Councillor Graham Stokes Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

AUGUST 2005

"What we think or what we believe is in the end of little consequence.
The only thing of consequence is what we do." John Ruskin

TWINNING
This year is the 50th Anniversary of twinning between Wakefield and Castres in France. As it was such a special occasion Castres organised a series of events over the three days that I attended.

Whilst there I signed a new agreement on twinning and visited schools and colleges that either already twin or are interested in doing so, where I met the pupils from Horbury school who were visiting at the time. I also visited businesses and attended an English/French evening with a singer from each country which local people were invited to, some of them being English people who are now living in France and have settled around Castres.

Castres have also named a roundabout on the main road from Toulouse into Castres the Wakefield roundabout. I unveiled the street sign and my photograph was on the front page of the French newspaper La Depeche. They also printed a story which roughly translated said;

"An overcast sky, it is threatening to rain, the English weather invited itself on Monday, Celebration Day of the 50th Anniversary of the twinning between Castres and Wakefield. A perfect day, all in all, to seal the French-British friendship. In the noise of the station crossroads, the two delegations patiently await the start of the inauguration of the new roundabout. The pupils of Barral school, well behaved, listen to the instructions of their music teacher. Flutes held by their hands to their mouths, they are ready. It is first of all "God save the Queen" sang by the school children with the accompaniment of the fanfare. In the same spirit, they follow with the Marseillaise. This done, the union is proclaimed. Wakefield from now on is part of the daily lives of Castres. Councillor Graham Stokes, happy with this symbolic reconciliation, remembers the 50 years of co-operation between the two towns.

"Since 1955, Castres and Wakefield have increased their exchanges in education, culture and sport. We share a similar economic framework and we want to work together to create new projects and develop new sectors of activity. As soon as I return to England our two councils will explore the possibilities of putting this wish into practice".

Former participants in twinning exchange programmes and young school children share their impressions. Reunions, hugging, kissing and general excitement, the atmosphere is a joyful one. Despite the rain the party continues. After an official reception at the Town Hall, the English and the French will meet this evening at the Town Library for a French-British concert, a reconciliation which will re-ignite the flame of the Entente Cordiale."

At the reception where I signed the new agreement, there was a photographic exhibition of twinning through the years, the town council had advertised in the Press for people with photos to loan them for the exhibition and there had been a good response.

I visited Castres because 50 years is quite an achievement and a very special occasion. Whilst there I met the Town Leaders who talked of our art galleries exchanging works of art, which could be good thing as they have a Goya museum and we both have works of art stored away which people do not get to see due to lack of space to display them.

I have to say that the people of Castres are really keen and committed to twinning. Like Wakefield they have very little financial resources to invest in twinning, but money is not the issue here, our council’s are ideally placed to be the facilitators for twinning arrangements helping to organise the contact between organisations and businesses in both our towns, and to investigate whatever other methods we can adopt to help each other.

WARWICK ESTATE
Residents of Warwick Estate rightly feel that their estate was originally called Simpson’s Lane Estate and all the bus services reflected this, but the name of Warwick Estate crept in and nobody appears to have the answer as to where this name originated. It has been suggested that the Earl of Warwick may have at some time have owned land here, but the population remain to be convinced. Does anyone have the answer to where the name of Warwick was derived?

Other names that are odd enough to raise queries are Spawd Bone Lane and Mirey Butt Lane, who thought up these names and why?

I remember someone asking about the meaning of Spawd Bone Lane before within the Digest, but I do not recall any one putting forward an answer.

WARWICK COMMUNITY CAMPUS
I recently attended a committee meeting of the Community Campus and it was heartening to hear of all the good work taking place there. One of the schemes is the ‘Out of School Project’ for children aged 5 to 12. This consists of a Breakfast Playgroup from 7.30am until 9am, where the children are taken to school after breakfast; After School Club, 3pm – 6pm, where the children are collected from school by minibus for a play and activities session and a snack meal; Holiday Care Club 7.30am – 6pm which has play sessions over three hours including a snack meal. They are registered with Ofsted and all staff are fully qualified.

If you are interested in your children taking part telephone 01977 677596.

KNOTTINGLEY FLOOD ALLEVIATION SCHEME
The flood alleviation scheme was officially opened on 30th June. Councillor Burton and myself attended the ceremony and it was pleasing to see local residents also present. The site alongside the river where Gander Haven Farm once stood, but had to be demolished to make way for the scheme, is now called Ward Wildlife Haven flood alleviation scheme.

This area of Knottingley has a long history of flooding, following large floods along the Aire Street area in 1966 river defences were erected near Gander Haven Farm, but these were a low cost build option of concrete posts and panels which proved inadequate as water seeped below them. In Autumn 2000, one of the wettest on record, 250mm of rain fell in 2 weeks, and on 31st October 2000 the water level had risen to the top of the defences and was leaking like a sieve. 1,000 people within the area were about to go to bed below the river level so a decision was taken to evacuate the area containing 244 individual addresses within the flood area.

The cost of the new scheme is £2m but was seen as value for money when a cost analysis showed the benefit costs to be in the region of £9m. Construction started in March 2004, Gander Haven Farm could not be saved, as it was not possible to build the defence between the farm and the river.

Sheet steel piles made of 70% recycled material have been placed three and a half metres deep, a new footpath has been created on top of the flood bank and a wetland created with different raised areas to encourage wildlife.

The scheme was completed in October 2004 and has won awards from the RSPB, Chartered Institute of Water Environmental Management CIWEM, and the Institute of Civil Engineers ICE. The project was completed on time and within budget. At least local residents can now feel reassured that they are as protected as they can be from potential floods.

