17th August, 1972
Letter from Yorkshire Parish Councils Association to Mr Smith
Midgley
Haworth - Future Parish Council
May I refer to my letter of the 4th August, 1972 and I would,
comment as follows.
General
It would appear that the suggestion that Haworth should have
a parish council after the reorganisation of local government
is one that should be strongly welcomed and supported.
Legal position
The legal position under the local government Bill is as summarised
in paragraph 5 of Mr Speed's letter to Miss Joan Hall MP.
Possible action
(a) The inhabitants of Haworth may now wish to consider (e.g.
through a public meeting) the advantages of acquiring a parish
council, and possible means of securing its establishment. The
latter would mean using the familiar resources of publicity,
i e newspapers, local radio and leaflets etc., and also endeavouring
to persuade the outgoing local authority and incoming Metropolitan
District Council that they should improve the idea of a separate
parish council even before it is possible to legally establish
it.
(b) The inhabitants may also wish to consider establishing
a voluntary representative body which could undertake some of
the work of representation which a parish council would carry
out. This could perhaps demonstrate in the Haworth area the
fact that the council is needed and would work. Also it would
mean that the inhabitants would become more accustomed to acting
as a community, and then a parish council, when formed, would
be able to build upon the support already shown.
I trust that this letter will be of help to you but should
you require any further information please do not hesitate to
let me know, including any literature regarding parish councils.
18th January, 1998
Letter to National Association of Local Councils, London
A few months ago it was suggested that efforts should be made
to obtain a parish council for the area. Petition forms were
distributed to local shops and over 400 people supported the
idea. A small group set about the task of bringing this into
reality.
16th May 1998
Letter to Yorkshire Local Councils Association.
The boundaries I propose to suggest to the steering committee
will comprise the area designated in the electoral register
as having a Haworth address. As far as I know that coincides
with the old Haworth Urban District Council area and of the
old Manor of Haworth also. I intend to check this.
According to the 1997 electoral register it has a voting population
of 2815. So far we have collected just over 600 signatures but
I think we should aim for at least 25%.
12th October, 1998
Letter sent to Mr Philip Robinson, Strategic Director of Corporate
Services, City Hall Bradford.
Dear Mr Robinson, The Haworth Residents' Association and the
Road Safety Committee formed a steering committee and have been
gathering signatures and support for the provision of a parish
council covering the present Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury
local government wards. They would like to present a petition
to the council at their next meeting on 20th October asking
for one to be formed and hope that you'll be able to put this
request on the agenda for that meeting.
20th October, 1998
Haworth Combined Residents Group Parish Council steering Sub-Committee
Petition for a parish council in Haworth Cross Roads and Stanbury
On behalf of the Haworth Residents Association and Haworth
Road Safety Group I would like to present this petition to the
council. It is signed by 1187 electors in the polling wards
of Haworth, 29D, 29L and 29M, Cross Roads 29K and Stanbury 29E,
asking for a parish council to be formed in that area.
Haworth and Cross Roads formed the old Haworth Urban District
Council area which was abolished in the 1930s. There is no physical
break between Haworth and Cross Roads, the two communities interlock
like pieces of a jigsaw. Just over one quarter of the voters
in Cross Roads 29K have Haworth postal addresses. The hamlet
of Stanbury with the voting population of 260 is in the ecclesiastical
parish of Haworth, and at the request of several of the residents
plus the support of the Rector and Lord of the Manor they are
included in our application.
Our proposal may seem to cover a large area, a map is enclosed,
but the majority of it is open field and moorland with a few
isolated farms here and there. The voting population of the
villagers - 4773, is well within the figure suggested by the
government circular relating to the formation and size of new
parish councils.
The number of residents signing the petition is more than double
the minimum number required by the circular.
The Residents Group wish to stress that this application is
not meant in any way to cast any reflection on the work our
ward councillors are doing or the work and projects carried
out by the council in dealing with problems which arise in the
Haworth area but it is rather an expression of the community
spirit and interest which exists in our villages. In this area
which has a separate, special identity in the Bradford district,
a parish council should aim to help and not be a hindrance to
the district council in identifying and dealing with problems
and we hope that the council will look upon our request in this
light. Members of the adjoining parish councils of Oxenhope
and Cullingworth have said that however insignificant their
powers may seen to be, such a council does play a useful part
in village life and activities.
At the recent Neighbourhood Forum held in the area unanimous
support was given to the proposal. 75 signatures of people who
live outside the above wards have been deleted and are not included
in the petition count. We would be pleased to let you have any
further information which may be needed and hope that the council
will be able to endorse our application.
Yours sincerely,
Chairman residents Association
14th November, 1998
Our petition for a parish council to be formed in the Haworth
district was handed to the Bradford Council at a meeting a few
weeks ago and passed by them to the relevant committee for a
decision to be reached on the recommendation they would make
to the Secretary of State. Last Wednesday the committee met
and decided they would carry out a postal vote in the whole
of the district before sending our request to the government
even though we had more than double the minimum number of signatures
required in the government circular.
4th December 1998
Article in Keighley News: "over 2500 leaflets are dropping
through letter boxes and 100 posters being placed in windows
urging people to say "yes" to a new parish council.
They are urging people in the Haworth Stanbury and Cross Roads
area to support a ballot to gauge support for a Haworth parish
council which will be held later this year. Bradford council
has agreed to the ballot following a petition of over 1000 names
backing the proposal".
22nd January, 1999
Article in Telegraph and Argus: "Parish council is lost
in the pile. Campaigners hopes of holding elections for a new
Haworth Parish Council in May have been dashed after the government
revealed there is a backlog of applications. With a pile of
59 applications on Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's desk,
Whitehall bosses reckon there will be a delay of at least three
or four months."
28th January, 1999
Letter sent to Mrs Ann Crier MP, House of Commons, London
Dear Mrs Crier,
You will probably have noticed in the press that residents in
Haworth Cross Roads and Stanbury have submitted a request to
the Government asking for a parish council to be formed in that
area. We were given a deadline as to when it had to be submitted
to the government for parish council to be formed next May and
this date was adhered to. We now learn that because of the number
of similar requests received it cannot be considered for operation
until year 2000. A lot of work and hope by people of all three
parties working together has gone into this request who are
very disappointed and feel let down. We respectfully ask if
you could look in to the matter and see if it can be resolved
in time for a parish council to be formed this year.
8th March, 1999
Letter from Hilary Armstrong MP Minister for Local Government
and Housing to Ann Crier MP
The petition for the establishments of the new parish council
was passed by Bradford City Council to the Department last month,
which, I am afraid, was far too late for the application to
be assessed and approved in time for this year's elections.
However, officials will be considering the application over
the course of the next few months and anticipate that, assuming
that there is a satisfactory case for the parish to be established,
an Order will be made by the summer. This would mean that your
constituents would have ample time to prepare for the establishment
of the new parish in spring next year.
18th May, 1999
Haworth Stanbury Cross Roads Neighbourhood Forum
A decision is expected from government office within the next
few months. Assuming approval is given, this decision will come
back to Bradford Council for consideration and further approval.
When these two processes are complete (and approval given in
both instances), it is anticipated that the parish council elections
would be held in May 2000.
2nd September, 1999
Letter from Bradford Metropolitan District Council Democratic
Services Manager
Petition for a parish for Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury
I am pleased to inform you that the Secretary of State for the
Environment, Transport and the Regions has consented to the
establishment of the new parish of Haworth, Cross Roads and
Stanbury. The Department of Environment Transport and Regions
are now consulting on the attached draft order which will implement
the decision.
19th May 2000
Haworth Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council held their first
Inaugural Annual Meeting.
