Councillor Graham Stokes Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

AUGUST 2004

CASTLEFORD TIGERS
I am trying to come to terms with the fact that there is now a very real possibility that Castleford will be relegated at the end of this season.  The only hope I can see is if some team like Whitehaven are promoted but are not allowed into Super league due to their ground being below standard. Interestingly if we are relegated, Whitehaven would be a fixture I would look forward to, as we can camp near the beach at St Bees, watch the game and have a good night out in the village.

Stop Press: We have just beaten Huddersfield, so optimism reigns again, we might not go down after all, if we can continue the recovery!

A1 UPDATE AS AT 30TH JUNE
Obviously with a scheme as immense as the upgrading of the A1 it is impossible to achieve without some disruption as some local residents can testify, we will all certainly be happy when it is completed. The project is currently 13 weeks behind schedule. The Ferrybridge to Brotherton section is due to be completed by February 2006 and the developers are confident that they can make up the lost time. Fill material is presently being taken from the Prince of Wales site via haul roads, it is hoped that they can remove all the material they need by the end of this year.

The new bridge middle section at Longbull Hill should be completed by mid September, but it will entail some closures of the M62 as they lift in the main beams. The Sowgate Railway Bridge is complete and this has enabled access to the site without the need to use Sowgate Lane, so traffic movements there should now be only 10% of what they previously were. Wentcliffe Bridge should be completed by the time you read this.

The Stranglands Lane bridge entailed the closure of Stranglands Lane whilst beams were lifted in during July, The Lagentium bridge (this is the largest bridge on the scheme, and when completed in summer 2005 it will carry the road over the River Aire, north west of Ferrybridge Power Station) has now got all beams installed and work is underway on the deck. The Holmefield interchange is on programme, but will entail M62 closures both directions between junction 32 and 33, from Saturday evenings at 9pm until Sunday morning at 8am every weekend until 21 August, 2004.

A landscape / gateway feature is being designed for the Holmefield interchange in the form of a replica of the Ferrybridge Henge and the Arras Cart Chariot that was found nearby, these will not be Angel of the North size but approximately 3 times life size, they could be silhouettes cut in steel and will be quite a feature.

The Chariot is currently being examined and assessed, and it is planned to display it in Wakefield Museum, the skeleton found with the chariot burial has been carbon dated at around 300BC, interestingly, cattle bones surrounding the site have been dated as 100BC, so whoever this important person was, he was celebrated for over 200 years.  The archaeology of the site has been completed and field markings have been found along with fragments of pottery, which does give some indication of past uses of the land.

The results of the archaeology programme will be published in 2005/06.

The existing A1 section that is to be handed back to the council and detrunked is currently being assessed and officers are looking at landscape and works that will be required.  Works on the Brotherton to Hook Moor section are behind programme but should still be opened by Xmas 2004; Wetherby to Walshford should also be completed by Xmas 2004.

NOISE NUISANCE
Wakefield Council is expanding its Night-time Noise Service over the peak summer party season in July, August and September. The Service will now have additional teams available on stand-by to respond to noise problems on Friday and Saturday nights as well as expanding operations to include Thursday nights. The most common problems that the noise teams respond to are from people who play their music too loud, and from parties that go on until very late and which can make people’s lives a misery.

The summer brings an increase in noise complaints as people enjoy a greater outdoor lifestyle later into the evening and others, quite understandably, like to sleep with their windows open during hot summer nights. We don’t want to spoil people’s fun, but we do not want to encourage irresponsible behaviour. The night time service enables us to respond quickly to complaints and to take action where necessary.

Over 2000 people affected by noisy neighbours contacted the Council’s noise team last year - up by 40% on the previous year. The team also carried out more enforcement activity and as well as issuing warnings to people who caused noise nuisance, 70 noise abatement notices were issued, 14 people were prosecuted and 13 people had their sound systems confiscated by Court Order.

Anyone affected by noise nuisance should call Neighbourhood Action on 0845 8 506 506. Lines are open 24 hours, seven days a week.

