Latest News From Calderdale

Labour’s whopping 25% tax rise for Hebden Royd budget

12th January 2012

At Hebden Royd town council’s budget meeting on the 11th January Labour, who control the council, imposed a 25% precept tax increase on local residents.  Much of the extra funding was sought to carry out work on the recently acquired Picture House cinema.  The Liberal Democrats support the improvements t the cinema, but opposed this increase in tax, and instead argued that the extra money desired to subsidise the cinema should come from a Capital works Loan.

This loan could have then been paid back out of money generated by users of the cinema, rather than local tax payers.

Labour have instead decided to saddle every tax payer with a 25% increase in their precept charge.  This means residents will have less money to spend on essentials such as their household bills.

The real losers of the budget however were residents of Mytholmroyd, Brearley and Cragg Vale. Funding for Mytholmroyd Station car park was axed as Labour has chosen to use the funds for projects in Hebden Bridge.  A request tabled by the Liberal Democrats for funding increased community use of Mytholmroyd Library was turned down.

There will also be little cause for celebrating this budget as no funds were put aside to mark either the Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics. Representatives from our twinned towns had hoped to come and celebrate these historic events with us.

Commenting on the budget, Liberal Democrat Councillor Christine Bampton-Smith said: The Liberal Democrats put forward a sensible plan to fund the Picture House unfortunately Labour went for the easier option of taxing local residents.

Budget Highlights

  • £81,000 for work on the Picture House cinema to be raised by tax on residents
  • £16,000 increase in the council’s staffing and management cost
  • Axed  funding for Mytholmroyd car park
  • Refused  works to improve Mytholmroyd Library
  • Denied celebration for  historic Diamond Jubilee or Olympics

 

 

Picture House and allotment sites transferred to community

10th January 2012

Lib Dem Led Calderdale Council has agreed to transfer the ownership of Hebden Bridge Picture House, Great Rock, land at Charlestown, and two growing areas (Sandy Gate in Hebden Bridge and Red Acre) to community ownership at its meeting on Monday.

“This started with the Town Hall in Hebden Bridge where we can see what a good job the local community is doing in looking after and developing an important local amenity” says local ward Councillor and Leader of the Council, Janet Battye.

“I am delighted that we have been able to approve so many – this is real power to the people and a credit to the hard work of Council Officers, and local people – and especially Hebden Royd Town Council and Blackshaw Parish Council.

“The essential ingredient in this is that local people and the local community really want this and put in the effort to make it happen.

“Great Rock is an iconic symbol of Blackshaw Parish Council – it’s on their headed notepaper – and this is the first freehold transfer that Calderdale Council has made but it makes sense and I know that the Parish Council will look after and cherish it.

“For me, it’s a dream come true that the Picture House is coming back to the local community. Nearly a decade ago now, we were mortified when Pitt St Adult Education centre was sold from under us and I vowed that would not happen again. It hasn’t and this is the proof of that !

“We’re especially pleased to support local food growing – making the land available through the Town Council at Sandy Gate and in Mytholmroyd”

The Lib Dem led council has secured the future of the Picture House by transferring it to the community

 

Clegg visits Calderdale to see apprenticeship success

9th December 2011

An increase in apprenticeships in Calderdale has attracted the attention of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who visited a Halifax factory on Thursday. Nick Clegg scheduled in the visit after hearing about the work Calderdale was doing to tackle youth unemployment.

Calderdale’s various apprenticeship and business development schemes has already funded 100 additional apprenticeships and Janet Battye (Lib Dem) is enthusiastic about increasing that number.

The Leader of Calderdale Council said “I want to make sure that every young person has an opportunity to do something useful every day. I’m hoping to hear from young people themselves as well as businesses and organisations across Calderdale who can help. We need to do what every good family does when they’re worried about their children – get together and sort it out!”

The Deputy Prime Minister visited one of our local success stories, Heights UK a world-leading supplier of graphic arts products to see the benefits of apprentice schemes first hand. He heard about its latest product as well as met the workforce including apprentices. The visit comes just weeks after Nick Clegg announced a £1bn youth jobs fund which should affect 500,000 unemployed youngsters over the next three years.

Nick Clegg said “It’s great to see a Liberal Democrat lead Council paving the way of economic recovery and employment of our young people”

 

50p tax rate must stay say Todmorden Lib Dems

30th November 2011

Todmorden Lib Dems strongly support the stance of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Lib Dem Danny Alexander that the 50p income tax rate on incomes over £150,000 must stay.

