I’ve missed a couple of meetings because they’ve been at the same time as Calderdale Council’s Flood Commission of which I’m a member and that’s important to us in the valley. But this week I made certain that I attended the Town Council Development Committee. Some important issues:

Highways: a Calderdale Council Officer was present to talk about Highways issues (I’d hoped that I could ask about current status of bus and train services but that’s for another time, apparently). First, some residents asked about what sounds like inconsiderate parking by train users on roads round the corner from the station when the station carpark is full. Understandably, they were upset by this but it sounds as though Calderdale can help immediately with some “H” marks for entrances to drives etc while they start the process of getting yellow lines. Then a number of Councillors asked questions about parking, state of the roads, speeding and 20mph limit,  etc.

Planning applications: Several from people wanting to build small extensions for new kitchens onto the back of houses that have been flooded. I’ll encourage planners to make certain that they expedite them (but doing the process properly, of course).

Petition to give Local Councils the right to appeal planning decisions: Letter from the Yorkshire Local Councils Association seeking support for this. It’s always seemed to me to be unfair that applicants (for planning permission) can appeal but nobody else can. I shall be supporting this !

Neighbourhood Plan: Initial public drop-in  workshops have been arranged for this on Saturdays, each runs from 10am to 3.30pm:12th March: Fielden Centre; 19th March: St Peter’s Primary School, Walsden; 2nd April: The Old Library, Cornholme, 9th April: Town Hall

It started with two photocalls on Sunday – of Lees Yard in Hebden Bridge where we’ve now got funding to move the market, and Calder Valley in Bloom in the Memorial Gardens in Mytholmroyd, to promote the idea of the Valley particicpating in the new RHS Britain in Bloom category for areas that have been flooded.

Then a Reg44 visit to a Children’s Home in Halifax, one of my duties as a Councillor which uses my professional experience in child care social work, followed by an Employment Committee to appoint a new Head of Highways.

I went to 2 Business meetings: in Hebden Bridge, where I reminded local business people to apply for grants if they’ve been flooded and the main item was about using websites; then a Calderdale Council meeting with business representatives where topics included talking about preparing youngsters for work and apprenticeships, and a report back on Exporting from UKTI. A Sustainable Transport meeting in Hebden Bridge continues to promote more use of public transport, implementation of 20mph schemes, making getting about safer for pedestrians etc.

Flood Commission meeting was in Sowerby Bridge where we heard from some local people about how they’d been affected: most telling was the cricket club that had been overwhelmed by water coming over a wall erected to keep water out. Then we had a discussion about how flooding has affected the local economy. Later on in the week, I went to a Treesponsibility meeting talking about upscaling their work to extend the amount of treeplanting they can do to “slow the flow”.

Health and Welbeing: planning the next meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board which I chair. The Clinical Commissioning Group is getting ready to start consulting on their plans for changing the hospital service, and provide more services “closer to home”. I’m particular interested in the development of Vanguard in the Upper Valley, and the development of Todmorden Healtjh Centre. Queries have been raised with me about mental health services (especially the future of art therapy) which I’ve asked them about and they seem to be taking seriously..

The week ended with attending a public meeting of the local Community Land Trust who are developing plans to build affordable housing (to rent, hopefully) on Bridge Lanes in Hebden Bridge which used to have “up and over” houses, demolished 50 years ago but potentially a usable site.

Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge still look a mess with large sandbags protecting walls, debris and unlit shops and houses. Progress is being made and shops are reopening: I went in Ryburne’s estate agents who have a new slate floors, electrics raised up the walls and higher desk tops installed. Sakers have had a pop-up shop in the Town Hall all week. But most of the shops down Bridge Gate and Market St are still closed with optimistic notices in the windows about reopening. Todmorden Town Council are doing work on their Emergency Response.

I did a Radio Leeds interviews with Jason (Elliott) about our developing plans for Christmas Day on June 25th when my task is to organise Christmas dinner. So far, I’ve got positive responses from Riverside School and the Community Association/Town Hall.

Plans have been developing all week for the Flood Commission which starts on Monday with a first, preliminary meeting with the Chair and a tour around the area.

This week’s General Purposes Committee started with the Chair welcoming the newly elected Councillors for Walsden ward and announcing that this was good for Labour because it gives them a majority of 8 on the Council. I asked whether it’s good for the people of Todmorden because that’s what the Town Council should be about !

(I didn’t mention the poor attendance at the recent full Town Council meeting when I think that there were something like 5 of their 13 Councillors mssing).

I’m pleased that the Cttee proposed to recommend that the Council continues to fund 2 PCSOs and accepted the Police’s request to provide half the funding (instead of 30%). The Police probably gave as much of a promise as we can get that they won’t abstract (take them away) from Todmorden unless they really have to.

There followed an examination of the Deputy Mayor’s chain and a discussion about the loss of a link chain on the Mayor’s chain.

But then there should have been a discussion of some broad proposals about flooding that I had put on the agenda at the last meeting but this was overtaken by a detailed discussion about the emergency response and a decision to set a Working gorup up consisting entirely of Labour Councillors. This is in direct contradiction to their actions indismantling all the previous working groups at the beginning of the year. Is this a case of “we can if we want to” ?

First email of the week was a request from a local community group for the loan of an industrial dehumidifier because they’re struggling to get their building dry enough.I must also doublecheck whether there are any people not able to live in their own homes who are struggling (eg to feed themselves) wherever they’re staying.

Then I was part of a meeting with a Government Business Minister in Mytholmroyd. Just going there reminds me of how devastating the floods were – 4 weeks on, looking at the back of the Tourist Agency’s old building that’s falling into the river. I’d asked local people what they wanted me to say so I made certain that I said it – starting with insurance for small businesses, helping with funding the repair (and restocking) their businesses, and doing the work on the infrastructure (eg the drains in Market St). She did specifically ask about the shops etc in Hebden Bridge and we also talked about getting back on our feet and plans for the Christmas party in June !

