I will let you know.

[Stanley]

Nice to know action is being taken David. When someone has time could they look at the way the ginnel between Manchester Road and the back lane up to Letcliffe past Hill Top Farm is getting overgrown?

[David Whipp]

Thanks Stanley.

The path off Manchester Road to the lower entrance to Letcliffe Park was refurbished in last year's 'urban ginnel' improvements. The vegetation was removed and the joints between the setts scraped out and treated with weedkiller before being regrouted. I checked yesterday and there isn't any regrowth yet.

Something I've noticed with Forty Steps, which was one of the first paths we did through the urban ginnel scheme, is that fallen vegetation (and other muck...grrr) is collecting on top of the newly grouted setts, giving somewhere for fresh vegetation to take root.

Last autumn, I asked if there were any volunteers to join a 'ginnel gang' which would carry out routine sweeping and clearing on ginnels. Any offers?

[Stanley]

Thanks for that David. I wasn't aware because I haven't been up for a while due to me knees but they are greatly improved and as soon as the weather gets better I shall be enjoying Letcliffe again.

[Tardis]

The path off Manchester Road to the lower entrance to Letcliffe Park was refurbished in last year's 'urban ginnel' improvements. The vegetation was removed and the joints between the setts scraped out and treated with weedkiller before being regrouted. I checked yesterday and there isn't any regrowth yet.

The man in the house just up from the ginnel sweeps this & appears to control the weeds in it at the moment. Left to the council it was absolutely chocked full of leaves, but he swept it up and put it in his green bin. He deserves recognising in the Barnoldswick awards.

[Tardis]

Pickles Hippings and Parrock Street paths

In various places elsewhere on the site, there's been some discussion of problems with water on Pickles Hippings and Parrock Street footpaths. Pendle's countryside access team has been looking at these issues and are reporting the following to tonight's meeting of the local area committee:

On the Pickles Hippings footpath there were two issues. Firstly there was evidence that flooding down Esp Lane had overcome the drain at the start of the footpath, and a substantial volume of water had flowed down the footpath carrying with it material which had been washed off Esp Lane. Flooding of this nature is an occasional event and it does not appear to have any long term impact on the footpath. The second problem, on the Esp Lane side near the bridge, was a continuous flow of water down the cobbles which affected a 5-10 metre length of the footpath. This would present a hazard of ice if the temperatures froze. We have therefore cleaned out a ditch at the side of the footpath and this seems to have stopped the water flowing on the footpath surface. We will carry out a further inspection in the next week or so to check that this is working properly. At the same time we will brush the path clear of any of the loose debris left from the flooding.

On the Parrock Street to the Butts footpath there does seem to be a problem with water collecting part way down the footpath and forming a large puddle. There is a lack of any surface water drainage at the bottom of Parrock Street, therefore the surface water from the street, including water from the down pipes of the last few houses will find its way directly onto the footpath. I have not yet been able to talk to the Jonathan, who designed and supervised the recent footpath improvements, about whether we could alter the levels to allow the water to flow off the path naturally. I hope be able to talk to him later today, so if there is any further information which can be passed onto the Committee about this then I will let you know.

Pickles Hippins is still quite bad

I have no idea what he means about the Parrock St to Butts path. The path was poorly designed to accomodate water run off. So someone signed it off and should be accountable.

[David Whipp]

Left to the council it was absolutely chocked full of leaves

Quite, left to 'the council' our ginnels would be ruinous.

For the most part, the ginnels, snickets and alleyways of Barlick are public rights of way. As such they should be maintained by the highway authority (LCC).

In times gone by the county council had an 'agency agreement' with Pendle Council and the borough council carried out road and pavement repairs and resurfacing. At this time, some work was carried out to keep the ginnels in a reasonable condition.

When LCC decided they would carry out all the highway functions themselves they refused to carry out repairs to the ginnels, even though in a lot of cases the ginnels are used in exactly the same way as the pavements they link with.

Fed up with getting nowhere with repairs, about six years ago I campaigned for an 'urban ginnel programme' across Pendle which would address the problems of these neglected pedestrian highways. Eventually councillors of all parties supported the scheme and the county council budgeted £10k for work in the first of what was supposed to be a ten year programme across the borough. In Barnoldswick, both the town council and area committee contributed funds to the programme and the first schemes were carried out.

Following the last county council elections LCC's money ended (after a single year of a planned 10 year programme...). Barlick town council and Pendle carried out work on Pickles Hippings without any LCC support (even though the county are the highway authority).

Last year, the county came on board again with a contribution and more work was done (including the path off Manchester Road).

Last autumn I began what I hope will become a modern tradition (in the same way that Allan Buck reinvented Beating the Bounds), by setting up the annual Ginnel Gather. The idea is to celebrate the existence of these footways, check on their condition and ensure they don't get forgotten about. The Ginnel Gather this year is planned for the second Sunday in September (8th Sept.).

The ginnels can of course be walked at any time of the year. If there are problems of them being blocked or needing repair Pendle Council will try and sort them out.

Some of the paths which have been used for many years aren't registered as public rights of way on the definitive map and that's another strand of activity being carried out.

[Tardis]

Left to the council it was absolutely chocked full of leaves

Quite, left to 'the council' our ginnels would be ruinous.