Dr Michael Taylor, an economist with many years’ experience, disputes Conservative arguments that this tax doesn’t bring in revenue.  “It is clearly nonsense”, he argues,” that this tax makes the UK uncompetitive or drives people away.  Similar tax rates are levied in other countries, including France and Belgium and the Scandinavian countries and they collect good revenues for the government from their higher income tax.” rates.

It is also complete nonsense, put about by the very rich and supported by the wealthy owners and editors of certain newspapers that a 50p rate of income tax is in some sense draconian.  Many people forget that Britain used to have a basic income tax rate of 35% and marginal tax rate on very high earnings of up to 98% – and that was under a Conservative Government!

Dr Taylor said that if the taxes are not coming in, it was not because the tax was unfair or undesirable, but because it was being evaded or avoided by tax fiddling or clever accountants. “What has to be done is to enforce the tax rules and close any loopholes to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share,” said Dr Taylor.

Todmorden Lib Dems also strongly support Danny Alexander’s recent announcements to provide over £900 million to help put a stop to tax evasion.  Lib Dem campaigner Olwen Jennings said that it was right that everyone paid their fair share in taxes, especially those who have enjoyed huge rise in income over the past few years, like company directors and bankers.

 

Open letter from Janet Battye on cabinet’s proposals for town centre

28th November 2011

Dear Editor,

The Cabinet’s proposals for Halifax Town Centre have provoked public comment to which I would like to respond.

In my view, the first priority for a Council has to be to make it easy for local people to contact the Council – both in person and by telephone/email etc etc. The Council has been setting up “Customer First” contact points in some places across the Borough – first in Todmorden, then Hebden Bridge and Brighouse. I’ve been keen to see these extended into the main centres of population, especially Halifax where there have been a number of Reception desks for different services within the Town Centre. Officers have researched this carefully over the last couple of years and we’ve come to the conclusion that the new Broad St development, opposite the bus station is the best place for this.

Then there’s the vexed question of “what to do about Northgate House” given its poor condition. We’ve been grappling with this since we took over running the Council in May 2010 (and I’ve been on the various working groups considering this for the best part of the 9 years that I’ve been on the Council). It became clear that the Council does not need a large office block and can find office space for those staff who need to be in or need the town centre in other places.

As we’ve also been working on the plans for Piece Hall, we also came to realise that it would be possible to have a new library and archives alongside this – between Square Chapel and the Industrial museum, close to Eureka and the Minster.

And as we’ve been working these plans up, we have been well aware of the importance of the Central Library and archives to many people which is why we’ve tried to talk with people throughout this process.

So, there are two major differences between the original proposals and those we have now. They are:

  • The new proposals are clear about the location of the Central Library and Archive – close to the Piece Hall and the Square Chapel and adding to what will be a vibrant cultural quarter for the town
  • The purpose-built library building will also incorporate the archive, which was not included in the previous proposals. People told the Council that they wished to ensure that Halifax kept its archive and we have listened to those comments.

We haven’t worked out the details of what will go into the proposed new Library and archive and we want to involve people in this. I hope that there will be a range of facilities, including meeting rooms, IT services – and books !

It will replace a building which would require extensive refurbishment to make it fit for purpose. It would also require the Library and archive to close for at least 18 months while this work was carried out. We already know from our experience with King Cross and Hebden Bridge Libraries that more people use new facilities and I am certain that this would be the case with the proposed new library. This is a marvellous opportunity to put the library at the heart of a vibrant cultural area. The Council is also on record as saying that the new Library and archive would open before the existing one closed.

Calderdale Council is committed to ensuring that Halifax has a first-class library and archive. While 600 libraries are due to close across the UK in the next two years, we want to invest in our central library as well as retaining our libraries across Calderdale. I’m particularly interested in what we can make of our “community” libraries for local people.

The Halifax Civic Trust has also raised concerns about the proposed development of the Northgate House site, claiming that this could be out of keeping with the rest of the town centre. It has also been our intention to make certain that any new building on the Northgate House site is in keeping with the Town Centre which has many beautiful buildings in it.

If we are to ensure that Halifax continues to thrive as a place where people want to shop and which competes with larger towns and cities in the area, then it is essential that we attract high profile and well-known retailers. High street retailers will only come to the town if we are able to make sites available which are large enough so that they can offer sufficient choice and range of products.

The Council has a responsibility to ensure that Calderdale remains an attractive and vibrant area which people want to live, work and visit and I firmly believe that the current proposals will lead to better services in Halifax town centre.

Councillor Janet Battye,

Leader,

Calderdale Council

 

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