With my LibDem ward Councillor colleagues, I attended a meeting of Eastwood residents tonight. This gave them an opportunity to ask Council Officers and staff from Sita about plans to reorganise and extend the nearby waste recycling centre. The difference here is that this Centre is very close to their houses. The Centre already causes nuisance to them – both directly because it is so close to them but also from queueing traffic etc. The current proposal may also mean that they lose their bus stop – and the walk to the nearest alternatives is alongside a busy main road with no path.

We’re going to try to get more discussion going with the Officers to try to get plans that they are properly consulted on and which they feel respond to their concerns.

We are aiming to bring the Council Offices back into community ownership so that it becomes a “community hub”. The vision is for this to be the place where local people come for local services – whether provided by the local council or community/voluntary groups. Most importantly, it’s also the base for the local Town and Parish Councils. We are involving local people through a “Friends” group which will have its first AGM in October.

This is a “priority project” for Hebden Bridge in its action plan as a Market Town and from the Upper Calder Valley Renaissance programme which was instigated by Yorkshire Forward, and now overseen by Hebden Bridge Partnership.

We are at the stage of appointing architects to do the detailed design work, and making funding applications for the major building work which we hope will include a Creative Enterprise Centre for people working in IT/digital industries.

This is an exciting project but there’s a lot to do. This week, I’m talking with different Council Depts to find out what staff they need to have based in the building to provide local services.