SLUGS AND SNAILS
You have probably gathered by now that I have a sense of humour and some of my conversations cross the boundaries of being silly. One such conversation on spotting a slug went along the lines of "Are slugs related to snails", "What do you mean", well are slugs like snails that have lost their shells", there is just no answer to that is there!

LIVE 8, "THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING"
I can only hope that times are changing. The Live 8 concerts were valuable in raising awareness and allowing the majority to express their feelings about poverty in Africa. The artistes were brilliant and exceptional and where else could you see so many performing in one arena, but I still had a sense of guilt about deriving enjoyment from concerts that were provided because people are starving.

The concerts did drive things home to me. I suppose because I am helpless in being able to do anything about the situation, and because it is so far away and the people look different it helped me not to think about it, but suddenly with one short film reality was there. Bob Geldhof showed a film of babies dying with their mothers and as the film ended it froze on a small child. Bob Geldhof said "during Live Aid that child had 10 minutes to live, but she has just passed her exams and is here with us today." There then entered a beautiful well dressed young lady and it made me realise they are no different to us. People are people all over the world - we are fortunate to live in such a rich society.

But I am not foolish enough to believe that the problems of poverty in Africa can be solved overnight purely by 8 people at a G8 summit. There are complicated issues to defeat, not least corruption, not just of governments but corruption that permeates through a society that has nothing, where people are attuned to look for what they can get and grab it, in such a society those that have something will fight to keep it.

I believe strongly that whilst ending poverty is a long-term achievable aim, people are dying now, and short-term aid to feed the starving should be provided. It is unimaginable and unforgivable that in this day and age people are starving for want of food.

What I find unimaginable is how cruel man can be to his fellow man (or woman for that matter), when you see the mindless violence in Edinburgh prior to the G8 summit. World leaders were considering what they can do to end poverty in Africa, amid television pictures of mindless idiots wearing masks and motorcycle helmets attacking police vehicles with iron bars, and then the bombings and destruction in London during the G8 summit. How can anyone for whatever reason bomb and kill innocent bystanders, it really makes you think parts of this world we live in are sick.

NEW PRIEST IN CHARGE AT FERRYBRIDGE
I attended the service for the licensing of the new Priest in charge at St. Andrew’s Church, Ferrybridge, and St. Edward’s, Brotherton, held on 6th July. I welcome Father Peter Walker to Ferrybridge and look forward to working with him within the community.

5 TOWNS URBAN RENAISSANCE LAUNCH
The 25-year vision for the Five Towns, which has been the subject of consultation over the last eighteen months, was launched at Castleford Civic Centre, on Wednesday, 13th July. People attending the launch received a presentation and a full printed copy of the Strategy covering Castleford, Pontefract, Featherstone, Knottingley and Normanton, prepared by consultants Urban Initiatives for Yorkshire Forward. The strategy document is the result of meetings held by the Five Towns Team and Working Group involving members of the local community who have been praised for their continued interest and willingness to take part.

Councillor Peter Box, Wakefield Council Leader, who has chaired the Towns Team, said: "I am delighted that we have reached this important stage with so much agreement from those taking part. The strategy includes some exciting prospects for the future developments of the Five Towns some of which is already in the pipeline. The real challenge will be in communicating the findings to everyone who lives in the area and making the vision a reality. We need to ensure those organisations and individuals who can play an important role in making the vision a reality, take on board the ownership of the ideas."

OLDER PEOPLE
I was recently invited to present certificates to 15 successful participants on an Extend Course. This teaches people how to run courses of gentle exercise for older people, and I was delighted to be asked to do it, as we all know many people suffer from ill health in later life, and their poor health can lead to them being unable to cope with daily activities. 60% of older people under 80 have good health but once you get above 80 the figures fall dramatically, so exercise is an important element in keeping older people fit and mobile.

The 15 successful participants included nurses, day care assistants, and community volunteers. I am sure they will feel good about adding value to peoples lives and I applaud them.

KNOTTINGLEY & FERRYBRIDGE CARNIVAL
Another successful year - but not without its moments. I would like to pay tribute to the Carnival Committee who do a fantastic job often under great strain, having to sort out problems that occur. This year they had to deal with having no band to lead the parade despite contacting bands all over the country via agencies. The escalating insurance costs are really getting out of hand in proportion to the available funding but we would like to thank John Hughes who went far beyond what we could reasonably expect of him to get us the best possible insurance deal. There was also a last minute change of starting point due to works being carried out within RWE. Hopefully next year we may be able to go back to our original starting point on Doncaster Road, which we are unable to use at present because of the difficulties it causes on the A1 slip road, and the need nowadays to complete a full risk assessment.

Despite the Administrative problems that arise every year the Carnival went very well. We had a wet start with the dog show, but we had contingency plans in place to hold it indoors and it went well with Karen Higgins doing an excellent job on judging and presenting rosettes. The sun came out along with 200 spectators for the rugby matches with Rockware playing Drighlington Tigers, (a bigger crowd than Featherstone Rovers can muster, I couldn’t resist saying that). All participants received a medal and the winning side, Rockware, were presented with a shield by the Carnival Queen, Kirsty Green.

Carnival day was hot and sunny and the many people in attendance really enjoyed themselves. We had 11 Floats and 20 stalls on the field, which is about as large as we can get for the size of venue. The mayor’s of Wakefield, Featherstone and Normanton were all in attendance along with Yvette Cooper MP. The Floats were all excellent standard and it was difficult to name a winner, but eventually it was settled. First Place was ‘Knottla Goes West’ - Knottingley Town Hall Staff & friends; Second was ‘Willy Wonka’ - Ropewalk Methodist Youth; Third was ‘Woman Who Lived in a Shoe’ - Old Chapel, Aire Street.

Once again the Carnival Committee have done us proud, there are too many to mention, but you know who you are.

Graham Stokes
Cabinet Member for Corporate Services

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