Helpfully, she talked about the flexibility in the use of the current government funding and ideas about longer-term help. Let’s see what happens but we must keep pressing our case !

Tomorrow is the first (preparatory) meeting of the Flood Commission of which I shall be a member.

And there’s a Business breakfast in Hebden Bridge Town Hall, and then I’m hoping to talk with some local business people about the developing plans for re-launch events (like the Christmas party in June !)

Thursday evening, there’s a public meeting about Floods in Todmorden Town Hall (6.30 for 7pm) organised by the local flood group.

This was published last week: the High Court Judge dismissed the application by the site owners to set aside the Planning Inspector’s decision to refuse the appeal against refusal of planning permission to build a Sainsbury’s supermarket and flats on this site.

So I hope that, at last, it may be possible to start to plan positively for the future use of this important empty site in the middle of the town, between the Council’s car park (which currently has the market on it two days/week), the Health Centre and the Post Office Telephone Exchange.

This decision should confirm that it really isn’t possible to use this site for purpose that generates a lot of heavy traffic. I was sitting in a nearby house recently watching a large lorry trying to manoeuvre around the corner of the road. It just isn’t right to put any more lorries onto that road.

The local Town and Parish Councils are working on the Neighbourhood Plan and Calderdale Council is finalising its site allocations for the Local Plan. I’m hoping that a worthwhile use that will benefit the community will be found for this site

So what I’m doing next: today I’m talking with UCVR/Business Forum about what needs to be done to help shops and businesses badly affected by the floods get back on their feet.

As the Coouncil reopens and staff come back to work, I’m going to make certain that my list of things to start to get done is put intoo action. I’m concerned about the impact of flooding in certain areas of my ward: I’ve already emailed the Council (largely Highways) about these. I’m asking that parking charges be suspended in areas affected by flooding and I want to make sure that happens. I’m checking that the markets will take place this week especially in Hebden Bridge (there was a market in Todmorden yestedya). Hebden Bridge has also not got any working cash dispensers and something needs to be done about that.

I’m going to continue to walk and drive around my ward: I’ve heard from a resident of Old Town and want to check whether there’s a landslide on Heights Road.

Here we go again but there are some differences to 2012. It seems to be more localised and more serious. The centre of Hebden Bridge was devastated as were some other areas along the bottom of the valley. My son was trying to get home (with his family) on Boxing Day and took some mobile phone video footage of the volume and speed of water coming over the road and down the canal by the Golden Lion in the middle of Todmorden. On Sunday, I struggled to get along the valley road to go to a meeting about the flooding.

People have been brilliant. The community has come together but it’s still heartbreaking to see houses that were flooded in 2012, flooded again. This time we know how long it’s likely to take to get their houses habitable again.

And then there’s the shops and businesses, especially in Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd. The tide mark on the shops along Market St is at least twice as high as their floodboards in the doors. But they’ve cleaned out quickly and have started to put the buildings to rights. The question is what help they need to begin to trade again. From 2012, we’ve begun to get Business Forums going in each area and we need to build on this. I’d like to see some local capacity in this, some real help that doesn’t depend on busy business people having to do it all themselves. I hope that they’ll be open by Easter.

The Council (together with the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water, Canal and Rivers Trust and Network Rail) now has to get down to the serious business of examining what happened and what’s needed to not only repair the damage but also give us more protection against future events like this. And taking climate change seriously has to be part of it, in my opinion.

And what if local people don’t want one ? And what about the villages ?

At the Cabinet meeting on Monday, Labour decided to set up Development Boards in towns in Calderdale, having tried it out in Todmorden. They haven’t evaluated the one in Todmorden so they haven’t learned lessons from it. It has only recently had four non-Councillors become Board members and meetings aren’t open to the public. Minutes are sometimes slow to be published so people don’t know what’s going on.

Most places have some form of local community group which brings interested people together to talk about and plan services. Sometimes it’s through the Parish Council (as in Heptonstall and Blackshawhead), or a broader but formal Partnership (as in Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Elland). Invariably, the public are welcome to attend, participate in and contribute to the meetings. Labour cited the lack of such a group in Halifax (although I thought that there was a “town team” there) but this is no reason for imposing their model everywhere. They say it’s flexible but there seems to be no means of negotiating it. They don’t seem to be reviewing what there is already so there could be a real risk of duplication (and nobody quite knowing who’s doing what). Recipe for a muddle and a mess !

There seems to be no thought given to villages – and even where there’s no Parish Council or formal community group, there are usually things happening and their own, local version of a village plan which could evolve into a Neighbourhood Plan.

So while there is undoubtedly the germ of a good idea here, it needs more thinking through. But Labour took it straight to Cabinet and the discussion there almost turned into a Scrutiny Panel discussion – and that’s where we hope to take it !

Labour confirmed at tonight’s meeting that the Council won’t be producing any more newsletters… so how are local people to know what the Council is (or isn’t) doing ? They also won’t be publishing Councillor attendance on the Council website and there was fairly low attendance at tonight’s meeting (but it is half-term).

Regrettably, the Town Clerk has decided to resign with effect from April 2016 (after 16 years service) so an appointment panel has been set up but they will take the appointment decision (unlike higher-level Councils where the final decision of the appointment of a new Chief Executive is taken by full Council).

At last the Town Council is making progress with developing a Neighbourhood Plan but Labour decided that there will be no LibDem representation on the Steering group, although it’s good to see the inclusion of many community groups. There is some progress with the Council nominating Rose St as a community asset to Calderdale Council. The decision appears to have been delegated to the Development Committee at its meeting next week.