For the most part, the ginnels, snickets and alleyways of Barlick are public rights of way. As such they should be maintained by the highway authority (LCC)

If this is true then the campaign should be forcing LCC to honour their part of the funding agreement, because it is possible that by allowing them to not do so does not actually give a full picture or accountability to each tier of Local Government.

I would simply point out that if it is Pendle money that is being used (I would have to see the money part of the budget and Tom is mostly funded by LCC), that should be LCC money, then obviously the money is being diverted away from projects that could be under taken that do actually fall within the remit of the borough and town councils.

I see it as 'double spending', and when projects are done on the cheap without any appreciation of water run off then I question the professionalism of the people doing the job.

Someone signed off those ginnels as being good and now remedial work or the provision of a gulley may have to be introduced, so that they are safe to pass through in all weathers. I don't believe that there is any accountability in the process.

Probably a simple case of unintended consequences, but it is still money that will be required to put the thing right.

[PanBiker]

Just a question, can we expect to see an additional name on the ballot papers in the near future? It would seem that we have a potential who already has opinion on every piece of paper that passes over Town, Borough or County meeting tables and who already attends a good proportion of the meetings, seems like a waste of counter effort if not.

[Tardis]

Just a question, can we expect to see an additional name on the ballot papers in the near future? It would seem that we have a potential who already has opinion on every piece of paper that passes over Town, Borough or County meeting tables and who already attends a good proportion of the meetings, seems like a waste of counter effort if not.

I have attended all the Town Council meetings since the last election, and all but one West Craven. I have seen an awful lot of documents and watched even more posturing.

I have put my name forward as a co-optee for the Town Council. The rest I have yet to decide.

LCC elections are this year, but the next Pendle elections are next.

I will not stand on a political ticket. I will be independant.

[Tardis]

My interview to be a co-optee is on the 27th February

[David Whipp]

The local committee of Pendle Council leads a nomadic life. Meeting monthly, it flits between venues in each West Craven community. Last night it was Kelbrook's turn at the village hall.

The agenda was quite short with no planning applications to consider so I was expecting an early finish - but an opportunity to go into detail on some issues which would have got dealt with quickly on a busier agenda.

First hiccup was getting into the hall - had to start late after waiting for it to be opened up.

Before we got half an hour into the meeting, a group of people were collecting at the door - a badminton group who had the room booked....

Ended up rushing through the end of the meeting with the badminton group setting up around us.

Committee members were asking how soon we'd be returning for another meeting in Kelbrook...

[Tripps]

Wonderful - sounds like an episode from "All Creatures Great and Small" from the 1950's

Did you get co-opted Tardis?

[Tardis]

Come on be fair David, it would appear that there had been a failure in communication and there was no official booking for the hall.

Hence why the heating didn't come on until just before the other meeting and the badminton players

Shame, because Joanne is normally so efficient and I don't blame her as it would appear to have been someone else.

No I didn't get co-opted Tripps, two people who haven't been to another meeting since were.

[Tardis]

and anyone who checked my twitter feed last night will notice that I did actually get replies to some of the stuff from other councillors elsewhere.

No one seems to know what has happened to the gate from the Gisburn Road end of Valley Gardens. Mysterious. Must be a signed off invoice somewhere.

[David Whipp]

No I didn't get co-opted Tripps, two people who haven't been to another meeting since were.

I think I should point out that there haven't been any meetings of the town council since the meeting when the co-options took place...

No one seems to know what has happened to the gate from the Gisburn Road end of Valley Gardens.

Tardis asked about this at the area committee. At the time, no one at the meeting knew what the position was. Enquiries afterwards revealed the following:

The volunteer group who look after Valley Gardens had asked for the barrier to be removed. They felt the barrier looked out of place. Before it was installed last year in place of a dog grid (which didn't work), there wasn't a barrier and no problems with unwanted vehicles on the path.

Come on be fair David, it would appear that there had been a failure in communication and there was no official booking for the hall.

I thought it was an amusing incident worth reporting! (Not having a go at anyone.) The committee clerk had a confirmed booking made last April. These things happen...

[Tripps]

"No I didn't get co-opted"

Did you not consider the democratic method? I'm sure you could muster 10 supporters to nominate you, then the people could decide. It appears that if you were the only one to bother with the process, you would have to be returned unopposed.

[Tardis]

No I didn't get co-opted Tripps, two people who haven't been to another meeting since were.

I think I should point out that there haven't been any meetings of the town council since the meeting when the co-options took place...

I wonder what the Town Meeting was then

[Tardis]

"No I didn't get co-opted"

Did you not consider the democratic method? I'm sure you could muster 10 supporters to nominate you, then the people could decide. It appears that if you were the only one to bother with the process, you would have to be returned unopposed.

I did actually, but thought that the £3k + money required to do the poll was sending out the wrong message to the public. That would have had to come out of the Barnoldswick Town Council Fund and probably bitten into some of the activities.

I didn't want to do that.

[Tripps]

Fair enough, but make sure you stand at the next opportunity though, I don't like co-opting - too much scope for croneyism.

[Tardis]

Yes, me too. As it was there were 4 who put up, 1 dropped out before the event, so there would have been an election in at least one ward.

I am all for fresh faces on the Town Council because it has been very lonely with me being the only member of the public going to the meetings. I think I've been to 1 more Full Council than Cllr Whipp over the last 2 years, but he was convalescing at the time.