KNOTTINGLEY AND FERRYBRIDGE CARNIVAL
The Carnival was another tremendous success, everything went without a hitch which is unusual in organising the event, I think this must be put down to the fact that we now have a committee that knows what it is doing, everyone has their duty and they perform it well. I hope that we can now depend on their valued services for many years to come; they all do a fantastic job.

The weather could have been better but at least we managed to get the parade around the circuit without getting wet, the floats were absolutely superb with an incredible amount of work going into them all, I didn’t realise we had so much artistic talent within Knottingley. I enjoyed the dog display on the field, but if anyone has any affordable ideas about what they would like to see as a field event in future years, please let us know, we will try to take your suggestions on board.

We would still like to see new members of the committee, if you have any time to spare, eagerness is more important than experience and we would welcome you. Contact Linda Stokes 01977 675110, if interested.

BASIC SKILLS QUALITY MARK
Three schools within the Knottingley area have recently been awarded the "Basic Skills Quality Mark, these are Ferrybridge, Simpson's Lane and Knottingley CE (VC) Church School. This is quite an achievement as it is very difficult to get the quality mark. The quality mark shows that each school:

• Has a strategy and an action plan to improve children’s reading, writing and numberwork
• Assesses children to find out if they need extra help
• Has a target for improving basic skills
• Reviews the progress made by all of the children
• Provides training for staff so that they can teach better
• Uses different ways of teaching based on what each child needs
• Has good books and other materials to help children improve
• Encourages parents to help their children with reading, writing and numberwork
• Monitors whether they are becoming better at teaching basic skills

Congratulations to all the teachers and other people who have worked hard in the schools, this award could only be gained with their efforts.

FUNDING FOR CYCLE STORAGE
Knottingley Sports College have recently been awarded £30,000 to provide safe storage for cycles, as they are promoting cycling to school initiatives, there is still much to do, they are now looking for funding for safe routes to school, a route has been identified from Throstle farm school to Knottingley Sports College, many others could be considered, but funding to develop them needs to be identified. Gary Allington from the Sports College has formed a working group to consider how we best move these initiatives forward.

FERRYBRIDGE COMMUNITY CENTRE UPDATE
Following the rejection of the bid to the lottery fund for funding towards building a new community centre, a bid has been submitted to the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, if this is successful it would leave a shortfall of approximately £70,000, a bid has been made to Single Regeneration Budget (SRB6) to fill this gap in funding. So hopes are still very much alive, thanks largely to Mary Higgins and her team at the Community Centre, I am sure their dogged determination will pay off and result in a new building.

POLICING
I have just been reading a West Yorkshire Policing report that makes some interesting points. Provisional results for 2003/04 show that the downward trend in police performance has been reversed. There has been a massive 24% fall in recorded robbery, burglary is down by 17% and vehicle crime by 15%. At the start of last year, crime was on a steep upward trend. The Authority and Command Team have worked together (and with the Police Standards Unit) to first halt and now dramatically reverse this performance slide. Interim performance figures, and the targets for 2004/05, are contained in the Authority’s Policing Plan, which can be viewed on the Internet at www.wypa.org.

POLICE NUMBERS AT RECORD LEVEL
Police officer posts were shed during the late 1990s as the Force struggled to operate within tight budget settlements. By 2002, however, the Police Authority was concerned about the gap that had opened up between West Yorkshire and similar metropolitan forces and the impact this was having on performance. Two years of growth budgets, funded through Council Tax rises and with money earmarked for recruitment, have allowed police strength to grow to record levels.

Police officer numbers in West Yorkshire peaked in 1991, at 5290. This number has now been exceeded, with police strength as at May 1, 2004, standing at 5,305 full time equivalents.

The following table shows the number of police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) posted to each District as at May 1.

I would be interested to know what you think, have you seen an improvement in policing within our area?

FINALLY
Are you ever given an impossible task to do within your household? The latest one I received was, "Try not to walk on the floor." This was a bit difficult as I was stood on it at the time, we now have boot prints up the wall and over the ceiling, and I have a healthy respect for flies, how do they manage to stay on to shiny surfaces?

Graham Stokes
Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

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